Theatre East to Present the World Premiere of EDIE SAVES THE BIRDS

Theatre East has announced the world premiere of Edie Saves the Birds, a play written by Stephanie Fagan. 13-year-old Edie, daughter of a single mom, granddaughter of an ailing grandfather, wakes up each day singularly focused on one thing - saving the birds. Her methods are bold, unorthodox, occasionally illegal, and often futile. Never deterred, Edie dedicates every moment to her cause - that is, until she encounters a new and unexpected distraction. Kyle plays baseball. Kyle is popular. Kyle spoke to Edie for more than 30 seconds. Is this friendship? Could there be more to life than crashing town council meetings and passing out homemade buttons? Probably not...but maybe.

The production is executive produced by Harvey and Kathleen Guion and performances will begin Friday, April 1st at the permanent new venue Theatre East shares with Astoria Performing Arts Center, (44-02 23rd Street in Long Island City) through Saturday, April 23rd.

Leading the ensemble cast is Alyssa Emily Marvin (Marcy in the First National Tour of School of Rock) as Edie, Dylan Martin Frankel (The Blacklist; Ramy; Raven's Home) as Kyle, Christa Kimlicko Jones (A Name for a Ghost to Mutter; Awake and Sing!) as Diane, and Tom Green (Holy Ghosts; A Name for a Ghost to Mutter) as Perry. They will be under the direction of Theatre East Artistic Director Judson Jones.

The creative team includes John Noel (Production Manager), Steven Brenman (Scenic Design), Zach Murphy (Lighting Design), Prince Bawuah (Sound Design), Sherry Martinez (Costume Design), and Julia Rae Maldonado (Production Stage Manager).

Fagan's play has been in development for the past two years in the Theatre East Writers Room which was launched in March of 2019.

Theatre East stirs the human side of current issues by fostering new plays of social relevance through New York and World Premieres. The 501(c)3 nonprofit theatre company's mission is to advance the dialogue of the shared human experience through works that utilize simple storytelling, providing their community with a platform to deepen their understanding of themselves, each other and the world they share.

The company was founded in 2008 by husband-and-wife producing partners Judson Jones (Artistic Director) and Christa Kimlicko Jones (Associate Artistic Director), along with Joseph Mitchell Parks, after producing such hits as the premiere of Christopher Durang's The Vietnamization of New Jersey (NY Times Critic's Pick), and the premiere of Texas playwright David W. Crawford's Harvest (BackStage Critic's Pick, Smith & Kraus Best New Plays of 2008), as well as earning a spot as producers to watch in 2008 on PBS's Theater Talk. Harvey and Kathleen Guion are Associate Producers.

Since its founding, Theatre East has mounted such critically acclaimed New York and World Premieres as Tim Blake Nelson's Eye of God, Cyndi Williams' A Name for a Ghost to Mutter, Daniel McIvor's The Soldier Dreams, Bennett Windheim's Normalcy, Megan O'Brien's The Jungle Book, and Devil and the Deep with original music and lyrics by Air Supply's Graham Russell.

Tickets start at $30. To purchase and for more information, visit: https://www.theatreeast.org/edie-saves-the-birds

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