Playwrights Realm's DOV AND ALI Runs Thru 6/27

The U.S. premiere of the Playwrights Realm's production of DOV AND ALI - a new drama by playwright Anna Ziegler and directed by Katherine Kovner - opened at The Cherry Lane Studio Theatre (38 Commerce Street) on Friday, June 12 to enthusiastic reviews. Previews of DOV AND ALI began on June 5, and it will continue to play through June 27.

Once upon a time, in the middle of a school, in the middle of Detroit, in the middle of the United States of America, there was a confused teacher and a precocious student. When Dov, an orthodox Jew and Ali, a strict Muslim, get caught in a cultural crossfire, both are confronted with the same choice: Will they stand by their beliefs or face the devastating consequences?

The Playwrights Realm's production of Anna Ziegler's DOV AND ALI opened Off-Broadway at The Cherry Lane Studio Theatre (38 Commerce Street) on Friday, June 12 to such enthusiastic reviews as: "a flawless play...downright refreshing," - The New York Times; "a tightly constructed play...impressive dramatic flair," - CurtainUp.com; "smartly observational," - Back Stage; and "Probing and insightful" - MusicOMH.com.

Directed by Playwrights Realm CO-Artistic Director Katherine Kovner, DOV AND ALI features a cast which includes Utkarsh Ambudkar (a Lucille Lortel Award Nominee for Second Stage's ANIMALS OUT OF PAPER), Heidi Armbruster (a Drama League nominee for the Keen Compnay's TEA AND SYMPATHY), Anitha Gandhi (seen opposite Frank Langella and Lauren Ambrose in the film "Starting Out in the Evening"), and Adam Green (NONE OF THE ABOVE, Second Stage's ELECTION DAY).

Design team for DOV AND ALI is Steven Kemp (Set Design), Daniel Kluger (Sound Design), Traci Klainer (Lighting Design), and Oana Boetz-Ban (Costume Design).

When it received its World-Premiere production in London at Theatre503, DOV AND ALI opened to such critical praise as: "In an American tradition of plays such as OLEANNA and SPINNING INTO BUTTER, Anna Ziegler's four-hander is an intense and intelligent play," - The Guardian; "Ziegler tackles powerful issues with a gentle human perspective...DOV AND ALI is a powerhouse play the drives its way through an hour and a half of twists and turns about race, individuality, human relations and role models," - WhatonStage.com; and "The Arab Israeli conflict is ripe for drama and, in DOV AND ALI, American Jewish writer Anna Ziegler mines the subject with real flair," - The Stage.

Anna Ziegler's plays include: BFF (W.E.T. at the DR2 Theatre, 2007), NOVEL (SPF, 2007), PHOTOGRAPH 51 (commissioned by Active Cultures and produced February-March, 2008; winner, 3rd Annual STAGE Script Competition 2008), DOV AND ALI (Theatre 503, 2008), LIFE SCIENCE (Bulldog Theatrical, 2007), VARIATIONS ON A THEME (staged readings July 2008 by Chautauqua Theater Company, directed by Ethan McSweeny) , IN THE SAME ROOM, THE MINOTAUR, TO BE FAIR, and EVERYTHING YOU HAVE. Ms. Ziegler was a Dramatist's Guild Fellow for 2004-2005, and a member of the 2005 Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab. She is a Yale graduate, and holds an MFA from Tisch.

Katherine Kovner (Director) most recently directed SUBSTITUTION with Jan Maxwell (The Playwrights Realm). Other Productions: ROXY FONT (New York Fringe Festival & winner of the Fringe's best ensemble award), ELLIOT: A SOLDIER'S FUGUE (Luna Stage), LIZARDSKIN (New York Fringe Festival), and IPHIGENIA AND OTHER DAUGHTERS (Luna Stage). Workshop productions of THE KNIGHT OF THE BURNING PESTLE (Classic Stage Company) and LIZARDSKIN (Powerhouse Theater Company) and selected short works by J. Holtham at Ensemble Studio Theater. She has developed work with New York Theater Workshop, New Georges, Brooklyn Playwrights Collective, and The Manhattan Oracles. A graduate oF Brown University, she's been an artistic associate with Classic Stage Company, the directing fellow at The Public Theatre's Shakespeare Lab, and is a member of the Lincoln Center's Director Lab and affiliated artist with New Georges.

The Playwrights Realm is committed to developing and producing theater with artists - and for audiences - who share its belief that the playwright's vision is central to great theater. Founded in 2007, The Realm is an off-Broadway theater, led by Co-Artistic Directors John Dias and Katherine Kovner and Producing Director Stephanie Ybarra. It believes in creating immediate, imaginative and theatrically vital productions that spring from the core of the text - its language, its ideas and its mysteries.

Scheduled June 5 through June 27, performances of DOV AND ALI run Tuesdays - Fridays at 7:00pm, and Saturdays at 2:00pm & 7:00pm at the Cherry Lane Studio (38 Commerce Street). Tickets range from $20 - $30 and can be reserved by calling TeleCharge at 212-239-6200 or online at www.playwrightsrealm.org.

For additional information about DOV AND ALI visit www.playwrightsrealm.org.