Rattapallax, Inc. & Ram Devineni Presents SEXUAL HEALING, Opens 1/6/2010

SEXUAL HEALING is a new play about the sexual experimentation of a renowned scientific researcher who from the late 1950s to 1990s published his findings into the nature of sexual response and dysfunction. Written and directed by Jonathan Leaf, it begins performances on Wednesday, January 6, 2010 at The Mint Theatre, 311 West 43rd St., 3rd floor. The official opening is on Wednesday, January 13, 2010 at 7:30 PM. www.sexualhealingplay.com.

SEXUAL HEALING details the taboo experimentation and practices of a renowned sex researcher who conducted scientific research into human sexuality and oversaw the filming of hundreds of couples having intercourse thousands of times. Intellectually explicit, SEXUAL HEALING spotlights the role sex played in divorce and the disintegration of the family unit. It tells the story of the development of various techniques for sexual arousal, the employment of surrogate wives, impotence and the "reprogramming" of homosexual men, prior to the American Psychological Association's decision to re-classify homosexuality from being a mental disorder. The play includes nudity and adult themes concerning the treating of male sexual dysfunction.

"I've been interested in presenting this subject on the stage for years," says author Jonathan Leaf, "because 1960s sex research deals with some of the most important current issues: women's conflicts over childbirth and marriage, the nature of homosexuality and the effects of paid sex and porn."

The cast of SEXUAL HEALING features Chuck Montgomery, Ren Matthewson, Peter O'Connor, Sayra Player and Hugh Sinclair and Drama Desk nominees Judith Hawking, Sarah Nina Hayon.

Set Design is by Craig M. Napoliello, Lighting design is by Maria Cristina Fuste and Costumes are by Sarah Shears.

Performances of SEXUAL HEALING are Wednesday thru Sunday. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 7:30 PM and Saturday and Sunday at 8:00 PM.

Tickets for SEXUAL HEALING are $18 and can be purchased by calling Smarttix at 212.868.4444 or by logging onto www.smarttix.com

Jonathan Leaf, as a journalist and critic, has written for The Weekly Standard, The New Yorker, The New Criterion, The American, The New York Sun, The New York Post, New York Press and National Review, among other publications. He is the former Arts Editor of New York Press, a position he resigned to protest that publication's unwillingness to print the controversial Danish cartoons of Mohammed in an issue devoted to the subject. A graduate of Yale, he is also a former New York City public school teacher. His play "The Caterers" was nominated for the 2006 Innovative Theater (IT) Awards' Best Play of the Year and in 2007, his play "The Germans In Paris" which ran at 59E59 was the highest-rated play by audience-survey on Theatermania.com, beating out of all other plays in New York during the course of its sold-out run. His plays have been produced at 59E59, Altered Stages/29th Street Rep and the ArcLight Theater.

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