New Light Theater Project presents the world premiere of THE GREAT NOVEL, written by Amina Henry and directed by Sarah Norris. Part of The Flea's Anchor Program, THE GREAT NOVEL begins performances on Friday, June 7 for a limited engagement through Saturday, June 29. Press opening is Sunday, June 16 at 3 PM. The performance schedule is Wednesday - Saturday at 7:00 PM, and Sunday at 3 PM. Please note the following schedule adjustment: there is an added matinee performance on Saturday, June 22 at 3 PM. Performances are at The Flea Theater (20 Thomas Street, between Broadway and Church Streets, in Tribeca). Tickets are $25. To purchase tickets, visit www.newlighttheaterproject.com.
For most of her adult life, Bertha has served as the Brennans' housekeeper. While polishing the silverware and washing the windows, she dreams of honoring the promise she made to her grandmother long ago to write the next great American novel. But as she drafts her story, she can only see the imprints of the Brontë sisters, Dickens, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and most of all, the Brennans. Spurred on by recurring visits from her Granny in the afterlife, Bertha seeks a new language for a narrative that only she can tell, uninhibited by the ghosts of literary convention.
Playwright Amina Henry has received praise for her magical realism-infused plays about spirits and lost souls. THE GREAT NOVEL, her latest haunting work, asks: whose stories deserve to be written?
The cast features
Michael Aguirre (Richard II and The Bald Soprano at the Pearl Theater), Joshua Bermudez (The Ballad of Brightwater at the Wallis
Annenberg Center),
Tabatha Gayle (Misogynoir at
Ars Nova, Prelude 2018), Oghenero Gbaje (Downtown Race Riot, dir. Scott Elliot, with NY Stage & Film),
Cleo Gray (These Seven Sicknesses and She Kills Monsters at The Flea), Madeline McCray (Amina Henry's Hunter John & Jane at Jack), and
Nikki E. Walker (Dead & Breathing with National Black Theatre).
The design team includes An-lin Dauber (scenic design);
Christina Tang (lighting design); Mari Taylor(costume design); Carsen Joenk (sound design); and Leila Ben-Abdallah (prop design). The Production Stage Manager is Daricel Calcano.
Amina Henry (playwright) is a Brooklyn-based playwright, essayist, poet, and interdisciplinary artist. As a playwright, productions include: Ducklings at JACK, The Animals at JACK, Hunter John and Jane at JACK, Happily Ever at Brooklyn College, An American Family Takes a Lover at Theater for the New City,Water produced by Drama of Works, The Minstrel Show, produced as part of the 2013 Bring a Weasel and a Pint of Your Own Blood Festival at 13th Street Theater/CSC (NYC), and Bully at Interrobang Theater and SUNY Purchase. Her work has been developed by and/or presented at:
The New Group, The Flea,
Ars Nova, Clubbed Thumb, Page 73, National Black Theater, Noor Theatre, Barefoot Theater, Little Theater at Dixon Place,
HERE Arts Center, Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Ashland, OR), Kitchen Dog Theater (Dallas, TX), Interrobang Theatre (Baltimore, MD), and Texas State University, among other venues. She has been a participant in Clubbed Thumb's Early Career Writers and is a member of Page 73's Interstate 73 writers group
Ars Nova's emerging writers group. She is a 2017-2018 recipient of a Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) Space Grant and a 2018 Dixon Place Space Residency. She is a graduate of the Brooklyn College MFA Playwriting program.
Sarah Norris (director) is the Founding Artistic Director of New Light Theater Project. Her directing work has been seen around the country (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Fresno, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Maine & Alaska) and around the world (Australia, England, & Ireland). Select NYC:
Playwrights Horizons, Theatre Communications Group (TCG),
LAByrinth Theater Company,
Disney Theatrical Productions,
59E59 Theaters, The
Flea Theater, Primitive Grace (
Paul Calderon &
David Zayas), and The Gallery Players. She has an MFA in Directing from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and a BA in Theatre from the University of Alabama. She is the former Artistic Director of Access Theater (2016-2018) where she launched the Access Theater Residency Program for indie companies and she is a former Associate Producer for the Broadway company,
Bisno Productions. She is a proud member of SDC, AEA, and serves on The Artist Co-op Artistic Board. For New Light: Hitler's Tasters, Hal & Bee, Still Dance the Stars, Two of Us, In the Soundless Awe, REX, Picture Ourselves in Latvia, The Oedipus Project, Frisky & the Panda Man.
