The Civilians Launch Let Me Ascertain You Podcast Series

The Civilians (Steven Cosson, Artistic Director), the award-winning New York-based investigative theater company known for work developed from real life topics, announces the launch of its new podcast series: Let Me Ascertain You, drawn from the company's ongoing live cabaret series of the same title and including the best material from a decade of creative investigation.

The weekly podcast series, available on iTunes and through the company's website www.thecivilians.org each Wednesday, features scenes and songs from live performances by Civilians Associate Artists and friends. Episodes will include the most vivid characters from past plays, current projects, and works-in-development. Early episodes bring current topics to life from Occupy Wall Street, using interviews with protesters at Zuccotti Park, to the debate over Atlantic Yards and the new Barclay's Arena, including interviews with Brooklyn residents and business owners, union members, activists, and politicians such as Letitia James and Marty Markowitz, material collected for The Civilians' critically-acclaimed play In the Footprint: The Battle Over Atlantic Yards. Other episodes feature performances of interviews with prominent members of the adult entertainment industry including Axel Braun and Ginger Lynn. Additional notable figures portrayed include an FBI expert on serial killers, a former gang member, evangelical Christians, a Columbia student who joined a religious cult, pawnshop workers, and the creator of hot nude yoga.

The live and online series provide new forums for audiences to experience and share these unique stories and characters. This is the first audio series produced by the company and marks the start of several projects exploring the relationship between live performance and new media. The company is thrilled to be able to provide this platform for its emerging and established artists and their work, and also for the interviewees and their consistently surprising and illuminating stories.

Founded in 2001 by Steven Cosson, 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, In the Footprint, was included in year-end "Best of 2010" lists in The New York Times, The New Yorker, and Time Out New York. 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. 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 received an Obie in 2004 in recognition of its accomplishments in its first two seasons of work.

In addition to Let Me Ascertain You, The Civilians is deeply involved in its new works: The Great Immensity, a play with music using a fictional narrative to talk about the environment and the future of our planet, which will have its world premiere at Kansas City Repertory Theatre in the 2011-12 season, and Pretty Filthy a new musical examination of the adult entertainment industry.

For more information, visit www.thecivilians.org.