GIRL BE HEARD Debuts Tonight at 9mm America

Girl Be Heard (www.girlbeheard.org) is proud to announce the premiere of 9mm America, written and performed by ten girls (ages 14 to 23) who live in NYC neighborhoods where gun violence is a daily threat at the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity. Celebrity talk backs will be led by Nigel Barker, Lynn Nottage, Kathy Najimy, Abby Disneyand others to be announced.

9mm America explores America's culture of violence. This theatrical uprising to stop gun violence is the story of 10 girls, told through spoken word, dancing and original songs. "The recent events in Newtown, Connecticut shed new light on a problem that Girl Be Heard members face on a daily basis -- gun violence in their own backyard," says Executive Director Jessica Greer Morris. Naeemah Cooks-Faulk, Age 18, from East New York says, "No one knows Linden Projects in Brooklyn. They only know my neighborhood as "4CD" which stands for the Four Corners of Death since so many people die on these streets from gun violence."

Girl Be Heard's youth-led activism inspires every production and this new show aims to raise awareness about the 31, 224 people are killed in our country every year by guns. From New York stages to the White House, productions of Girl Be Heard inspire audiences to become change-makers in their communities under leadership of Artistic Director Ashley Marinaccio. Marinaccio was just awarded the League of Professional Theatre Women's 2013 Lucille Lortel Women's Visionary Award.

Gloria Steinem, a long time supporter of Girl Be Heard, invites audiences to "join in the truth-telling as told by clear voices of girls before pretense or pressure have quieted them." Huffington Post calls Girl Be Heard "fearless, political theatre," Ebony Magazine lauds their "can't miss" productions and The New Yorker praises Girl Be Heard's "bright, confident young women holding forth on stage."

For tickets please visit http://planetconnections.org/9mm-america.

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