New Normal Rep to Present F.I.R.E. by Julia Blauvelt

NNR - New Normal Rep (Jack Canfora, Artistic Director; Sally Klingenstein-Martell, Executive Producer), the new streaming theater company dedicated to producing reflective and inclusive plays, concludes its inaugural season with the world premiere of F.I.R.E. by Julia Blauvelt. Streaming on demand September 30 through October 20 at NewNormalRep.org. Tickets for F.I.R.E. are $25, $10 for students, educators and theater professionals, and can be purchased at NewNormalRep.org.

Heather Arnson (Your Title Goes Here at Theatre Row) directs a cast including Jeffrey Bean (Amadeus on Broadway), Kierra Bunch (King Hedley II at Chicago's Court Theatre), Nathaniel P. Claridad (Here Lies Love at The Public), Ella Dershowitz (Can You Forgive Her? at Vineyard Theater; Intimacy, The New Group),Aaron Matteson (Becky Shaw at Centenary Stage Company), Nygel D. Robinson (Beau: The Musical at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center), and Carol Todd (Jericho at 59E59, Intermission at The Clurman).

It's Summer Drinks Night at an average Fifth Avenue hedge-fund and, for the generally isolated back office accountants, the most important night of the year. But when an emergency audit comes crashing down on the team moments before the exodus, networking and free snacks are replaced with panic and chaos. If the gang is to get through the night unscathed, they will have to confront those all-too-avoidable truths that conveniently slip into the shadows of corporate comfort.

New Normal Rep's production of Lines in the Dust features costume design by David C. Woolard, muti-media design by Edward T Morris, and sound design by Lindsay Jones.

"Julia Blauvelt's play F.I.R.E. is the kind of play I love. It has the most warm, rich characters; a multi-layered plot with a rich psychology; deadly serious steaks; and laughs throughout that make you hurt," says Jack Canfora, Artistic Director, New Normal Rep. "I first read some of Julia's work when she was a talented actress just dipping her toes into playwriting. Her voice is unmistakable and frankly, as a playwright, enviable. F.I.R.E. is a play with effortless wit, keen psychological insight, an unerring sense of pace, and real people with high stakes."

NNR, New Normal Rep exists not in spite of the pandemic, but because of it. Dedicated to presenting new and lesser known plays, via the internet, NNR will present works with divergent perspectives that explore the historical, cultural, and psychological forces that have helped to shape our 21st Century lives. NNR commits to anti-racism training as well as partnership with BIPOC organizations to ensure that diversity is present in the curation of our seasons and the assembling of our companies. Above all, NNR is dedicated to producing deeply entertaining, engaging and illuminating work.

All NNR productions are streamed on demand and can be accessed at NewNormalRep.org.

"New Normal Rep began with casual conversations at the beginning of the pandemic and expanded into something substantive," says Jack Canfora, Artistic Director. "NNR is a theatre company for our world today. We strive to illuminate and warm, to offer eclectic stories from diverse voices that will intrigue and unite us, and so much more."

"As theater people, we always knew that our craft had value," says Jill Eikenberry, founding artist, NNR. "But since the plague has descended on us and the possibility of theater has been taken away, we have come to understand more deeply our need to tell stories and the audiences need to hear them."

"Online theater is a new medium with unique challenges, but we also believe it presents unique opportunities," says Sally Klingenstein-Martell, Executive Producer, NNR. "For too many years, high quality theater has felt out of reach financially and culturally to too many people. New Normal Rep, in a small way, aims to help in bridging this disconnect by providing affordable, diverse, high quality theater to a literally limitless audience."

The New Normal Rep Board of Directors includes: Jeffrey Bean, Jack Canfora, Jill Eikenberry, Melanye Duschene Finister, Eleanor Handley, Melissa Joyner, Sally Klingenstein-Martell, Maria Gabriella Landers, John Schaeffler, Carol Todd and Carl Vorwerk.

Tickets for upcoming NNR productions are $25, $10 for students, educators and theater professionals, and can now be purchased at www.NewNormalRep.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.