Town Hall Discussion On Rape Culture to Be Hosted By NewYorkRep

In anticipation of White Ribbon day, also known as the International Day for the eradication of violence against women, NewYorkRep will present a staged reading and town hall discussion of A BAD NIGHT, a new docu-drama co-written by Nicole Pandolfo and Amy E. Witting, at Playwrights Horizons, this Sunday November 18that 12:00pm and 3:00pm. Markus Potter is set to direct.

The town hall discussion will be led by Roundabout Theatre Company's Leah Reddy, with panelists from The Mount Sinai Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention Program, RAINN, and the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault.

The event will take place at Playwrights Horizons (416 West 42nd Street, New York City). The special one-day only engagement is free and open to the public.

A recipient of a 2015 Emerging Artists Jerome Fellowship, A BAD NIGHT was created from and/or inspired by interviews with acquaintance rape survivors, their friends, detectives, attorneys, and others. All names have been changed to ensure confidentiality.

The company includes Samuel Gomez,Gabe Marin, Jenny Mercein, Aigner Mizzelle, Nandita Shenoy, and Evelyn Spahr.

In preparation for the this week's presentation, NewYorkRep collaborated with the department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Kansas, where the play was workshopped with the KU student body, with support from sexual assault prevention advocates from the Sexual Trauma & Abuse Care Center, Willow Domestic Violence Center, the Care Sisters, and the Sexual Assault and Education Center.

Producing Artistic Director Markus Potter hopes that the presentation "will create an inclusive space for healing, a place where we understand consent and believe survivors."

Executive Director Gayle Waxenberg recognizes how important this play is in "continuing a discussion about this epidemic that continues to grow in all sectors of our country, that requires our collective effort as a community to combat."

Playwrights Nicole Pandolfo and Amy E. Witting state that "the varied experiences of people who have been affected by sexual assault is vast and unfortunately cannot be represented in a single night of theater, thus our play does not intend to nor can it represent everyone's experience. There are many more stories to tell and so it is our hope that this play and accompanying town hall will inspire others to continue the conversation around this complex topic to ultimately create change in our society."

The event is free to the public. To RSVP, email RSVP@NewYorkRep.org(Seating is very limited).

NewYorkRep produces and develops innovative plays and musicals that inspire and compel social change, by telling stories that expose the travesty and beauty of our humanity. By illuminating social and ethical questions through art, NewYorkRep strives to create provocative theater that promotes empathy, compassion, and inclusion. Recent recognition includes the Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for 'New American Play", Off-West End award nomination for 'Best Production' at the Southwark Playhouse, the Bergen Record Top 10 productions of the year, and the Off-Broadway Alliance nomination for 'Best New Play'.

Nicole Pandolfo's NJPAC Stage Exchange commission play, Brick City, opened last July at Premiere Stages at Kean University. She was a 2017 Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellow and her work has been developed at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center as a Playwright Observer, at Tofte Lake as a Jerome Foundation Fellow, and at The Actors Studio, NJ Rep, and the Lark among others. She was a finalist for the Edward Albee Foundation Fellowship, SPACE on Ryder Farm, and the Leah Ryan Fund for Emerging Women Writers. She is a member of The Actors Studio in the Playwright/Director Unit and received her MFA at Hunter College. www.nicolepandolfo.com

Amy E. Witting's plays include The House on the Hill (Atlantic Theater Inaugural LAUNCH Commission, NNPN National Showcase, Upcoming CATF World Premiere), The Midnight Ride of Sean & Lucy (Roundabout Underground Workshop featuring Elisabeth Moss & Bryce Pinkham, Semi-finalist 2017 O'Neil Playwrights Conference), & Day 392 (The Kennedy Center ACTF/NNPN MFA Playwrights Workshop, Hunter Playwrights Week, Honorable Mention Kilroy's List). She was the 2016/2017 Inaugural Artist-In-Residence at Abingdon Theatre Company. Amy has received a Jerome Foundation Emerging Artist Fellowship, NEA Grant, and The Anne Freedman Grant. She also has been a nominee for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Weissberger Award, Stavis Award, and Theatre Visions Award. Her plays have been developed at The Lark Play Development Center, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Pipeline PlayLAB, Tofte Lake Center, Unicorn Theatre, NJ Rep, Roundabout Theatre Space Jam, National New Play Network, and The Kennedy Center. She is currently under commission from The Queens Council on the Arts for her upcoming project Levi's Impressions. www.amywitting.com

Markus Potteris the Co-Founder and Producing Artistic Director of NewYorkRep. This past season he served as Interim Artistic Director of Theatre Aspen. Recent direction includes Stalking the Bogeyman off-Broadway at New World Stages (Outer Critics Circle Award nomination, NYTimes critics pick), London's Southwark Playhouse (Off West End Award nomination for best production and direction), Red Speedo by Lucas Hnath at Center Rep (Shellie Award nomination), Lost Boy Found In Whole Foods by Tammy Ryan at The Portland Stage Company, Why You Beasting by David Don Miller (Time Out NY critic's pick), Weston Playhouse, North Carolina Stage Company, and many more. As an actor he has worked extensively with Guthrie Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, Berkeley Rep, The Denver Center and The American Conservatory Theatre. As a commercial producer he was on the team that brought the Arena Theatre production of Eric Coble's The Velocity of Autumn to Broadway (Estelle Parsons's Tony Award nomination. Markus received his MFA from Columbia University, and serves as Assistant Professor of Theatre at the University of Kansas.

Gayle Waxenberg is the Co-founder and Executive director of NewYorkRep. Before turning to the non-for-profit sector, she began on Wall Street where she managed the marketing and corporate communications for a premiere investment bank, where she won a multitude of awards for the creative and strategic campaigns. She later started her own marketing consulting firm, Waxenberg & Associates, working with advertising, public relations and direct marketing firms servicing the financial industry. A born advocate, she continues to serve domestic abuse victims, hospice patients, substance abuse victims, immigrants, at-risk children and mental health patients. Gayle is also a Founder and Past President and currently a Board Member of The Graham School Education Foundation, which serves New York City's most at-risk, underserved children, a Board Member of Danza Espanza, The American Spanish Dance Theater, and was an elected official. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, the Off Broadway Alliance, Theater Resources Unlimited and a member of the League of Professional Theater Women.