MITF Presents SEX CURVE, Closes 7/31

The Midtown International Theatre Festival and Spark Motion Productions present Sex Curve, a new, romantic comedy by Merridith Allen. The cast of five includes Bethany Clein, Matt Alford (Off-Bway: To Whom It May Concern), Shanell Sapp, Neville Braithwaite ("Law and Order"), and Kevin Melrose. Sex Curve will play at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre, 312 West 36th Street, 1st Floor, NYC, 10018 for five performances from July 21-31, 2011.

Can a science control who you might fall in love with? Brilliant biochemist, Marissa, has had a nasty break-up and decides that in order to prevent it from happening again, she'll have to take matters into her own hands. So, she develops a serum to block the oxytosin hormone in women (the hormone that supposedly causes the ‘love' emotion) and she and her two roommates, go-go dancer, Lucas, and sex how-to writer, Robyn, test out the effects of the oxytosin-blocker. Told through the structure of the scientific method, what follows is a struggle between heart and head, science and intuition, gender roles, and relationship rules. Can Marissa find love on her own terms?

"Everyone falls in love and no one had much say in the matter, which is why it's such a delicious idea to think, hmm...what if I could control that?, stated playwright Merridith Allen. "In Sex Curve, a multi-ethnic cast with varying sexual preferences deals with this question, which I believe evidences one of life's Universal, ironic and funny mysteries."

Sex Curve is presented by Spark Motion Productions. Costume Designer: ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Amanda Caminiti; Publicist: Paul Siebold/Off Off PR.

Sex Curve plays for five performances on the following schedule: Thursday, July 21 @ 9pm; Monday, July 25 @ 6pm; Tuesday, July 26 @5:30pm; Saturday, July 30th @ 9:30pm; and Sunday, July 31st at 4:30pm.

Playwright and Director Merridith Allen is a graduate of the MFA program in Playwriting from The University of New Orleans, and also holds a BFA in Acting/Performance from Adelphi University. Her plays have been produced at such venues as The Manhattan Repertory Theatre, The Provincetown Theatre, and The Hudson Guild Theatre. Merridith's play, The House of Fallen Snow was a finalist at The Strawberry one-act festival in February 2011. In addition, Merridith's plays have received staged readings and workshops nationally and abroad, and she has been published in Northern Light, a literary collection of student work through The University of Edinburgh.

Tickets are $18 for adults, $15 for student and seniors and can be purchased by visiting http://www.midtownfestival.org

The run time for Sex Curve is 90 minutes with no intermission.

The Midtown International Theatre Festival's 2011 Season runs from July 11 - 31 at the June Havoc Theatre, 312 W. 36th Street, 1stfloor; the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre, 312 W. 36th Street, 1st floor; the Main Stage Theater, 312 W. 36th Street, 4th floor; and the Jewel Box Theater, 312 W.36th Street, 4th floor. Tickets are $18-15 and are available at www.midtownfestival.org or by phone at 866-811-4111.

The Midtown International Theatre Festival, now in its twelfth year, celebrates the diversity of theatre. The MITF welcomes theatrical storytelling across a broad spectrum of genres, forms, identities, cultures, and appetites. The MITF seeks to nurture these new ideas, perspectives, and stories on its stages, with an eye set on guiding these productions toward future success and longevity. The festival, traditionally held in summer, represents a fantastic, often paradoxical, adventurous and intriguing cross-section of the forefront of the Theatre World. The MITF proudly hosts production companies from across the country and around the globe, uniting talent in one of the biggest theatre capitals in the world.

John Chatterton created the MITF in2000, a Midtown alternative to other theatre festivals, as a way to present the finest off-off Broadway talent in convenience, comfort, and safety. In 2008, the Festival added two 99-seat theatres and inaugurated the Commercial Division for upwardly mobile shows with commercial ambitions.

For more information, visit www.midtownfestival.org.