InterAct Theatre Presents The World Premiere Of SETTLEMENTS!

InterAct Theatre Company continues its 2021-2022 season with SETTLEMENTS, a "world premiere" play by InterAct's founding Producing Artistic Director, Seth Rozin. SETTLEMENTS marks InterAct's 3rd live, in-person production since returning from the pandemic shutdown, following on the heels of its critically acclaimed THIS BITTER EARTH in February 2022.

Inspired by true events, SETTLEMENTS follows a resident theatre at a Jewish Community Center which finds itself pulled in conflicting directions when it commissions a new play about the Israeli Palestinian conflict from a Jordanian-Jewish playwright. One of the Center's major donors, the Center's Board President, the theatre's Artistic Director and the playwright each fight for a different outcome, while the Center's Executive Director tries to keep the institution from falling off its foundation. Playwright Seth Rozin, (TWO JEWS WALK INTO A WAR..., HUMAN RITES) knows a thing or two about navigating controversial subject matter while leading a non-profit theatre, but his inspiration comes from another source.

"In the aftermath of the real-life events that inspired SETTLEMENTS", says Rozin, "I became interested in writing about the incredible difficulty American Jews have talking openly, honestly and constructively about Israel. But as the world unfolded over the past few years, I began to see that my deeper interest was in capturing this moment in which our society is so divided, so polarized on so many fronts, that we can't find middle ground on anything, and that the center - literally and spiritually - is in danger of disappearing altogether."

The real-life events that inspired SETTLEMENTS are covered in this Washington Post news story: https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/artistic-director-fired-from theater-j/2014/12/18/b6404b48-8712-11e4-abcf-5a3d7b3b20b8_story.html

SETTLEMENTS will be directed by David Winitsky, Founder and Executive Artistic Director of New York's Jewish Plays Project, the nation's leading development house for contemporary Jewish theater, and stars Steven Rishard (New York/Philadelphia) as Noah, Cindy Gold (Chicago) as Judith, Emily Zacharias (New York) as Marion, Becca Khalil (Los Angeles/ Philadelphia) as Yasmine and Mitch Greenberg (New Jersey) as Cesar. Barrymore Award nominee, Marie Laster will design the set, along with lighting designer Josh Benghiat, sound designer Elizabeth Atkinson, and costume designer Natalia de la Torre.

Seth Rozin (Playwright) co-founded InterAct in Philadelphia in 1988 and has since served as Producing Artistic Director. He is the author of more than a dozen plays, including MEN OF STONE, MISSING LINK, BLACK GOLD, TWO JEWS WALK INTO A WAR..., THE THREE CHRISTS OF MANHATTAN, HUMAN RITES and SETTLEMENTS, which have been produced at 28 theatres across the country and in Australia. He also wrote the book, music and lyrics for A PASSING WIND, which was featured in the inaugural Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts at the Kimmel Center in 2011. Seth is the recipient of two fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the National New Play Network's 2007 Smith Prize, a commission from the National Foundation for Jewish Culture, and two Barrymore Award nominations. Seth has directed over 50 productions for InterAct, most recently includng EUREKA DAY (2019), THE GREAT LEAP (2019), and HOW TO USE A KNIFE (nominated for seven 2017 Barrymore Awards, including Outstanding Overall Production). He co-founded Philadelphia Scenic Works -- a nonprofit, community-based scenic fabrication shop -- in 2016 and MusiCoLab -- dedicated to the development of new musical theatre works in Philadelphia - in 2018. Seth has twice served as President of the Board of National New Play Network, as well as Philadelphia Artists Collective, Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia and New Paradise Laboratories. Seth received his BA from the University of Pennsylvania.

David Winitsky (Director) has directed or assisted on Broadway, off-Broadway, and regionally at Papermill Playhouse and Chicago's famous Steppenwolf Theater. NYC: DISPLACED WEDDING (New Worlds Theatre Project). A WONDERFUL FLAT THING (14th St Y), Brooke Berman's UNTIL WE FIND EACH OTHER (Best of Festival, MITF). Regional: THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, OUR DAD IS IN ATLANTIS and THE FANTASTICKS. With the JPP, David has developed 49 plays, 27 of which have gone on to production and further development in New York, London, Tel Aviv and around the U.S. He has directed new plays by Renee Calarco, Lindsay Joelle, David Rush, Colin Greer, L Feldman, and a host of others, and created innovative arts programs in JCCs in Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Chicago, Charlotte, Houston, Washington DC, Fairfax VA, Hartford, New Haven, San Francisco and Palo Alto. As a consultant, he has helped raise over a million dollars for arts education, underserved youth, and FSU programs, and has developed an expertise in Presbyterian organizations in Elizabeth, NJ. David holds an MFA in Directing from Northwestern, where he studied with Tony Winners Frank Galati, Mary Zimmerman, Tina Landau and Anna Shapiro. He received his BA in Mathematics from Cornell.

PLEASE NOTE: Seth, David and other participating artists are available for interviews in the lead up to and during the SETTLEMENTS world premiere.

ADDITIONAL EVENTS AROUND SETTLEMENTS

InterAct produces plays that provoke conversation, so the company will once again offer audiences the opportunity to go deeper with post-show discussions through our Speaker Sundays (following Sunday matinee performances on April 10th, 17th and 24th)) and Company Conversations (following Wednesday and Thursday nights on April 13th, 14th, 20th and 21st).

On April 10th, speakers will include Ari Roth - founder and former Artistic Director of Theater J in Washington, DC, whose story served as inspiration for SETTLEMENTS -- and Najla Said -- actress, playwright and author of the memoir Looking for Palestine: Growing Up Confused in an Arab American Family.

Also on April 10th at 5:30 pm, InterAct will host a reading of Ari Roth's play, MY BRIEF BUT CALAMITOUS AFFAIR WITH THE MINISTER OF CULTURE & CENSORSHIP OR DEATH OF THE DIALOGIC IN THE AMERICAN THEATER, which chronicles the next "chapter" in Ari's journey following the events of SETTLEMENTS. This reading will feature local veterans David Ingram, Sabrina Profitt, and Kim Fairbanks.

Performances take place at the Proscenium Theatre at the Drake, located at 302 S. Hicks St. (between 15th & 16th and Spruce & Pine, and run April 1-24. More information about the show and tickets can be found here: https://www.interacttheatre.org/settlements

All attendees will be required to show proof of vaccination and wear a mask. For more about COVID safety at the Drake, please see our box office policies: boxoffice@interacttheatre.org

 

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