As part of the tenth year rememberance of 9/11, Judson Memorial Church and Thom Fogarty present a staged reading of a stirring new play, IN THE NAME OF GOD by Peter-Adrian Cohen, based on the PBS/Frontline documentary FAITH AND DOUBT AT GROUND ZERO, by Emmy winner and Academy Award nominee Helen Whitney.
The reading will be directed by Thom Fogarty.
Cast includes: Frank Anderson*, Michael Ellick, Diane Kagan*, George Kaleman* and Grace Zandarski
There will be a TALK BACK session at the conclusion of reading.
In Peter-Adrian Cohen's IN THE NAME OF GOD, A man talks about one of the most intimate, deepest things in his life - his faith. Actually, he talks not just about his faith; he talks about a crisis - a major crisis - in his faith. He talks about what he had seen on 9/11. And what it is doing to him. And he asks: Where was God that day? The play keeps introducing more characters - six in all; men and women. And in one way or another they all ask that same question. And the more the characters struggle, the more the audience comes to see that the only answer possible is to keep asking that question. At the very least, it will open each of us to himself; at the very least, it will open us up to one another. And so playwright Peter-Adrian Cohen wrote this play. Using extensive testimony from
Helen Whitney's film; and material from his own research: Six characters, who, in spite of their agonizing doubt - or perhaps because of it - have the courage to look God in the eye.
Peter-Adrian Cohen, at age thirty-one, while a student at Harvard, Cohen wrote THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL - a non-fiction novel that became a bestseller (the New York Times filled an entire page with excerpts.) In May 2009 Cohen's play TO PAY THE PRICE premiered Off Broadway at the Mint Theater - to full houses and critical acclaim; Bob Kalfin, a veteran of Broadway, directed. TO PAY THE PRICE has been presented as part of OnStageIsrael Theater Festival at Chicago's
Victory Gardens Theater, at Shakespeare & Company, in Lenox, MA and most recently, in February 2011, as a reading by Theater J in Washington DC as part of their series "Voices from a Changing Middle East". Among Cohen's plays: IN THE NAME OF GOD; WHY WORRY; AS IT WAS, AND AS IT IS; DO YOU HEAR ME,
Mr. GoldFARB (a play with music); IT'S ALL IN YOUR IMAGINATION; BEING TORN and ONLY A COMPLETE DISASTER CAN SAVE US NOW - the latter about the deranged utopia of our economy; a topic familiar to Cohen since his days at the Harvard Business School.
Thom Fogarty (Director) has been active in downtown theater since 1977. In the 80's and 90's, he appeared in numerous dance and theatre productions, working with most of the established performance troupes of the day. He created works with
Joseph Chaikin (The Open Theater),
Paul Zimet (The Talking Band), Judson Poets Theater, DV8 Physical Theatre, and
H.M. Koutoukas ("Dead at Sea," based on Mr. Koutoukas' journal entries). His own work, based on movement and told in an inherently theatrical style, approaches the vastness of the human condition as told through small everyday gestures and their meanings. He was one of the first responders to the AIDS crisis in the mid 1980's by creating works that dealt with the pandemic head on. Now, he is thrilled to be moving his career more toward the genre of dramatic stage work. In June he directed the premeire of HELL IS WHERE THE HEART IS for the Planet Connections Festival. The piece received 4 nominations for Festival awards and won 2, including Outstanding Lighting Design for Thom. He is an Associate Member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.
* Members of Actor's Equity Association.
September 11, 2011 at 3:00 PM
Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South, NYC, NY 10012
Presented by Judson Memorial Church and Thom Fogarty
Press contact: Melissa Jamison 212 477 0351 x21
FREE Running Time: 80 minutes
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