NY Neo-Futurists Present THE SOUP SHOW, Opens 3/4

NEW YORK NEO-FUTURISTS are pleased to present their first prime-time show of the decade in honor of the 30th Anniversary of Women?s History Month, THE SOUP SHOW, written and performed by Desiree Burch, Cara Francis & Erica Livingston, directed by Lauren Sharpe. THE SOUP SHOW will be presented at HERE Arts Center (145 Avenue of the Americas NY, NY 10013). Performances begin Thursday, March 4th and continue through Saturday, March 27th. Opening Night is Thursday, March 4th (at 7 P.M.).

New York Neo-Futurists Desiree Burch, Cara Francis & Erica Livingston serve up a cure for what ails you in this Neo-Medicine Show, performing in and around a giant pot of self-made soup. Bottling this soup, as well as a series of elixirs, potions, tonics and products, they heal and reveal the female experience live, honest and in the flesh.

Incorporating ingredients from interviews, living newspaper, personal stories, circus acts and freak shows, the women of The Soup Show ultimately feed their audiences with a question ?How far has the women's movement moved us?? The fierce trio honor the 30th Anniversary of Women?s History Month, and show you why the readers of the Village Voice named The New York Neo-Futurists ?The 2009 Best Performance Artists in New York.?

ADVISORY: adult language and nudity.

Joey Rizzolo is the producer; Lauren Parrish is the technical director; and Meg Bashwiner is the stage manager. Dramaturgy by Meg Bashwiner, and Maiken Wiese.

THE SOUP SHOW has the following regular schedule through Saturday, March 27th:

Wednesdays at 7 p.m.
Thursdays at 7 p.m.
Fridays at 7 p.m.
Saturdays at 7 p.m.
Sundays at 7 p.m.

Tickets are $18.00 ($12 Student rush with valid I.D.) Advance tickets can be purchased online at www.here.org, or by calling 212-352-3101. Tickets may also be purchased at the theatre?s box office half hour before curtain.

Running Time: 75 minutes. No Intermission.

For more information about The Soup Show, visit http://www.nyneofuturists.org

This production is being presented through HERE?s Supported Artist Program, which provides artists with subsidized space and equipment, as well as technical and administrative support.

BIOGRAPHIES

DESIREE BURCH (Writer/Performer) is an NYC-based comedian, emcee, writer, and performer, known for work with the New York Neo-Futurists in Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind and for her acclaimed solo show 52 Man Pickup (four stars from Time Out NY, and The List, UK) which has been featured at Ars Nova, The Ohio Theater, Galapagos Artspace and in the New York (spotlighted by Backstage) and Edinburgh International Fringe Festivals. One of New York Magazine?s ?10 People that Funny People Find Funny,? Desiree has supplied laughter for MTV, VH1, NBC News, The New York Post, Comedy Central, Huffington Post, Caroline?s, Gotham, Comix and comedy clubs around the country, and in the upcoming feature-length documentary I Heart New York. She previously hosted/curated the reading and variety Smut (?Art that should carry a Parental Advisory Label? ? NY Times) and in 2008, founded The Hysterical Festival for women in comedy.

CARA FRANCIS (Writer/Performer) is a playwright, performer and director whose plays and performance have been seen at PS122, The Kraine Theatre, The Old Vic, The Public Theatre, HERE, The Ontological-Hysteric, The Flea Theatre, The Players Theatre, The Tank, LAVA, The Arthur Seelen Theatre, The Bushwick Star, and Galapagos Art Space, among others. Cara is a regular contributor to Sticky at the Bowery Poetry Club with Blue Box Productions and was a Spring 2009 Short Form artist at the Ontological-Hysteric. Her children's play, The Caterpillar Hunter, toured nationally with Traveling Lantern Theatre Company in 2008. Cara is a member of the New York Neo-Futurists, writing, directing, and performing in the award-winning Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind.

