Michael Emerson Will Host Tectonic Theater Project's MOMENTS IN PROGRESS

Tectonic Theater Project will present MOMENTS IN PROGRESS, a reading of selections from new plays currently in development, on Monday, January 27 at 7:30pm co-presented by and performed at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Ave. Tectonic Theater Project company member and two-time Emmy Award winner Michael Emerson will host the evening, guiding audiences through Tectonic's current projects. Emerson has been a part of Tectonic since their first breakout hit, Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, and has since starred in the hit television shows Lost, Arrow, Person of Interest and more.

An intimate evening of excerpts from five works in development, Moments in Progress will feature selections from The Album, or, Here There Are Blueberries, by Tectonic Theater Project founder and Artistic Director Moisés Kaufman and company member Amanda Gronich; Treatment & Data, by Moisés Kaufman; Zephyr, by Tectonic co-founder Jeffrey LaHoste; and Las Aventuras de Juan Planchard, Moisés Kaufman's stage adaptation of the best-selling Venezuelan novel by Jonathan Jakubowicz. Each of the plays is developed through Moment Work, the company's trademarked theater-making method of rigorous research and collaboration in a laboratory environment. The performance, directed by Tectonic company dramaturg Amy Marie Seidel, will be followed by a discussion between the artists and the audience.

These plays represent the full spectrum of Tectonic's development activities, each at a different point in its evolution. Moments in Progress will be an opportunity for audiences to experience the company's process as well as the eventual product. Kaufman says "Our work is very collaborative, and I'm excited to bring our audiences into the room as crucial collaborators. This opportunity to hear feedback from the public will inform the plays' continued development, and we hope, spark a continuing conversation as the plays progress."

Tectonic will be joined by Life Jacket Theater Company, presenting a scene from their upcoming play, The Gorgeous Nothings, based on the true story of a group of homosexuals unjustly imprisoned and quarantined on New York City's Welfare Island (today's Roosevelt Island) during the 1930s.

Tectonic's plays in development cover a broad spectrum:

Treatment & Data - A new interview-based play about the ACT UP movement, one of its heroes, Spencer Cox, and the lessons he left us about how to change the world.

The Album, or, Here There are Blueberries - An examination of a World War II artifact that asks how we document our lives, and begs us to consider the point at which complicity begins.

Las Aventuras de Juan Planchard - A theatrical adaptation of Jonathan Jakubowicz's groundbreaking novel by the same name. No play or movie has yet captured the story of Venezuela's precipitous collapse. Las Aventuras de Juan Planchard portrays clearly what went wrong and how one of the richest countries in the world came to the brink of financial, medical, and humanitarian ruin.

Zephyr - Zephyr simply asks if a woman who has difficulty facing adult challenges can transcend her limitations and attain enlightenment and ecstasy. With a parrot.

Performers for the evening include Scott Barrow, Ben Cherry, Andrew Dawson, Louis Griffin, Rodney Jackson, Maurice Jones, Mauricio Martinez, Barbara Pitts McAdams, Roberto Morean, Sam Reeder, Joel Ripka, A.J. Shively, Kristian Sorenson, and Harry Waller.

Tickets are available now by visiting www.jccmanhattan.org or by calling 646.505.5708

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT Tectonic Theater Project: http://www.tectonictheaterproject.org

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