A Special Presentation Of Lynda Crawford's STARS OUT OF BALANCE Comes to Planet Connections

What happens to a family of acrobats who find themselves grounded - thanks to a brutal war and unusual weather?

Lynda Crawford's Stars Out of Balance, presented by YaYa Productions, as part of the 10th anniversary season of Planet Connections Theatre Festivity at the Theaters of the Clemente, 107 Suffolk Street, New York City (btw Rivington & Delancey). A Special Presentation: Wednesday 8/1 @ 3pm-5pm

Celebrated playwright Lynda Crawford offers up a new gripping drama about a family of acrobats who find themselves stranded by a long war and unusual weather. They continue performing for the other displaced families around them in an attempt to hold onto their craft-and each other.

Ms. Crawford's canon of works have been seen at Emerging Artists Theatre's New Work Series; 365 Women a Year Festival at Florida State University; HB Playwrights Theatre; William Inge Playlab; In Her Name Festival, NYC; Women Playwrights International Conference at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, 2015; FringeNYC; Unchained Festival; Samuel French Short Play Competition; and several season of Planet Connections. Ms. Crawford is also an adjunct at SUNY/Empire State College, where she leads the Playwriting Lab.

This special presentation is directed by Terry Greiss

Terry Greiss has been working in the theatre for 45 years. He is an actor, director, producer and co-founder, of NYC's Irondale Ensemble Project. He has conducted hundreds of workshops in public schools, prisons, professional training programs, and theatres. He is a Master Teacher of Acting in the Broadway Teacher's Summit. In 2010 he was awarded Brooklyn Arts Exchange's Arts Education Award. He has been a panelist for the NEA, NYS Council on the Arts, TCG, Brooklyn Arts Council, and numerous other funding organizations. He is currently a member of the governing steering committee for the Downtown Brooklyn Arts Alliance. In April 2008 he was invited by the United States Embassy to lecture and teach at Moscow's leading theatre academies, the Moscow Art Theatre and G.I.T.I.S., at the theatre academy in Yaroslavl and to speak about the American ensemble theatre movement at the Golden Mask Festival. In addition to his work at Irondale, he has taught at the New School and the University of Wisconsin Drama Center. In October 2008, after leading Irondale's three million dollar capital campaign, he and the Irondale Ensemble opened the Irondale Center, the company's first permanent home, in the Brooklyn Cultural District.

Tickets and further info: planetconnections.org/

This summer, Planet Connections Theatre Festivity (PCTF), the brainchild of arts professional Glory Kadigan, turns 10 years old. In that decade, PCTF has successfully changed the landscape of the theatre festival and all of New York independent theatre. The multi-award-winning theatre festival will celebrate in a big way by premiering more than 50 timely and topical plays and musicals written by the next generation of playwrights. Each play contains a powerful message serving as a parable of various world themes. The Tenth Planet: Planet Connections Theatre Festivity will run from July 9 through August 5, 2018 at The Clemente, 107 Suffolk Street, NYC.www.planetconnections.org. Artists presenting works from all across America, including Denver, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Providence and New York City; and from all over the planet, including Japan, Yugoslavia, Russia, Peru, France, Belarus, & Haiti are part of this years festivity.

A defining facet of PCTF is its truly tangible connection to the world. Each artist within each season uses their work to shed light on causes that matter and inspire audiences to get involved. PCTF's artists raise awareness - and funds - for a charity of their own selection. Furthering its message, PCTF is the country's first eco-friendly arts festivity, providing green marketing and promotional materials and supporting sustainable design production practices.