KILLADELPHIA Gets NY Premiere At Gerald W. Lynch Theater 4/29-5/1

The Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College presents the New York Premiere of KILLADELPHIA, a part of their Art of Justice Series, from April 29 - May 1, 2009 at 7pm at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College, 899 Tenth Avenue, NYC. Tickets are $15 and are available at www.ticketcentral.com or by phone at 212-279-4200.

Commissioned by the Mural Arts Project of Philadelphia and InterAct Theatre, KILLADELPHIA is the latest work from award-winning playwright and solo performer Sean Christopher Lewis.

In the summer of 2008, the city of Philadelphia was in the midst of a murder epidemic on par with those of some third world countries. In KILLADELPHIA, Lewis takes an unflinching look at the causes of the increased crime rate and the effect on the community. Using hip hop and documentary theatre techniques, he interweaves the story of murdered teaching fellow Beau Zabel with interviews from inmates at Graterford Prison employed to beautify the city with more than 3,000 murals while serving out life sentences. Directed by Matt Slaybaugh.

A panel discussion will precede the performance of KILLADELPHIA on April 29, 2009, from 5:00 - 6:30pm. Panelists include Sean Christopher Lewis; Todd Clear, distinguished professor of criminal justice, John Jay College; Peter Moskos, associate professor of law, police science and criminal justice administration, John Jay College; and Robyn Buseman, program manager for the Mural Arts Restorative Justice in Philadelphia. P.J. Gibson, professor of English, John Jay College, will serve as moderator for the panel.

Sean Christopher Lewis (playwright, performer) is the inaugural recipient of the Rosa Parks Award for Social Justice in Playwriting from the Kennedy Center. A former NNPN Emerging Playwright in Residence at InterAct Theatre in Philadelphia, he has toured his critically lauded solo shows I Will Make You Orphans (Uno Festival of Solo Performance, Available Light 01 Festival, Equinox Theatre, Riverside Theatre, Center for Independent Artists, Galapagos Art Space, Hyde Park Theatre, TIXE Arts Centers, Bowery Poetry Club) and The Gone Chair (Penn State University's Cultural Conversations Festival, Openstage Harrisburg's Flying Solo Festival, Riverside Theatre.) His other plays include Militant Language (national premiere at Know Theatre of Cincinnati, Halcyon Theatre of Chicago, Bang and Clatter in Cleveland and Theater for the New City in NY) and The Aperture (Cleveland Public Theatre). He has been a playwriting fellow at the O'Neill Playwrights Conference and has had his work developed at the PlayPenn New Play Conference, Lark New Play Development Center, Orlando Shakespeare Festival's Harriet Lake Festival of New Work and at the National Center for New Plays at Stanford University. A noted actor, he has worked at The Pearl Theatre Company and La MaMa in NYC and regionally at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. Film credits include God Country and Blood Fantasy.

Matt Slaybaugh (director) is the Artistic Director of Available Light Theatre in Columbus, Ohio. His writing and directing of original works for Available Light and the BlueForms Theatre Group has been lauded by American Theatre magazine, New York Press, the Central Ohio Theatre Critics Circle, the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards, and the Cincinnati Fringe Festival.

Since opening its doors in 1988, the Gerald W. Lynch Theater has been an invaluable cultural resource for John Jay College and the larger New York City community. Under the new direction of Executive Director Shannon R. Mayers, the Theater is dedicated to the creation and presentation of performing arts programming of all disciplines with a special focus on how the artistic imagination can shed light on the many perceptions of justice in our society.

About John Jay College of Criminal Justice: An international leader in educating for justice, John Jay College of Criminal Justice of The City University of New York offers a rich liberal arts and professional studies curriculum to upwards of 14,000 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 135 nations. In teaching, scholarship and research, the College approaches justice as an applied art and science in service to society and as an ongoing conversation about fundamental human desires for fairness, equality and the rule of law. For more information, visit www.jjay.cuny.edu.

KILLADELPHIA will be performed from April 29 - May 1, 2009 at 7pm at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College, 899 Tenth Avenue, NYC. Tickets are $15 and are available at www.ticketcentral.com or by phone at 212-279-4200.

For more information, visit www.killadelphiaplay.com.

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