The Active Theater Presents BODY LANGUAGE, 5/31 - 6/10

The Active Theater (Nathaniel Shaw, Artistic Director), now in its fourth year, announces its final production for the 2011-2012 season, the world premiere of Jennie Contuzzi's BODY LANGUAGE. Directed by Nathaniel Shaw, the play opens on Thursday, May 31st at The Workshop Theater (312 W. 36th Street). Previews begin Friday, May 25th. BODY LANGUAGE runs through June 10th.

BODY LANUAGE is a dark comedy about a woman who has spent the better part of her two year relationship trying to become the person she thinks her boyfriend wants her to be. Now, with a marriage proposal looming, she is desperate to reveal her true self to him, yet fears his rejection if all of her secrets are exposed.

Featured in the cast are: Tim Barker, Christian Campbell, Lucy Owen, and Jeb Kreager; BODY LANGUAGE features Mary Jo Mecca. Nathaniel Shaw is the director.

The design team is comprised of Victoria Miller (Lighting), Craig Napoliello (Set), and Jacob Subotnik (Sound).

Jennie Contuzzi (Playwright) is a graduate of the Playwriting program at the New School for Drama and is a member of MCC Theater's Playwrights' Coalition. Other plays include My Father's Son (NY International Fringe Festival) and Love, Me (Margaret) (Emerging Artists Theatre).

Nathaniel Shaw (Director) is the founder and Artistic Director of The Active Theater. For the company he has directed the New York revival of Richard Greenberg's The Violet Hour, the world premiere of Bridgeboy, and the Midtown InterNational Theatre Festival nominated world premiere of Body Language. Under his leadership the company has collaborated with artists such as Tony Nominees Marcia Milgrom Dodge and Xanthe Elbrick and Jeremy Dobrish, Christian Campbell, Michael McGlone, Samantha Buck, and Marc Robin. His regional credits include the direction of Hair at the Mount Washington Valley Theater Company, which garnered 13 NHTA Nominations, including Best Direction and Best Choreography. Also for Mount Washington he directed and choreographed Hairspray and Damn Yankees, and directed A Chorus Line. His choreography has been seen at the Broadway Palm Theater in Mesa, Arizona in Fiddler on the Roof and Babes in Toyland, as well as in the film Perception by Daedalus Productions.

Now in its fourth year, The Active Theater produced the world premiere of Anthony Dodge's Venus Flytrap, Touch, Two Rooms, the musical Romance/Romance, and the New York premiere of William Donnelly's Magnetic North. The Active Theater has presented new works in collaboration with producers Greg Schaffert, Craig Haffner, and Karl Held and recently joined forces with Bud Martin as associate producer for the New York premiere of Bruce Graham's Any Given Monday. The Active Theater continues to produce thought provoking, contemporary American theater, aimed at giving audiences an opportunity to more closely examine the world we all share.

Originally performed as part of the Midtown International Theater Festival in 2009 (where it received three nominations for the MITF Awards), BODY LANGUAGE was further developed as part of The Active Theater's Play Development Series.

The playing schedule for BODY LANGUAGE is as follows: Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, with a matinee on Saturdays and Sundays at 3pm. Tickets are $18.00. For tickets, please visit www.theactivetheater.com or call 866-811-4111

The production runs through June 10th.