ERICA LIVINGSTON (Writer/Performer) is a performer, writer and director based in Williamsburg. Erica graduated from The American Musical and Dramatic Academy. Some of her favorite credits include Pandora in Beth Henly?s Impossible Marriage; Jackie O? in Wendy MacLeod?s House of Yes, Maureen in Topher Payne?s stage adaptation of Jo Caron?s book Stories I Ain?t Told Nobody Yet and representing the Neo-Futurists in performing week 52 of Suzan Lori Parks 365 Plays/365 Days under the direction of Joanna Settle at The Public Theater. Erica?s Improv and sketch credits include Rash Behaviour, Wink and a Gun, La theatre de la Fleur (Commedia Del Arte), South, and Capitol City Improv. She is an ensemble member of the New York Neo-Futurists who produce the weekly show, Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind. Erica has spent her almost four years with the Neo-Futurists, not only writing, directing and performing in TMLMTBGB but also performing in their first Primetime show, Apocalypse Neo, touring and teaching workshops.

LAUREN SHARPE (Director) is an actor, improviser, dancer and clown who recently made the move from Chicago to New York. A classically trained ballet dancer, Lauren loves movement-based physical theater. She has studied solo clown performance with 500 Clown and co-created/performed in numerous site-specific spectacles with the ever-inventive Redmoon Theater, also appearing in two of Redmoon's full-length pieces, The Golden Truffle and The Princess Club. Lauren is also an artistic associate with The Neo-Futurists and has written, performed and collaborated on many of their shows, the critically acclaimed Roustabout: The Great Circus Train Wreck!, Picked Up and currently, Fake Lake, a site-specific piece performed in and around a Chicago Park District pool. Since 2006, she has been a member of the fabulous Barrel of Monkeys, a company that teaches writing workshops in Chicago Public Schools. Within the company, Lauren could be found teaching, directing or performing in their public show, That's Weird Grandma. In 2007, Lauren joined the prestigious Big Apple Circus Clown Care as a hospital clown and has been enjoying her work with the team ever since. She is an ensemble member of the New York Neo-Futurists and performs regularly in their long-running show, Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind.

THE NEW YORK NEO-FUTURISTS are an ensemble of dynamic writer/performer/directors who present the critically acclaimed, energetic show of original short plays, Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind--a non-illusory collage of the comic and tragic, the political and personal, the visceral and experimental, while embracing chance, change, and chaos. Developing out of the format that has been a success in Chicago since 1988, the New York Neo-Futurists have roots in NYC from the mid 90?s. Since opening TML in New York, they have created over 1900 plays and continue to present new and vital work every weekend in the East Village. For more info: www.nynf.org

HERE Arts Center Since 1993, the OBIE-winning HERE Arts Center has been a premier arts organization in NYC and a leader in the field of new, hybrid performance work. Under leadership of Founding Artistic Director Kristin Marting and Producing Director Kim Whitener, HERE has served over 12,000 emerging to mid-career artists developing work that does not fit a conventional programming agenda. Work presented at HERE has garnered 14 OBIE awards, including the 2009 Ross Wetzsteon Award, an OBIE grant for artistic achievement, three Drama Desk nominations, two Berrilla Kerr Awards, three NY Innovative Theatre Awards, an Edwin Booth Award and a Pulitzer Prize nomination. HERE proudly supports artists at all stages in their careers through full productions, artist residency programs, festivals and subsidized performance and rehearsal space. Work at HERE is curated based on the strength and uniqueness of the artist?s vision. HERE?s Artist Residency Program (HARP) provides development, commissions and full production for up to 20 artists over one-to-three years. In 2005, with the support of the FJC, a foundation of donor advised funds, Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and the City of New York, HERE Arts Center purchased its long-time home as part of a five-year ?Secure HERE?s Future? campaign. With full-scale renovations to the space concluding in June 2008, thanks to generous support from the City of New York, HERE is poised to continue and expand its role as a downtown haven for the finest emerging art. Offering a comfortable, eclectic setting for artists and audiences alike, HERE features a café and two state-of-the-art performance spaces.

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