A CHARITY CASE starring Two-Time Tony Nominee Alison Fraser, Alysia Reiner (Sideways) and Jill Shackner (Les Miserables) begins previews Friday, October 28th at The Clurman Theatre( 410 West 42nd Street- between 9th and 10th Avenues) . This new play about adoption is written and directed by Australian playwright Wendy Beckett. Opening night is set for Wednesday, November 2nd.
Is it possible to find yourself when you don't understand where you came from? A young girl struggles to come of age while caught in an endless tug of war between her loyalty to the imperfect woman who took her in and her curiosity about the troubled woman who gave her away. A CHARITY CASE delves deeply into the entanglements between a biological mother, an adoptive mother and their 17-year-old daughter.
Alison Fraser most recently starred in School For Lies at
Classic Stage Company. She recently created the role of Sister Walburga in
Charles Busch's The Divine Sister and is a two-time Tony Award nominee for playing Martha in The Secret Garden and Josefine in Romance/Romance. Also on Broadway, she was Dorine in Tartuffe; Born Again, Helena in Drood, and Tessie Tura in
Arthur Laurents's acclaimed production of Gypsy starring
Patti LuPone. Off Broadway roles Alison has created include Jessie in
Terrence McNally's Dedication, or the Stuff of Dreams, Trina in March of the Falsettos and In Trousers and Miss Drumgoole in Up Against It. Film and TV credits include "Between the Lions," "Law & Order: SVU," "Third Watch," The Thing About My Folks" opposite
Peter Falk and
Paul Reiser, "In the Blood" and the upcoming "Commentary."
Jill Shackner has appeared on Broadway in Les Miserables and Off-Broadway in Landscape of the Body, Prince & The Pauper, Penny 4 Eyes Rock N' Roll Show, and
The Broadway Kids. Her television credits include "All My Children," "Three Moons Over Milford," "As the World Turns," "Out of the Box," "Star Search," and "Celebrity Deathmatch," and film credits consist of "Text Me" (NYC International Film Festival - Best Actress Nominee; Houston Comedy Film Festival - Best Actress Nominee), "Paper Man," and "House of D."
Alysia Reiner is an award-winning stage, screen & television actress. Recent theatre credits include Tina Modotti in Modotti, Hillary (The Public), the Obie winning An Oak Tree, Jayson with a Y (
The New Group), Anais Nin:One of Her Lives, Wasps in Bed, Pentecost (Drama Desk Nom.) and the NY Premiere of Tender. Recent films include "The Vicious Kind," "Not For Nothing" "Arranged," "Schooled," " One Last Thing," " Sideways" TV includes recurring role of Cindy on "The Starter Wife," " 30 Rock," "White Collar," "The Sopranos," "Blue Bloods," "Law & Order," "Love Monkey," "The Jury," "The Drew Cary Show," "The Practice," "Family Law" and "Jack & Jill," and the new web series "Puppy Love."
Writer and director
Wendy Beckett has written more than 25 plays (all staged) and directed more than 40 in England, France Scotland Australia and New York. A native of Australia, she has also written radio plays for the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC). She later went on to conduct interviews for ABC with some of the best minds of our time, including
Leonard Bernstein, Yehudi Menuhin and
Martha Graham. At the early age of 22, she founded her own women's theatre company, ‘Colours Inc' and began bringing to the stage several plays, which toured Australia. Her most notable works include Without Limits-
Isadora Duncan, Anais Nin-One of Her Lives, Claudel, Losing My Religion, Love Therapy and Refugees. Her directorial credits include works by Shakespeare, The Cherry Orchard, Waiting For Godot and The Women of
James Joyce. Recently, she has directed her own work, For the Love of Alma Mahler at the Sydney Opera House, accompanied by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. She has been a university lecturer, author, librettist and journalist. Ms. Beckett's works are collected by The Australian National Library in Canberra.
Scenic design is by David L Arsenault, with lighting design by
Travis McHale and costume design by
Theresa Squire.
The playing schedule for A CHARITY CASE is as follows: Tuesdays at 7pm, Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8pm, with matinees on Saturday at 2pm and Sundays at 3PM. Tickets are $35. For tickets call Telecharge at (212) 239-6200 or visit
www.Telecharge.com.
