Amoralists to Stage World Premiere of UTILITY at Rattlestick

The Amoralists proudly present the world premiere of UTILITY, written by Emily Schwend and directed by Jay Stull. UTILITY runs from January 28 - February 20, 2016 in a limited engagement at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, located at 224 Waverly Place between Perry & West 11th Streets in New York City. Previews begin January 28 for a February 1 opening.

Performances are Thursdays - Saturdays 8pm with additional shows on Sun, Jan 31 at 8pm, Sun, Feb 14 at 3pm, and Wed, Feb 17 at 8pm. Opening night is Mon, Feb 1 at 8pm. Tickets are $18 and can be purchased online at http://www.TheAmoralists.com or by calling 1-866-811-4111. For info visit http://www.TheAmoralists.com, Like them on Facebook at https://www.Facebook.com/TheAmoralists, and follow on Twitter at @TheAmoralists.

Amber has two jobs, three kids and an eight-year-old's birthday party to plan. The house needs fixing up and her on-again, off-again husband Chris just can't help but make things worse. As Amber struggles to keep things from boiling over, she finds herself a stranger to the person she once was and the person she thought she might be.

The cast includes Alex Grubbs (SeaWife with Naked Angels, Mary-Kate Olsen Is in Love & These Seven Sicknesses at The Flea), Melissa Hurst (One Neck with Atlantic Theatre Co., Dark Ride at Soho Rep, Obie Award-winning play The Houseguests), James Kautz (The Other Thing at Second Stage, The Pied Pipers of the Lower East Side & The Bad and the Better with The Amoralists), and Vanessa Vache (Rantoul and Die, The Bad and the Better & HotelMotel with The Amoralists).

The design team includes Kate Noll (Set Design), Jeanne Travis (Sound Design), Nick Houfek (Lighting Design), Angela Harner (Costume Design) and Zach Serafin (Prop Design). The production team includes Anderson Heinz (Associate Producer) and Jeremy Pape (Production Manager).

The Amoralists continue to garner critical acclaim in the theatrical world. The New York Times said, "The Amoralists cements its reputation as the most promising, crowd-pleasing ensemble to emerge downtown." "Nobody else weds old-fashioned realist structure to working-class-hero lunacy quite this way," enthused Time Out New York. Paper Magazine exclaimed, "Like good punk rock, The Amoralists come on strong; they're hard, fast and loud." "One of these days The Amoralists are going to get arrested," warned Variety.

The Amoralists is a theatre company that produces work of no moral judgment. Dedicated to an honest expression of the American condition, their ensemble explores complex characters of moral ambiguity. Leaving no stone unturned, they plumb the depths of the social, political, spiritual and sexual characteristics of human nature. They were selected as a 2012 Person of the Year by NYTheatre.com.

Emily Schwend's (Playwright) plays include THE OTHER THING (2015 Uptown Series at Second Stage Theatre), TAKE ME BACK (Walkerspace in NY, New York Times Critics' Pick, The Poor Theatre in Chicago), SOUTH OF SETTLING (Next Up Rep at Steppenwolf), SPLINTERS (CUDC Source Festival), ROUTE ONE OFF, CARTHAGE and BEHIND THE MOTEL. She was the 2014 Tow Foundation playwright-in-residence at Second Stage Theatre. Emily is the recipient of the Lecomte du Nouy Prize, a MacDowell Fellowship, the 2013 Heideman Prize, the 2011 ACT New Play Award, and the 2009 David Calicchio Emerging American Playwrights Prize. She is a frequent contributor to Christine Jones's Theatre for One booth. Recently, her work has been commissioned by Ensemble Studio Theatre through the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and by the Old Vic in London. Emily is from Texas, and she's a proud alumna of the playwriting programs at Juilliard and Tisch.

Jay Stull's (Director) recent New York directing credits include Omega Kids by Noah Mease (Dixon Place), Take Me Back by Emily Schwend (Walkerspace), Leave Me Green by Lisi DeHaas (Gym at Judson), Enter At Forest Lawn and Rantoul and Die by Mark Roberts (The Amoralists), and an upcoming workshop production of As Far As The Day Goes by Jenny Schwartz (Clubbed Thumb). His written and directing work has been seen at or developed by LAByrinth, Ars Nova, the Bloomington Playwrights Project, The Flea, Dixon Place, Fresh Ground Pepper, the Lark Play Development Center, Ugly Rhino, The Culture Project, and Joe's Pub with The Civilians. He is a current Directing Fellow with Clubbed Thumb, a member in the Lincoln Center Directors Lab and the 2015 R&D Group with The Civilians. He is an alumnus of Fresh Ground Pepper's Playground Play Group, Pataphysics at The Flea, and Bowdoin College.

The theater is accessible via the 1, 2, and 3 train lines (at 14th Street and Christopher Street/Sheridan Square) and on the A, B, C, D, E, F, and M lines (at West 4th Street).