Throes Theater Presents a Premiere on TNC's Dream Up Festival, 8/17-24

The Dream Up Festival at Theater for the New City (155 First Avenue) presents Throes Theater in "Simple as Life and Death," which will play for six performances, August 17-24, in the Dream Up Festival at Theater for the New City. The new work, receiving its New York debut, is a comic drama that offers a fresh meditation on freedom in the modern world. The play is written and performed by Meirav Kupperberg and Alexandra Zelman-Doring, with direction by Keren Tzur.

Tickets are $15, and can be purchased at www.smarttix.com or 212-868-4444.

"Simple as Life and Death" centers around two friends: Efrat, who comes from Israel to visit Anne in New York - with an open ticket. Efrat is 36 years old and running from pressures that have suddenly surrounded her at home. Anne, 27 years old, is an ambitious artist who has just returned from spending a year with her love in Israel. She finds herself racked with doubt after a tragic accident that occurred months earlier involving her husband and another woman, only to discover that she is pregnant. Their encounter leads the women through a journey of discovery and change, shaking their belief systems to the core, and providing a deep portrait of the differences between American and Israeli cultures. The multi-media work also incorporates video art and original music to tell its dynamic tale.

"Simple as Life and Death" has taken its title from a line in the poem "Resurrection" by Yehuda Amichai, which opens with:

"A woman who looks like my mother sees a man who looks like me,

Mistakes are marvelous and simple as life and death
As the artithmetic book of a small child..."

An afternoon wind blows, as if asking:
What did you do, what did you talk about....."

Throes Theater was founded in 2010 by writer/performer Alexandra Zelman-Doring, sculptor and designer Jeff Landman, and actor/producer Marie Godeau. The company has performed internationally to critical acclaim at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and various venues in NYC, most recently the Access Theater, where they presented the Spalding Grey-inspired "Halfway through the Story of Our Life."

KEREN TZUR (director) is a two-time best actress academy award winner and considered one of the leading actresses in Israeli theater. Her directing gained her another award for the play Missing Beat and she has most recently directed Fen by Caryl Churchil at the Haifa University acting school, her own alma mater. Keren is also a graduate of Haifa University, where she earned a BA in Political Science and Communications.

Visit www.throestheater.com for more information.