GOD BOX to Open 4/6 at New Rep Theatre

New Repertory Theatre announces GOD BOX, written and performed by Antonia Lassar, and directed by Christine Hamel, April 5-19, 2015 in the Black Box Theater at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown, MA. The press opening will be Monday, April 6 at 7:30pm.

Tickets are $36 and may be purchased by calling the New Rep Box Office at 617-923-8487 or visiting newrep.org. Student, senior, and group discounts are available.

"It is with great pleasure that we celebrate the remarkable work of women theatre-makers in three diverse one-woman performances," says Artistic Director, Jim Petosa. "The third in this series is a hilarious and poignant work from playwright and performer Antonia Lassar. With incredible humor and wit, Lassar's story of a mother's loss and shocking discovery is as compelling as it is comical in its exploration of faith and belief."

"In the second year of our Next Rep Black Box Festival, we continue to present adventurous, intimate plays that allow audiences to connect on a personal level," says Managing Director, Harriet Sheets. "We're pleased to welcome playwright and performer Antonia Lassar to New Rep to present GOD BOX, her engaging one-woman show. New Rep audiences will surely fall in love with Lassar's Gloria Adelman as we join her for the remarkable story of her daughter and her choice of faith."

When her daughter dies, Gloria Adelman discovers the unthinkable-that her daughter wasn't a practicing Jew! Amid Buddhas and Bibles, Gloria searches for clues to her daughter's religious beliefs in order to give her an appropriate funeral. GOD BOX is a hilarious and poignant tale of how faith is passed on, and what happens when it isn't. Theater in the Now calls GOD BOX "a triumph of a solo piece. Antonia Lassar makes you smile and think about life, spirituality, and internal happiness."

New Repertory Theatre is the award-winning, professional theatre company in residence at the Arsenal Center for the Arts in Watertown, MA. Now celebrating its 30th anniversary season as a leading self-producing theatre in greater Boston, New Rep produces contemporary and classic dramas, comedies, and musicals in both the 340-seat Charles Mosesian Theater and the 90-seat Black Box Theater. Annually, New Rep serves over 40,000 patrons, including 2,000 season subscribers. In addition to its mainstage productions, New Rep produces Next Voices, a program dedicated to developing new plays with four playwrights through three staged readings and one world premiere production. Under its Lifelong Enrichment Arts Programs (LEAP), New Rep also produces its Classic Repertory Company, Page To Stage, Insider Experiences, and Spotlight Symposium Series.

New Repertory Theatre produces plays that speak powerfully to the essential ideas of our time. Through the passion and electricity of live theater performed to the highest standards of excellence, New Rep expands and challenges the human spirit of both artists and audience. New Rep presents world premieres, contemporary and classic works in several intimate settings. We are committed to education and outreach, including special dedication to the creation of innovative in-school programming and providing access to underserved audiences. New Rep is an active advocate for the arts and a major voice in the national dialogue defining the role of theater in our culture.

Artistic Bios:

ANTONIA LASSAR (Playwright and Performer) makes her New Repertory Theatre debut. Area credits include God Box (BU Summer Theatre Institute); and Fred! (Cutler Majestic Theatre). New York credits include her solo show Post Traumatic Super Delightful (All For One); and Pair of Animals...wants to marry YOU! and Tina and Amy (Under St. Marks). Ms. Lassar earned her BFA in Theatre Arts at Boston University. Originally from Newton, she now resides in Brooklyn. Her newest one-woman show, Post Traumatic Super Delightful will tour college campuses and crisis centers around the country this year.

CHRISTINE HAMEL (Director) returns to New Repertory Theatre after performing in On the Verge, Ragtime, and Sweeney Todd and dialect/voice coaching many productions, including most recently Tongue of a Bird, Camelot, The Elephant Man, Amadeus, Holiday Memories, and The Kite Runner. Directing credits include Better Off Dead (Village Theatre Project); Titus Andronicus and Julius Caesar for Femina Shakespeare at Boston University School of Theatre, where she also provided original staging for Ibrahim Miari's solo show In Between. Other recent credits include dialect coach for The Taste of Sunrise (Wheelock Family Theatre); Awake and Sing! (Huntington Theatre Company); and Reconsidering Hanna(h) (Boston Playwrights' Theatre); voice and text coach for Measure for Measure (Actors' Shakespeare Project); voice consultant for Fish in the Dark (Broadway); and actor in A Disappearing Number (Underground Railway Theatre). Ms. Hamel is a graduate of Williams College and holds an MFA from Boston University School of Theatre, where she now serves as an Assistant Professor of Voice & Speech and Acting. She is a Designated Linklater Voice Teacher and a member of Actors' Equity Association, the Voice and Speech Trainers Association (VASTA), and the Michael Chekhov Association (MICHA). Originally from Bedford, she now lives in Arlington.