Lightning Rod Special Presents THE APPOINTMENT at Next Door at NYTW

Lightning Rod Special (LRS) creator of the Obie-Award winning Underground Railroad Game, announces the New York premiere of their newest theater work, The Appointment. Co-created by Lead Artist Alice Yorke with Lead Writers Scott R. Sheppard, director Eva Steinmetz, composer Alex Bechtel, and ensemble members Katie Gould, Jaime Maseda, Lee Minora, Brett Ashley Robinson, and Brenson Thomas, The Appointment examines the misogyny, hypocrisy, and absurdity of the contemporary abortion debate in America.

The Appointment is part of Next Door at NYTW and will play the Fourth Street Theatre (83 E 4th St) from April 18, 2019 through May 4, 2019, following a limited run at Philadelphia's FringeArts in March. Tickets for the New York premiere are on sale now at nytw.org.

Directed by Eva Steinmetz with original music by Alex Bechtel, and music direction by Amanda Morton (KPOP), The Appointment unpacks the economic, societal, and political systems that disempower groups of people from making informed reproductive decisions. The Appointment is performed byKatie Gould, Jaime Maseda, Lee Minora, Brett Ashley Robinson, Scott R. Sheppard, Brenson Thomas, and Alice Yorke.

At a first draft showing of the work in 2017, tickets were free with a suggested donation solicited at the door for the show's partner organizations, Women's Medical Fund and Philadelphia Women's Center, who facilitated post-show conversations and assisted with the development of The Appointment. With the audience's help, the workshop performances raised $4,818 for compassionate reproductive health services. For the March 2019 Philadelphia engagement at FringeArts, Lightning Rod Special will again partner with Women's Medical Fund to feature a robust series of opportunities for audiences to learn more about local reproductive justice efforts and to get involved with those efforts before even leaving the theatre, including a longtable with local experts and an adult sex ed trivia night.

For the New York production at Next Door at NYTW, Lightning Rod Special will work with New York-based reproductive justice and abortion-access organizations to be announced to continue providing avenues for audience involvement.

The Appointment will feature production design by Oona Curley (Underground Railroad Game), lighting design by Masha Tsimring, costume design byJill Keys, sound design by Liz Atkinson, and choreography by Melanie Cotton. Meredith Sonnen serves as co-creative producer, with additional creation by nicHi Douglas, Jenson Titus Lavallee, and Mason Rosenthal.

General admission tickets for The Appointment are $25 and reserved tickets are $40. Tickets for Next Door at NYTW are available online at NYTW.org, by phone at 212-460-5475, or in-person at the NYTW Box Office. Standard ticketing fees apply.

To post a comment, you must register and login.