The Civilians Host IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN Benefit 5/6

The Civilians (Steven Cosson, Artistic Director), the acclaimed Brooklyn-based investigative theater company, will host its annual spring benefit on Thursday, May 6, 2010 at Kiss & Fly Club in Manhattan. The theme of the evening is the environment, in connection with The Civilians' new play in development, The Great Immensity about climate change and the future of our planet. The benefit will feature a one-night-only performance directed by Artistic Director Steve Cosson that includes excerpts from The Great Immensity and songs written on-the-spot by Associate Artists, including The Civilians' co-founding Artist and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson composer and lyricist, Michael Friedman. In The Civilians' tradition of creating plays from interviews, the new songs will be inspired by attendees' responses to the question, "When you think about the future of the planet, what you see?"

Civilians' Associate Artists, Emily Ackerman, Maria Dizzia, Gibson Frasier, Lexy Fridell, Nina Hellman, Brandon Miller, Caitlin Miller, Jeanine Serralles, and Robbie Collier Sublett are currently scheduled to perform. The benefit begins at 7PM with hors d'oeuvres by Sage General Store and cocktails sponsored by Chopin Vodka. Tickets are $25 - $225 and can be purchased at www.thecivilians.org or by calling 718-230-3330.

The Great Immensity recently received a workshop at the Berlind Theatre as part of The Civilians' 2009-2010 residency at Princeton University. The play is also included in The Public Theater's upcoming New Work Now Festival with a reading on May 12, 2010 at 7PM.

Founded in 2001 by Steven Cosson, The Civilians is an investigative theater company, creating new work from the creative exploration of real life. Working with a dynamic combination of journalism and art, The Civilians creates theatrical events that promote an inquisitive curiosity about the world and an engagement with the most vital questions of the present. The Civilians has created twelve original works that have been produced Off Broadway and in over 40 cities nationally and internationally, at theaters such as The Public Theater, Center Theatre Group, La Jolla Playhouse, A.R.T., HBO's US Comedy Festival, Actors Theatre Of Louisville's Humana Festival, London's Soho Theatre, and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (Fringe First Award, 2006). The company's recent work, This Beautiful City enjoyed a critically-acclaimed Off-Broadway run at the Vineyard Theater in 2009 receiving Lucille Lortel, Drama League and Drama Desk nominations and the long-running hit Gone Missing ran for seven months at Off-Broadway's Barrow Street Theater and was cited by The New York Times as one of the "10 Best Plays of 2007." The Civilians' work has been published by Playscripts and Oberon Books. The Civilians received an Obie in 2004 in recognition of its accomplishments in its first two seasons of work.

For more information about The Civilians, visit www.thecivilians.org.