LPTW Announces New Play Festival Lineup at New World Stages, 3/7

On March 7, 2011 at 8p.m. The League of Professional Theatre Women (LPTW) is pleased to present their annual New Play Festival of works written and directed by women, produced by DeVida Jenkins and Rachel Reiner. Featuring star-studded casts, a diverse group of both celebrated and emerging playwrights, a team of professional directors, and an accomplished design team, this year's New Play Festival will perform for one-night-only at New World Stages (340 West 50th St., NYC). The festival is presented in honor of Support Women Artists Now Day/SWAN Day (www.SwanDay.org), an annual celebration of the diversity, beauty and power of women's creativity. Proceeds from the festival will benefit the League of Professional Theatre Women, in its mission of promoting visibility and increasing opportunities for women in the professional theatre.

The evening will feature 11 new, short works written and directed by women theatre artists.

Performers scheduled to appear include: Richarda Abrams, Robert Baumgardner, Barbara Bonilla, Stephen Bradbury, Elizabeth A. Davis, Taleen Dersdepanian, Mark Emerson, Andrew Eisenman, Amelia Fowler, Leah Kornfeld Friedman, Donna Haley, Michael Gilpin, Susan Greenhill, Elizabeth Hess, Ana Maria Jomolca, Kathryn A. Layng, Annie McGovern, Jared McNeill, Jed Peterson, Jay Potter, David Rasche, Darcie Siciliano, Jelena Stupljanin, Scotty Watson, Shaun Bennet Wilson, and Hollis Witherspoon.

Tickets to the March 7th event are $50, and are available by phone at 1-800-838-3006 (Event code: 154860) or online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/154860.

The New World Stages is located at 340 West 50th Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues.

Please check the LPTW website for more information: www.TheatreWomen.org.

LPTW'S 2011 NEW PLAY FESTIVAL LINEUP:

A Less Than Ideal Position: Playwright Robin Rothstein, Director Valentina Fratti
Hope and fear engulf three job applicants as the economy continues to challenge the world we live in.

BUDFUD129ZK: Playwright Robin Rice Lichtig, Director Kay Long
A scientist must decide between love for a man and love for her country. It would be an easier decision if it didn't involve pandas.

Cooking In: Playwright Kitty Chen, Director Marcy Arlin
Times are hard. The high style is out. Eating out is out. When the Sisyphean task of cooking 3 meals a day, every day, threatens a marriage and a woman's sanity, a counterman at the local MacMickleBurgerShack dishes up some tasty morsels.

Dim Sum: Playwright Deborah Savadge, Director Melissa Maxwell
Em and Henry want to give their daughter a perfect wedding, but first they have to con the third grade.

Dust to Dust: Playwright Elizabeth Hess, Director Colleen Toole
Dust to Dust transforms the abuse of Bosnian women during wartime into a ‘human cry' that resonates with terrifying immediacy.

I Believe in Marriage: Playwright Susan Merson, Director Shellen Lubin
Jack talks to us about the handshake that is a marriage and what it means to make that commitment to someone else's well being.
Morpho-Genesis: Playwright Fengar Gael, Director Lorca Peress
A futuristic female Frankenstein employs her womb to incubate a new aquatic species, a genetic experiment gone tragically awry.

Paper Flowers From Now On: Playwright Leah Kornfeld Friedman,
Director Ludovica Villar-Hauser
A poignant portrait of loss, longing and acceptance.

Top Secret America: Playwright Andrea Lepcio, Director Alexa Kelly
854,000 Americans hold Top Secret Security Clearances to fight the war on terrorism. Top Secret America portrays two of them at work in a suburban outpost.

Wedding Bells: Playwright Glenda Frank, Director Edie Cowan
The elders of the church have instructed Sister Malomar, a God-Fearing Warrior for the Lord and chief Honeybee, to find a husband. She vets the various selections and makes a surprising choice.

White Dress: Playwright Laura A. Shamas, Director Dev Bondarin
An unusual park encounter between a photographer and a bride puts a wedding dress front and center. What happens when a white dress can be tracked by a GPS?