Happy Belly Productions Presents SEX AND THE HOLY LAND 8/15 Thru 8/28

Happy Belly Productions presents the world premiere of SEX AND THE HOLY LAND as part of the 13th annual New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC) this summer from August 15 to August 28, 2009.

Saturday, 8/15 at 8:15pm
Monday, 8/17 at 8:45pm
Thursday, 8/20 at 10:30pm
Monday, 8/24 at 5:15pm
Friday, 8/28 at 2:00pm

At The Players Theatre on 115 MacDougal Street, which is FringeNYC Venue #8. Take the A, B, C, D, E, F, V to West 4th.

Tickets cost $15. For tickets, go to www.FringeNYC.org.

SEX AND THE HOLY LAND is the tale of Lili's plunge into a stereotype-shattering sexploration of Israel. Her two best friends and a string of Middle Eastern men lead Lili out of slavery from the Greek Chorus of Jewish Mothers in her mind. A coming of age comedy about liberation, religion, and love.

Marking 23-year-old playwright Melanie Zoey Weinstein's New York debut, SEX AND THE HOLY LAND was inspired by Weinstein's study abroad experience in Tel Aviv in Spring 2007, following the Second Lebanon War. "It was a time of disillusionment and questioning for myself and many of my friends," said Weinstein. "We were experiencing Israel for the first time as adults outside of the Jewish institutions in which we were raised." Weinstein's questioning coupled with an impulse to create a fresh comedic piece about Israel resulted in SEX AND THE HOLY LAND, which had its first public reading in the University of Miami Black Box Theater. "The energy of the audience was outrageous-I knew that this play had to go further than college. I needed to bring it to New York and, some day, to Israel, too," said Weinstein.

SEX AND THE HOLY LAND is an Equity Approved Showcase featuring Ross Buckley, Ruby Joy, Sivan Hadari, Zack Imbrogno, Adrian Kelly, Lyssa Mandel, Sarah-Doe Osborne*, Susan Slatin, Michelle Slonim, Gabriel Sloyer, Melanie Zoey Weinstein, and Goldie Zwiebel*.
*denotes a member of Actors' Equity Association

With Music Direction and Original Music by Noah Aronson; Production Design by Arthur Peters; Costume Design by Kate Rusek; and Stage Management by Michelle Beige. Produced by Rachel G. Karp, Robby Sandler, and Melanie Zoey Weinstein.

Melanie Zoey Weinstein is a writer and actress living in NYC. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Miami with a B.A. in Theatre Arts and Creative Writing in June 2008.

Lee Gundersheimer (Director) is a writer, actor, director, and teacher based in NYC. He directed the world premiere of the OBIE-winning Three Seconds in the Key by Deb Margolin at P.S. 122 and her play Why Cleaning Fails at HERE and Dixon Place, where he also co-wrote (with Rae C. Wright) and directed The Moon in Vain. He is the author of many plays including Pas De Deux, winner of Best New American Play on Theatre Row, and Incommunicado, which opened the 1998 New Federal Theatre season and was nominated for three AUDELCO awards.

 

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