Drama Desk Award nominated Throes Theater (2013's Act Before You Speak at The Flea Theater) presents the premiere of THE ITCH by 2013 Financial Times/Bodley Head Prize winner Alexandra Zelman-Doring. Directed by Theresa Buchheister, previews began September 1 at New Ohio Theatre with opening slated for tonight, September 6.
Ana and Simon are twins. Ana wants to sell her eggs for piles of money. Simon wants another beginning after his latest bender. They have spent a lifetime disappearing into each other, but now they are seeking to define their lives as separate beings. Experienced through theatre, film and original music, THE ITCH is a story of sibling love, addiction, and how far we'll go to save ourselves and others.
THE ITCH stars Gore Abrams, Coco Conroy, Erik LaPointe, Alexandra Zelman-Doring, Dan Berkey, Ray C. Wright with a production team that includes Matthew Dipple (set), George Gavin (video design), Alejandro Fajardo (lighting), Jose Cavazos (costumes), Darielle Shandler (stage manager), Throes Theater & The Petite Brunettes (music). It is produced by Throes Theater in association with Kate German.
Alexandra Zelman-Doring won the 2013 Financial Times/Bodley Head Prize as well as the 2008 Glascock Poetry Prize, which boasts Sylvia Plath and James Merrill among its past winners. She studied at Brown University, Wadham College, Oxford, and holds a Masters of Fine Arts from Columbia University. Her poems/texts have been set to music by composers including Andile Khumalo and Jiri Kaderábek, and she collaborated with composer David Adamcyk on 2011's Cheval mémoire, for solo piano, electronics, and sound installation. She is the author of numerous plays including Halfway Through The Story of Our Life, Light in the Dust, To Hold an Apple (59E59th Street's East to Edinburgh and Edinburgh Festival) and Act Before You Speak (Flea Theater). She trained at Lee Strasburg, HB studios, and Michael Howard Studios.
Theresa Buchheister is a director/writer/producer/performer/curator from Manhattan, KS. Since arriving in New York to work for Richard Foreman in 2004, she co-founded Title:Point, ?!:New Works and The Exponential Festival. Title:Point and friends currently operate "the best murder basement in Brooklyn" (American Theatre Magazine), Vital Joint. Her directing credits include Chroma Key, Biter (Every Time I Turn Around), and Never Odd Or Even.
Throes Theater is a Drama Desk Award-nominated, Brooklyn-based company working with music and film. Since it's founding in 2012, the members have explored many performances ranging from experimental gallery showings to street performances and more traditional two-act plays. Throes has collaborated with numerous contemporary composers, bands, and singers. Recently, Throes was part of HERE Arts Center's Summer Sublet series, and was awarded a residency at La Mama Umbria International. Past productions include Mike, Simple as Life and Death, Halfway Through the Story of Our Life, and The Light in the Dust. Their premiere of Act Before You Speak was nominated for a Drama Desk Award and called, "what off-Broadway connoisseurs simply call Black Box heaven," by New York Magazine. More info at www.throestheater.com.
THE ITCH runs September 1 - 16 on the following schedule Tuesday - Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 6 & 9pm with additional matinees on Wednesday at 2pm. New Ohio Theatre is located at 154 Christopher Street, between Greenwich and Washington Streets in the West Village -- accessible from the 1/2 train at Christopher Street. Tickets are $20 for general admission / $15 for students, available at 212-352-3101 or www.newohiotheatre.org.
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