TCG to Distribute New Publisher: 53rd State Press

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) has announced that it is now the distributor of 53rd State Press, a publisher of new plays and performance texts that interrogate, challenge, renew and emblazon the language of performance. 53rd State Press's current catalog includes innovative works by noted ensemble theatres Pig Iron Theatre Company and Nature Theater of Oklahoma, as well as by playwrights and artists including Erin Courtney, Erik Ehn, Sibyl Kempson and Kristen Kosmas.

Founded in 2007 by Karinne Keithley Syers, who was joined shortly thereafter by Antje Oegel, 53rd State Press is co-edited by Keithley Syers and Oegel, who work on a small, sustainable model, publishing writing for performance that particularly tends toward new directions in the theatrical imagination of language. 53rd State Press is also engaged in finding and distributing documentation of interdisciplinary performance and choreographic composition.

"I started the press out of an impulse to both preserve and disseminate the writing coming out of my community. All these extraordinarily imaginative pieces of performance language were being written, but for the most part were heard, or if lucky staged, for no more than two or three nights... I was inspired by indie rock labels in the sense that I felt we could take responsibility for representing ourselves." - Karinne Keithley Syers, founder of 53rd State Press

The 2013-2014 53rd State Press catalog will feature the following titles: Seagull (Thinking of You) + Family and Away Uniform by Tina Satter (to be published in September); Another Tree Dance by Karinne Keithley Syers (October); There There, a bilingual edition in Russian and English by Kristen Kosmas (December); Another Telepathic Thing, including supplementary interviews with company members, by Big Dance Theater (March); The Rude Mechs: Three Plays, with archival material and running commentary (June) and 53rd State Press Occasional No. 2 edited by Antje Oegel (date TBD). For more information on the press and its upcoming titles, visit www.53rdstatepress.org.

All titles by 53rd State Press are available for purchase at the TCG Bookstore on www.tcg.org, as well as at other fine bookstores.

For over 50 years, Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre, has existed to strengthen, nurture and promote the professional not-for-profit American theatre. TCG's constituency has grown from a handful of groundbreaking theatres to nearly 700 member theatres and affiliate organizations and more than 12,000 individuals nationwide. TCG offers its members networking and knowledge-building opportunities through conferences, events, research and communications; awards grants, approximately $2 million per year, to theatre companies and individual artists; advocates on the federal level; and serves as the U.S. Center of the InterNational Theatre Institute, connecting its constituents to the global theatre community. TCG is North America's largest independent trade publisher of dramatic literature, with 12 Pulitzer Prizes for Best Play on the TCG booklist. It also publishes the award-winning AMERICAN THEATRE magazine and ARTSEARCH, the essential source for a career in the arts. In all of its endeavors, TCG seeks to increase the organizational efficiency of its member theatres, cultivate and celebrate the artistic talent and achievements of the field and promote a larger public understanding of, and appreciation for, the theatre.

TCG books are exclusively distributed to the book trade by Consortium Book Sales and Distribution. Orders: 800-283-3572. SAN number: 63170X. Individuals may call 212-609-5900 or visit our online bookstore at www.tcg.org. For postage and handling, add $6.50 for the first book and $1.00 for each additional copy.