David Garrison, A.J. Shively, and More Lead Project Shaw's THE NEW WORD & O'FLAHERTY V.C.

Gingold Theatrical Group is proud to announce the next presentation of the 13th Season of Project Shaw, a special series of evenings offering some of Shaw's greatest works and those of his contemporaries, presented monthly at Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Peter Norton Symphony Space (2537 Broadway at 95th Street).

The season will continue on September 24th with The New Word by J. M. Barrie (author of Peter Pan) and Bernard Shaw's O'Flaherty V.C.

The New Word takes place on the night before a young man is leaving to join the army in WWI. It's the last chance for a family to come together with some kind of understanding before the son leaves, possibly never to return.

O'Flaherty, V.C. is a comic one-act play written during World War I in which an Irish soldier in the British army returning home after winning the Victoria Cross. The play was written at a time when the British government was attempting to promote recruitment in Ireland, while many Irish republicans expressed opposition to a war to defend the British Empire.

Stephen Brown-Fried, GTG's Associate Director, directs a cast that features Kerstin Anderson (currently making her Broadway debut as the Eliza Doolittle alternate in Lincoln Center Theater's My Fair Lady), David Garrison ("Married with Children," A Day in Hollywood/A Night in The Ukraine, Titanic, Wicked; The Visit, Bells Are Ringing, I Do! I Do!), Maryann Plunkett (Tony Award winner for Me and My Girl, starred in Richard Nelson's Apple Family Plays and The Gabriels: Election Year in the Life of One Family), and A.J. Shively (Broadway: Bright Star, La Cage aux Folles, Brigadoon; Off-Broadway: February House, Unlock'd, The Suitcase Under the Bed).

Stephen Brown-Fried, GTG's Associate Director, is a theatre director and teacher based in New York City. He is currently represented Off-Broadway by his production of Henry VI for the National Asian American Theatre Company. His production of Clifford Odets's Awake and Sing! for NAATCO was nominated for a Drama League Award for Best Revival. He is Head of Directing (MFA & BFA) at The New School College of Performing Arts, School of Drama, and is a Lecturer in Directing at The Yale School of Drama.

"Both these plays look at the unexpectedly human and often comedic experiences that occurred as part of the Great War," says director Brown-Fried. "For both Shaw and Barrie, war included the full scope of human emotions - including humor and poignancy. These plays, along with the candid (and often shockingly funny) collection of love letters from the Great War that we'll also be sharing, part the curtain around the surprising humanity of war, and in doing so, ask us to recognize more deeply the costs of war."

The 13th season will continue with Shaw's Back to Methuselah (Part 1 - October 22nd, Part 2 - November 19th), and from one of Shaw's contemporaries, The Enchanted Cottage by Arthur Wing Pinero (December 17th).

All the plays in this series will be presented in a concert-reading format at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street. Tickets are $35 and are available by calling (212) 864-5400 or online at www.symphonyspace.org. Special reserved VIP seating available for $50 by contacting the Gingold office 212-355-7823 or info@gingoldgroup.org. Symphony Space's Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre space is completely accessible.

Now celebrating its 13th year, Gingold Theatrical Group's Project Shaw made history in December 2009 as the first company ever to present performances of every one of Shaw's 65 plays (including full-length works, one-acts and sketches). They are now also including plays by writers who most inspired Shaw to begin his playwriting career, including work by Chekhov, Ibsen, Wilde, Barrie, and Harley Granville-Barker -- while continuing its new play development and educational programs. For those interested in lively off-site discourses, each Project Shaw event is followed by a talk-back with cast members. GTG's David Staller and Stephen Brown-Fried are also hosting a monthly Shaw Club discussion group. Always lively, they meet the Monday evening after every Project Shaw event at 520 8th Avenue. For reservations, which are required, call 212-355-7823 or emailinfo@gingoldgroup.org.

Tickets are now on sale at Telecharge.com for GTG's full Off-Broadway production of Shaw's masterpiece, Heartbreak House, which is currently playing at Theatre Row throughSeptember 29th.

For more information about Project Shaw and all the programs at Gingold Theatrical Group, call 212/355-7823, email info@gingoldgroup.org, or visit gingoldgroup.org

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos

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