Northern Manhattan's UP Theater Company Has Announced the Cast of A BARN PLAY

Northern Manhattan's own UP Theater Company presents a different kind of animal farm in the world premiere of Lizzie Donahue's "A Barn Play" March 18-April 4, 2020, at the Good Shepherd/Inwood Academy Space. This timely and darkly comic fable explores the power of creating art amidst oppression when a cast of farm animals rehearses their show. Directed by Melissa Moschitto, Founding Artistic Director of The Anthropologists.

Owl (Rik Walter*) attempts to rehearse his new play with a lively and opinionated ensemble of farm animals: Chicken (April J. Barber), Pig (Sarah Kiefer*), Dog (Arisael Rivera*), Cow (Mariette Strauss), Sheep (China Pharr), and Cat (Stephanie Chu). Tensions flare when a crisis befalls the animals and the ensemble rejects Owl's arty attempt for one of their own devising - one that sheds light on our own relationships with animals, children, and art. This provocative dark comedy asks, "At a time of crisis, who will stand up and be the pig, and who will be the owl?"

*Member of Actors' Equity Association / AEA approved showcase

Show Information

WHAT: A Barn Play
WHEN:

8:00 p.m. Wednesday, March 18
8:00 p.m. Thursday, March 19
8:00 p.m. Friday, March 20
8:00 p.m. Saturday, March 21
8:00 p.m. Wednesday, March 25
8:00 p.m. Thursday, March 26
8:00 p.m. Friday, March 27
8:00 p.m. Saturday, March 28
8:00 p.m. Wednesday, April 1
8:00 p.m. Thursday, April 2
8:00 p.m. Friday, April 3
8:00 p.m. Saturday, April 4

WHERE: Good Shepherd/Inwood Academy Space -108 Cooper Street (between 207th & Isham) Inwood, New York 10034

HOW MUCH: $25. $15 Seniors and students with ID.

TICKETS: www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4492114

MORE INFO: www.uptheater.org

WHO:

Written by Lizzie Donahue
Directed by Melissa Moschitto
Set Design: Duane Pagano
Costume Design: Hunter Dowell
Lighting Design: Diana Duecker
Sound Design: David Margolin Lawson
Stage Manager: Joe Heike
Associate Producer: PM2 Entertainment

"A Barn Play" is made possible in part by support from: New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation, LMCC, Manhattan Community Award.

UP Theater Company has developed new plays and fully produced professional theater to its community in Northern Manhattan since 2010; fully producing 12 world premieres, and gaining attention with its diverse theatrical endeavors. In addition to full productions, other programs include cunning adaptations of The Canterbury Tales and summer readings of re-imagined classic plays; Showing UP opportunities where artists share their works in progress; Dead of Winter Reading Series: the audacious "Subway Wedding," and the annual Onward & UPward gala benefits.

Lizzie Donahue (Playwright) Film and television editor for over 20 years. Highlights include "Art in the 20th Century: Power" which won a Peabody. After meeting Milica Zec who was a teenager in Bosnia during the most recent conflict, Lizzie came up with an idea for a script that became the "Giant" VR Piece which got into Sundance and then travelled all over the world. Lizzie's "I Became a Lesbian and So Can You" infauxmercial played in festivals all over the world. Her one-act plays have also been seen at Dixon Place.

Melissa Moschitto (Director) Melissa is a director, producer and writer who specializes in devised theatre and new plays. Her work has been seen at HERE, The New Ohio, Dixon Place and has been an artist-in-residence at Abrons Arts Center. A former competitive figure skater, she loves infusing her work with movement. She has trained with Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, Doug Varone and Dancers, Siti Company, and Odin Teatret in Denmark. She is the Founding Artistic Director of The Anthropologists, a theatre company dedicated to the collaborative creation of investigative theatre that inspires action. Favorite projects with The Anthropologists include Artemisia's Intent (Best Solo Drama, Frigid 2018), This Sinking Island (2018), Save The World! (Ice Factory 2017), No Man's Land (2016, TheaterLab) and Give Us Bread (2010 Berkshire Fringe). She holds a B.A. in Theater from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.