Birney, Payne & More Set For Ars Nova's GRACE, OR THE ART OF CLIMBING 4/19

Ars Nova presents, as part of the Out Loud series, a FREE reading of: GRACE, OR THE ART OF CLIMBING by Lauren Feldman, directed by Lisa Peterson. The cast includes Reed Birney, Natalia Payne, Armando Riesco, Maureen Sebastian, Charles Socarides and Susan Kelechi Watson.

GRACE, OR THE ART OF CLIMBING

Faced with a painful chapter in her life and fighting the inertia of depression, Emm decides to enter the world of competitive rock-climbing. Her quest through the rugged and often humorous terrain of physical training charts the journey of a young woman suspended between muscularity and vulnerability, falling and climbing, and the ardor and grace of being human.

Lauren Feldman's other plays include The Egg-Layers, A People, Fill Our Mouths, and her current work-in-progress Quinn Or Also the Mooncalves, as well as a dozen short plays, a solo piece, and several collaborative/devised works. She is also a co-creator of The Apocryphal Project. Her work has been developed at Montana Artists Refuge, Montana Repertory Theatre, and Cornell, Emory, and Sewanee University. She was a U.S. Playwright Delegate with The Royal Court Theatre and World Interplay Australia, and she received nominations for the 2009 ATCA/Steinberg New Play Award and Wendy Wasserstein Prize. She's now writing, collaborating, traveling, and teaching playwriting. (M.F.A. Yale School of Drama, B.A. Cornell University, The Shakespeare Programme BADA/Skidmore.)

Lisa Peterson (Director): NY: Shipwrecked (Primary Stages); End Days (EST); The Poor Itch, Tongue of a Bird, The Square (Public Theater); The Fourth Sister, The Batting Cage (Vineyard); Birdy, Chemistry of Change (WPP/Playwrights Horizons); Collected Stories (MTC); Tight Embrace (Intar); Sueno (MCC); The Model Apartment (Primary Stages); Bexley Oh, Trestle at Pope Lick Creek, Slavs!, Traps, Light Shining in Buckinghamshire (Obie Award), The Waves (NYTW); The Scarlet Letter (CSC); Regional: Mark Taper Forum, La Jolla Playhouse, Berkeley Rep, Intiman, South Coast Rep, CalShakes, OSF, The Guthrie, Dallas Theater Center, Arena Stage, McCarter, Philadelphia Theater Co, Baltimore Center Stage, Yale Rep, Hartford Stage, The Huntington, Actors Theater of Louisville, Sundance Theater Lab, O'Neill Playwrights Conference, Midwest Playlabs, NY Stage & Film. Upcoming: An Iliad adapted with Denis O'Hare (Seattle Rep/McCarter); Surf Report by Annie Weisman (La Jolla Playhouse); The Escort by Jane Anderson (Geffen).

GRACE, OR THE ART OF CLIMBING will be read on Monday, April 19 at 7pm. The OUT LOUD Series is FREE and open to the public. Reservations are required. Please call 212-977-1700 or email rsvp@arsnovanyc.com. Ars Nova is located at 511 West 54 Street. For more information, visit www.arsnovanyc.com.

About Ars Nova
Ars Nova is committed to developing and producing theatre, comedy and music artists in the Early Stages of their professional careers. Our unique development programs are designed to support outside-the-box thinking and encourage innovative, genre-bending work. By providing a safe environment where risk-taking and collaboration are paramount, Ars Nova gives voice to a new generation of artists and audiences, pushing the boundaries of live entertainment by nurturing creative ideas into smart, surprising new work. For more information on Ars Nova's programs, visit www.arsnovanyc.com.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.