The Barrow Group Announces 2018-2019 Season

The Barrow Group announces their 2018-2019 season, which consists of three daring productions that invite audiences to take a look deep within- inspiring positive change in action and awareness.

The 2018-2019 season opens with a rare revival of Martin Moran's Obie award-winning solo play, The Tricky Part, directed by Seth Barrish. Upon its premiere in 2004, Ben Brantley in The New York Times called it a "translucent memoir of a play" that is filled with "disturbing immediacy." Originally developed at The Barrow Group, The Tricky Part garnered two Drama Desk nominations in 2004 including Best Play. This limited engagement, November 29 - December 16, marks the first time the autobiographical play is being produced in New York since its original run.

The season continues January 12-February 8 with the world premiere of Awake, written and directed by K. Lorrel Manning. This collection of topical, punchy vignettes explore issues of race, class, and diversity in America.

The long overdue U.S. premiere of The Thickness of Skin by acclaimed British playwright Clare McIntrye (1952-2009) closes the 2018-2019 season. Directed by Lee Brock, The Thickness of Skin tells the story of a middle-class woman who lends a hand to a homeless man.

Seth Barrish and Lee Brock said, "This year we're presenting three plays inviting audiences on a three-phase journey through self-awareness, awareness of others, and then an examination of how best to contribute to the well-being of others. Martin Moran's OBIE Award-winning play The Tricky Part asks essential questions about how we might transcend trauma; K. Lorrel Manning's Awake, illuminates controversial race and gender issues prevalent in our society, and Clare McIntyre's Thickness of Skin shines a light on the complexities that emerge when we reach out to help others."

Robert Serrell: "The Barrow Group is now in our third year since re-committing to three-show seasons, and are thrilled about the growth of our productions. Based on strong audience demand we're offering longer runs - it's thrilling to be in a position to enrich the lives of more audience members with our stories as well as employ more artists, designers, and technicians. It's an extremely exciting time for The Barrow Group."

Additional details on the 2018-2019 season can be found below. The Barrow Group is located at 312 West 36th Street in Manhattan. Memberships to the 2018-2019 season and individual tickets for The Tricky Part are currently on sale and can be purchased by calling 866-811-4111 or visiting barrowgroup.org.

Details on the 2018-2019 Season

The Tricky Part
Written and performed by Martin Moran
Directed by Seth Barrish
November 29-December 16
Opening: Thursday, November 29

Martin Moran's OBIE Award-winning solo masterpiece, The Tricky Part, is one of the most heralded one-man plays in recent memory and has been produced and performed all over the world-throughout the United States, Canada, South Africa and India. This limited engagement gives New York audiences a rare opportunity for those who missed it the first time to experience this extraordinary, often funny, and always surprising journey throughout the complexities of Catholicism, desire, and human trespass.

Martin Moran is an award-winning writer and solo performer of shows as entertaining as they are soulful. His most recent offering, All The Rage, won the 2013 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo Show and garnered an Outer Critics Circle nomination. His previous work, The Tricky Part, won an OBIE Award and two Drama Desk nominations, including one for Best Play. His memoir of the same title (published by Random House, Anchor Books), won numerous honors including a Barnes and Noble Discover Prize and a Lambda Literary Award. He continues to write and to perform his astonishingly moving and humorous work both nationally and internationally.

Awake (world premiere)
Written and Directed by K. Lorrel Manning
January 12-February 8
Opening: Monday, January 21

Diverse in content, character, and casting, Awake shines an entertaining light on many of society's most contentious subjects, sparking much-needed conversations. This collection of topical, punchy vignettes invites you to examine your deepest fears and prejudices and shift your focus from yourself to the world around you.

Lorrel Manning is an award-winning writer/director (film/television and theatre), actor and musician. His first feature filmHappy New Year, based on his critically-acclaimed play andaward-winning short film of the same name, had its world premiere at the 2011 SXSW Film Festival and has screened at over 25 film festivals since. As a theatre director, Manning has directed over thirty Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway productions, most recently a new, critically-acclaimed adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's an Enemy of the People (co-written with Seth Barrish), The Unrepeatable Moment, and a revival of John Patrick Shanley's Danny and The Deep Blue Sea.

The Thickness of Skin (U.S. premiere)
Written by Clare McIntyre
Directed by Lee Brock
March 15 - April 11
Opening: Monday, March 25

Set in London, The Thickness of Skin tells the story of a middle-class woman who lends a hand to a homeless man. The play sheds a light on some of the unforeseen challenges that emerge when classes collide. Clare McIntyre, a celebrated British playwright who died in 2009, tragically at a very young age of Multiple Sclerosis. The Thickness of Skin explores the question, "When we have an urge to help others, is it because we want to serve ourselves or are we really doing it for other people's benefit?"

Clare McIntyre (1952-2009), was one of an extraordinary generation of British female playwrights who emerged in the 1980s. Before then there were really only two nationally known women writing in the British theatre, Caryl Churchill and Pam Gems. By the end of the decade, there were two to three dozen. Among the many awards, she received for her theatre pieces are the Beckett Award in 1989 and the Evening Standard and London Drama Critic's Most Promising Playwright Award in 1990. McIntyre's work was championed by The Royal Court Theatre.

About The Barrow Group

Founded in 1986, The Barrow Group is a New York City theater company and performing arts training center committed to putting forth stories that are relevant to our lives as we live them. Their goal is to infuse written material with spontaneity, so audiences feel less like they're watching performances and more like they're watching real people in real situations unfold right before their eyes. Each year, The Barrow Group serves over 24,000 patrons, artists, and students with their theatre, developmental workshops, and classes. They believe well-told stories have the power to build community, inspire empathy, and create a more tolerant, open-minded society.

Photo via: https://www.barrowgroup.org/the-tricky-part-with-martin-moran