PSYCHOMACHIA Plays Shelter Studios 12/1-3

Artistic New Directions (Artistic Co-Directors, Kristine Niven & Janice L. Goldberg) will present the World Premiere of Jennifer Lane's heart-wrenching psychological drama, "PSYCHOMACHIA," as their 26th Anniversary Season's first production, in association with Shetler Studios & Theatres.

Directed by Robin A. Paterson and starring Ashlie Atkinson, "PSYCHOMACHIA" is a soul-to-soul, fight to the finish between a pair of twenty-something twins.

Preview performances begin Wednesday, December 1st and continue through Friday, December 3rd at THEATRE 54 @ SHETLER STUDIOS (244 West 54th Street, 12th Floor - between Broadway & Eighth Avenue).

Opening Night is Saturday, December 4.

Featured in the cast are Cynthia Mace, Frank Deal, Arthur French, Kyle Groff, John Calvin Kelly, and Jennifer Laine Williams.

Set & Lighting by Robin A. Paterson. Music by Trystan Trazon. Costumes by Nicole Montemarano.

ABOUT Ashlie Atkinson

Ashlie Atkinson is a graduate of The Neighborhood Playhouse and a 2005 Theatre World Award winner (as well as a Lortel and Outer Critics' Circle nominee) for her performance as Helen in Neil LaBute's Fat Pig (Off Broadway). Ashlie was featured most recently as Phoebe in As You Like It and Juno in The Tempest for The Bridge Project, directed by Sam Mendes. The Bridge Project toured internationally, including stops at BAM in New York and The Old Vic in London's West End. Ashlie was also in Roundabout Theatre's The Ritz (Broadway), Second Stage's Butcher of Baraboo (Off Broadway), and the Bridge Theatre Company's Making Marilyn (Theatre 54), as well as multiple cycles of The 24 Hour Plays. Her film and television appearances include Inside Man, The Invention of Lying, Another Gay Movie, Rescue Me, The Unusuals, Quid Pro Quo, Margot At the Wedding, Hungry Years, Law & Order, and the upcoming thriller All Good Things. Ashlie has played the role of Lydia in all three workshops of Psychomachia.

ABOUT THE PLAY

The connection between Johnny and Lydia Mercer was as profound as it was personal until Johnny took his own life, leaving his sister immediately alone and painfully confused. Desperate to find out why her beloved twin would commit suicide, Lydia buries herself in his journals, becoming so obsessed she does not notice that he is seducing her from the "other side" to join him in death as they were in life. Theirs is a war played out on a battlefield that is reserved for struggles of epic proportions. He is fighting for his sister's soul. She is desperately determined to survive. So much so her battle cries become screams for help. It is a riveting struggle that will leave the audience stunned. This is spellbinding theatre at its best.

THE THEATRE
Theatre 54 @ Shetler Studios
244 West 54th Street, 12th floor

TICKETS $18
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