Epic Theatre Ensemble Presents SARAH RUHL'S PASSION PLAY, Events Continue 4/29

New York's OBIE Award-winning Epic Theatre Ensemble (Zak Berkman, Melissa Friedman, Ron Russell, Founding Executive Directors) today announced plans for an ambitious series of events surrounding the highly anticipated New York premiere of Sarah Ruhl's Passion Play, directed by MarK Wing-Davey. The production of Sarah Ruhl's Passion Play is the culmination of a six year conversation between Berkman and Ruhl about how to stage her wildly imaginative and powerful triptych in a way that echoes historic passion pageants in the contemporary context of 21st Century New York City.

Epic is thrilled to be partnering with a coalition of creative thinkers, art makers, academic institutions and Fort Greene community members to create the Passion Play Festival, which will surround this production with fun and fascinating events and activities that range from dance parties, concerts and free food, to family workshops, new play readings and Epic's trademark Forum Series. The Passion Play Festival is an ever expanding and organic community endeavor, so please be sure to check www.epictheatreensemble.org often for up-to-the-minute programming and scheduling information. Reservations for all Passion Play Festival events should be made through emailing passionplaynyc@gmail.com.

The Passion Play Festival will be produced and promoted by an Epic-led Coalition of over 40 artists, arts groups, academic institutions and local community members. The Passion Coalition includes Above The Fold, ART/NY, Brave New World Repertory Theatre, Conni's Avant Garde Restaurant, Culture Project, Flux Theatre Ensemble, Frank's Cocktail Lounge, Gerald W. Lynch Theatre/John Jay College, Cara Greene, Irondale Ensemble Project, Lark Play Development Center, Lincoln Center Theatre, Long Island University, Vernice Miller/Sarah K. Simmons from ALATetc., New Georges, Nora's Playhouse, NYU, Oberlin College Alumni Association, Playwrights Horizons & The Play Company (A Cool Dip in the Barren Saharan Crick), The Public Theatre, Ripe Time, Rising Circle Theatre Collective, SAVE, The Walter Thompson Orchestra, Waterwell, Wingspan Arts, 13P and many more to be announced.

ONE NIGHT ONLY EVENTS:

April 29, 8:00 p.m. @ Location TBD
Free Play Reading - THE ICON SERIES Part #3
Play #3: The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window by Lorraine Hansberry, directed by John Gould Rubin

Events in May include readings of The Velvet Rut by James Still, Wider Than The Sky by Jessica Litwak, and The Fallen by Yasmine Rana, as well as two Passion Play inspired "sound painting" evenings with The Walter Thompson Orchestra, the opening of the Passion Play Gallery curated by the Irondale Ensemble, and an Arts & Human Rights Community Conference produced by Epic, Culture Project, John Jay College and The Lark Play Development Center.

‘SURROUND' EVENTS:

Starting April 27
Pre/Post-Show Forums - The Word and Breaking Bread
Epic's trademark Forum Series is being renamed The Word for the Passion Play Festival with numerous prominent guests already scheduled to appear including James Shapiro, Kathleen Chalfant, Chris Hedges, and Andre Henry/Matt Huett from Glad Tidings Tabernacle

Following Sunday performances Epic will be offering their Breaking Bread dinner and discussions where the audience joins artists from the production and Epic Theatre Ensemble for a meal and to talk about the play. Both Series are made possible in part by funds from the New York Council for the Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Sarah Ruhl's Passion Play begins previews April 27 and runs through May 30, 2010. Opening night is set for May 12, 2010. The production will be performed in the site-specific environs of the Irondale Center, a converted Sunday School inside the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church (85 South Oxford Street) in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. The cast will include Hale Appleman, Brendan Averett, Polly Noonan, Daniel Pearce, Alex Podulke, Keith Reddin, Godfrey L. Simmons Jr., T. Ryder Smith, Kate Turnbull and Nicole Wiesner. Scenic Design will be by Allen Moyer & Warren Karp, Costume Design will be by Gabriel Berry & Antonia Ford-Roberts, Lighting Design will be by David Weiner, Composer will be David Van Tieghem, Movement Direction will be by Jim Calder, and Fight Direction will be by David Anzuelo.

Hailed by The New Yorker's John Lahr as "extraordinary" and full of "verve and daring", Ruhl's three-play cycle will be the centerpiece of an unforgettable Sarah Ruhl's Passion Play Festival, a series of performances, panel discussions, workshops, and education programs highlighting the intersection of art, politics, sexuality, and religion.

Inspired by the historic festivals where everyday citizens came together to elevate their communities by staging the death and resurrection of Christ, Sarah Ruhl's Passion Play transports audiences first to 16th century England, where Queen Elizabeth threatens to shut down a small town's production; then to Nazi Germany, where Adolf Hitler's arrival at the famous Oberammergau Passion Play influences the lives of its cast and finally to Spearfish, South Dakota in 1984, as a local production becomes a campaign stop for a famous actor-turned-President running for re-election. MarK Wing-Davey will return as director following his highly acclaimed productions of Sarah Ruhl's Passion Play at the Goodman Theatre and Yale Repertory Theatre, but will be re-envisioning the play for this site-specific New York premiere.

Tickets are available by visiting Epic's website at www.epictheatreensemble.org.

Epic Theatre Ensemble is an OBIE, Lucille Lortel, and OTTO Award-Winning artist-run company. Founded in 2001 to create theatrical events Off-Broadway and in the New York City Public Schools that inspire vital dialogue about social issues, Epic is best known for their premieres of No Child... by Nilaja Sun, Palace of the End by Judith Thompson, and Hannah and Martin by Kate Fodor, as well as their groundbreaking Shakespeare Remix after-school program that received a 2009 Coming Up Taller Award from First Lady Michelle Obama at a White Ceremony this past November.