Previews For THE BEREAVED With Garman, Kerrigan, Stern & More Begin 9/2 At The Wild Project

Partial Comfort Productions (nami, Battle of the Bards) presents the World Premiere of THE BEREAVED by Thomas Bradshaw, directed by May Adrales. Previews begin September 2nd at The Wild Project where Partial Comfort is in its 1st season as a resident company. Opening night is scheduled for Wednesday, September 9th.

In THE BEREAVED, Carol is a lawyer who believes that she has a fatal heart condition. With unpaid college loans and no life insurance, she fears for the welfare of her fifteen year-old son and her underemployed husband. In a world of drug dealing, teen pregnancy, racism and mindless violence, how can a dying woman insure the future well being of her fragile family?

The production stars Andrew Garman, McKenna Kerrigan, Jenny Seastone Stern, KK Moggie, Kenajuan Bentley, and Christopher Van Djik. Additional casting will be announced shortly. The production team includes sound by Ryan Maeker, set by Lee Savage, lighting by Jason Jeunnette and costumes by Whitney Locher.

According to The New York Times, playwright Thomas Bradshaws' work is "likely to leave you speechless." A professor of playwriting at Medgar Evers College, Bradshaw has been named one of the top 10 playwrights to watch by Time Out New York and Best Provocative Playwright in 2007 by The Village Voice. His plays include Dawn, Southern Promises, Purity, Strom Thurmond Is Not A Racist and Cleansed. He is currently working on commissions from Soho Rep (where he was a 2008-2009 Streslin Fellow) and The Goodman Theater.

In an interview with Playwrights Foundation in San Francisco, Bradshaw explained his work by noting "One might say that my characters behave in shocking, outrageous ways, but I would say that they're frighteningly real. My plays deal forthrightly with serious issues that many people don't care to face. I categorize my plays as hyperrealism. They are like reality on crack - reality with out the boring parts."

May Adrales has directed and developed work at The Public Theater, Second Stage Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, Williamstown Theater Festival, The Hangar Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, Prospect Theater Company, HERE Arts Center, Ensemble Studio Theater, Midtown International Theater Festival, NYU, Yale, Bard College and The New York International Fringe Festival. She is a former member of the Soho Rep Writers/Director's Lab and Women's Project Directors Lab and is the recipient of a Van Lier Directing Fellowship, a SDCF Observership, SSDC Denham Fellowship, WTF Bill Foeller Fellowship, Drama League Fellowship, New York Theatre Workshop Directing Fellowship. May worked as an Artistic Associate at The Public Theater from 2006-08. Currently, May is in residence at The Lark Play Development Center as the recipient of the TCG New Generations Grant. MFA, Yale School of Drama, directing.

Partial Comfort Productions is a collaborative ensemble devoted to the development and presentation of original new theater. The company was co-founded in 2002 by Chad Beckim and Molly Pearson. Past productions include a trio of acclaimed works by Beckim (nami, The Maine Play and ...a matter of choice), Ross Maxwell's Open House (Best Ensemble Award winner at FringeNYC 2006); Craft and Nelson by Sam Marks; Kidstuff by Edith Freni, Booty Candy by Robert O'Hara; and Play by OHara, Chay Yew, Kia Corthron, Eddie Sanchez, Keith Adkins and Tracey Scott Wilson. For more information visit www.partialcomfort.org.

THE BEREAVED runs September 2 - 26, Wed. - Sat. 8:00 pm. The Wild Project is located at 195 E. 3rd Street b/w Aves A. & B. Tickets are $20 for all performances except Wednesdays, which are "pay-what-you-can". For tickets and information call 212-279-4200 or visit ticketcentral.com.

Photo credit: Walter McBride

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