Sean Carvajal & Emma Ramos to Join Annette Bening Led GRISWOLD Benefit Reading

Off-Broadway's Playhouse Creatures Theatre Company and Broadway's A Is For have announced additional casting for the benefit reading of the new play, GRISWOLD, on Friday, November 11, 2022 at 7:00 pm at Manhattan's historic The Cooper Union, starring four-time Academy Award nominee Annette Bening.

Sean Carvajal (American Buffalo, King Lear) and Emma Ramos ("New Amsterdam," Scenes from a Marriage) join Ms. Bening for the benefit performance. Emily Mann (Gloria: A Life, Having Our Say) will host the evening and introduce the play; Jacqueline Guillen ("Search Party," 72 Miles to Go...) will read stage directions.

Tickets are available at bit.ly/GriswoldBenefit.

Bening, one of America's most accomplished actors of stage and screen, will bring to life the extraordinary story of activist Estelle Griswold in a play by Angela J. Davis, winner of Playhouse Creatures Theatre Company (PCTC)'s 2022 New Works Award. Additional casting to be announced.

GRISWOLD explores the legacy of a woman who fought relentlessly for the 1965 law establishing the constitutional right to privacy - a core concept protecting Americans against government interference in matters of gender, sexuality, and reproductive freedom.

Timely and intense, GRISWOLD lays bare a struggle that continues to this day, when transgender youth are denied counseling and surgery; teenagers are forced to share details of their periods with school authorities; same-sex couples must fight for marriage rights; and Americans of all ages, LGBTQ+ and straight, are criminalized for seeking access to contraception and abortion.

Ticket sales will support the ongoing mission of A Is For to de-stigmatize abortion and enhance access to reproductive services. Proceeds will also benefit The Pink House Fund, formerly the Jackson Women's Health Organization, Mississippi's only abortion clinic, which was forced to close when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade earlier this year. The clinic is now reopening in Las Cruces, New Mexico, with the aim of providing abortion care to women from all over the United States.

"Angela is a remarkably original and unique voice. This play is the perfect intersection of art and politics; it's the history lesson we all need to learn- especially in this epic and transitional moment. A Is For and The Pink House Fund, are doing the essential work of providing access to basic human rights. Privacy and Choice. Nothing could be more important." - Joseph W. Rodriguez

The reading is directed by Tatiana Pandiani, executive produced by Allison Bressi, with associate producer Amy Sapp, and production coordinator B. Rafidi. Artwork is by Kelly Schmidt, Digital Producer, Content & Media for PCTC.

Along with the reading of GRISWOLD, A Is For and PCTC will provide musical entertainment, surprise guests, door prizes, a post-play discussion, and the opportunity to join a host of participants from the world of entertainment, law, politics, and community activism to support reproductive rights and celebrate the power of the arts to promote social change. The post-show talkback will be moderated by Erica Stevens Abbitt, PCTC's Associate Artistic Director.