New Light Theater Project Presents BRECHT: CALL AND RESPOND

New Light Theater Project presents Brecht: Call and Respond (an evening of three one-acts), featuring The Jewish Wife by Bertolt Brecht with the commissioned one-acts Self Help in the Anthropocene by Kristin Idaszak and Sunset Point by Arlene Hutton. Directed by Jerry Heymann, Brecht: Call and Respond (an evening of three one-acts) begins performances on Thursday, January 30 for a limited engagement through Saturday, February 15. Press opening is Sunday, February 2 at 3 pm. The performance schedule is Wednesday - Friday at 7:30 pm, Saturday at 2 pm & 7:30 pm, and Sunday at 3 pm. Please note the following schedule adjustments: there is no matinee performance on Saturday 2/1; there is an added performance on Tue 2/11 at 7:30 pm. Performances are at The Paradise Factory (64 East 4th Street, between Bowery and Second Avenue). Tickets, which are on sale now, are $25. To purchase tickets, visit www.newlighttheaterproject.com.

Brecht: Call and Respond (an evening of three one-acts) is the first in a new series of works commissioned by New Light Theater Project. The new series is a way to breathe new life into classic works by asking contemporary playwrights to pen plays inspired by, in response to, or rebelling against the work selected.

Set in the not-to-distant past, the very present, and the not-far-off future, these three one-act plays in Brecht: Call and Respond (an evening of three one-acts) blend human stories with the political.

Bertolt Brecht's The Jewish Wife is a chilling look at the way in which the politics of hate seeps into the everyday lives of ordinary people. Judith is a beloved wife, a friend, a bridge player, a housewife, and Jewish. But this chronicle of everyday German life at the dawn of the Nazi regime explores how relationships contort and fear and suspicion penetrate every layer of society.

Joy and her wife are throwing a party tonight..but Joy's wife is nowhere to be found, so she is tidying alone. As Joy sorts through their belongings, she struggles to make sense of her past and the present world around her. Kristin Idaszak's Self Help in the Anthropocene examines the holes in our lives that we try to fill through consumption, and how we decide what to keep and what to leave behind. Who and what will survive the sixth mass extinction? And will it spark joy?

Arlene Hutton's Sunset Point finds recently engaged Rachel and Henson both returning back home to New York after hectic travels from other ends of the country. But before either person can settle in or unpack, a set of papers in the mail cause a fissure between the two. If the past represents a haven to one and anguish to another, can a couple find common ground in the present?

The cast features Michael Aguirre (The Great Novel with New Light Theater Project), Gerry Bamman (Imagining Madoff with New Light Theater Project), Lindsay Brill (The Comedy of Errors, dir. Scott Ellis, at The Old Globe), Susan Lynskey (Handbagged at 59E59 Theaters), and Lucy Lavely (Arthur & Esther with New Light Theater Project).

The design team includes Jessica Parks (scenic and prop design), Kara Branch (costume design), Keegan Butler (lighting design), and The Roly Polys (sound design). The production stage manager is Caitlyn Annelise Dominguez. The assistant stage managers are Linda Elizabeth and Emma Burns.