THE NEURODIVERGENT NEW PLAY SERIES to Open at The Vino Theater in September

This coming Fall, the Neurodivergent New Play Series - a new ongoing play reading series dedicated to promoting the work of neurodivergent playwrights - will make its debut at the Vino Theater in Brooklyn, New York.

This new play series will feature matinee readings on the 3rd Sunday of every month - with seasonal breaks in December, January, July, and August - of plays written entirely by neurodivergent and disabled playwrights (i.e autism, ADHD, dyslexia, OCD, Tourette syndrome, etc.) as part of a growing resident company of playwrights whose interests and specialties span a wide range of subjects, genres & structural approaches, personally selected by a neuroinclusive resident company of directors.

For in-person entry, a minimum donation of $10 can be made at the in-person box office or online at www.sourgrapesproductions.com/neurodivergent-new-play-series.html. Online attendees can donate any amount of $1 or more to watch either the livestream at 2pm EST or the On-Demand recording for up to two weeks after. 50% of all donations for the initial performances will go to the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, an autistic-run non-profit that is dedicated to advancing autistic rights in the United States and around the world.

Founded by award-winning autistic playwright and producer Anthony J. Piccione, the first eight full-length plays of this new series will be presented from September 2023 to June 2024 for the debut season, and will be produced by Mr. Piccione's production company Piccione Arts in association with Sour Grapes Productions. Current resident directors include Jaye Hunt, Abigail Gabor, Andrés Gallardo Bustillo, Maggie Dunn, Zinc Tong, Emma Cavage, & Ashley Adelman, with additional directors to be announced in the coming months. An initial fundraising campaign is live now until April 30th to help cover 2023-2024 production costs, with the first play selections to be announced to the public on June 18th & all donors to be notified one week prior to the formal announcement. Tax-deductible donations can be made via Fractured Atlas at www.fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/piccione-arts-production-fund/campaigns/5499

Mr. Piccione is an award-winning writer, producer & teaching artist whose debut full-length play A Therapy Session with Myself premiered in January 2019 at the Hudson Guild Theatre before transferring in May to the Kraine Theater for an extended year-long run. Since then, his second full-length play One Empire, Under God made its live premiere at The Tank in November 2021 after previously premiering via Zoom earlier that year and is now published and available for licensing at Next Stage Press, while his next full-length play The Lone Wolf Society is currently expected to premiere at the Vino Theater in August 2023. Additionally, Piccione's eclectic canon of one-acts has previously been presented in NYC at venues such as The Tank, the Hudson Guild Theatre, Planet Connections Theatre Festivity, Midtown International Theatre Festival, and Manhattan Repertory Theatre. His short drama What I Left Behind was named the NYWinterfest's Best Short Play of 2018, and his short film The Fire That Won't Stop was named an official selection at the Venice Short Film Awards, the Paris International Short Festival, and the Hollywood International Golden Age Festival. In addition to his work as a playwright, he is also the Founding Artistic Director of the Talking It Out Virtual Arts Festival, which is dedicated to promoting mental health awareness through the arts and was recently nominated for Festival of the Year at the 2023 Young-Howze Theatre Awards. He has also worked as a scriptwriter-for-hire whose work has been commissioned by Sesame Workshop and various other clients, as well as a contributing writer to OnStage Blog from 2015 to 2019, and he has taught playwriting at EPIC Players and Broadway Weekends. Visit www.anthonyjpiccione.com to learn more.

Located in East Williamsburg, the Vino Theater is run by Sour Grapes Productions. Founded in 2007 by Genny Yosco and Chris Weigandt, incorporated in New York in 2014, and turned into a non-profit in 2019, Sour Grapes Productions was a resident company of FRIGID New York from 2018 to 2021. In April of 2019 they created SILENT BUT DEADLY: A Mime Experience, and September of 2019 they launched CHEMICAL X: The Powerpuff Girls Improv Show. In 2021 they started THE ADDAMS PARODY Improv Show, and in 2022 they added JOKE & DAGGER: Dugeons, Dragons, and Improv to their monthly show roster as well. They started the So Many Shakespeares Festival, which has been running since 2019, and the Down to Clown theater festival, which launched in 2021. They continue to present monthly festivals at the Vino Theatre as of 2021. Visit www.sourgrapesproductions.com to learn more.

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