The Flea Premieres 'The Footage' Starting 10/23

The Flea Theater announces the World Premiere of THE FOOTAGE. Written by Joshua Scher and directed by Claudia Zelevansky, previews of this online gaming drama begin October 23 with opening night scheduled for Saturday, November 8.

THE FOOTAGE exposes the dark underbelly of the YouTube generation and the insidious encroachment of online behavior in our everyday lives. This multi-media story roves between three groups of twenty-something friends whose lives intersect in the world of an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game).  The friends must race against the clock to decipher the on-line clues of a young woman's surreal abduction before the cameras stop rolling.  THE FOOTAGE includes sexual content; not appropriate for children.

THE FOOTAGE features The Bats, the resident acting ensemble at The Flea: Elizabeth Alderfer, Celeste Arias, Blair Baker, Matthew Bretschneider, Jamie Effros, Nicolas Flower, Jessica Grant, RoBert Grant, Michael Guagno, Laurel Holland, Caroline Hurley, Rachel McPhee, Dan McVey, Michael Micalizzi and Celina Reyes. The production features sets by Adrian W. Jones, lights by Ben Stanton, costumes by Erin Murphy, sound by Matt O'Hare, video design by Room404 Media, and machinima (real-time computer generated imagery) design by Brett Macaulay .

Joshua Scher wrote THE FOOTAGE with The Bats in mind. His play Marvel was included in Roundabout Theater's New Voices Program, directed by Charles Randolph-Wright.  Scher has also worked with the Huntington Theater, Portland Stage, the O'Neill Theater Festival, and the Williamstown Theater Festival.  His first play, Velvet Ropes, was published while he was still a student at Yale School of Drama. He holds a BA with Honors in Creative Writing from Brown University. A collection of his monologues was published by Smith and Krauss in their 2006 Audition Arsenal series, and his play Flushed is slated for publication by Baker's Plays.

Claudia Zelevansky has directed productions at California Institute of the Arts, Manhattan Class Company, New York International Fringe Festival, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Actor's Express Theatre (Atlanta), The ALLIANCE THEATRE (Atlanta), and Dallas Theater Center, where she was Associate Director for three-seasons. She was a Jonathan Alper Directing Fellow at Manhattan Theatre Club, and has worked at The Public Theatre and Ars Nova.  Zelevansky earned her undergraduate degree in Performance Studies from Northwestern University, and her MFA in directing from Yale University's School of Drama. She made her directorial film debut in 2007 with "The Cold Snap."

The Flea Theater, under Artistic Director Jim Simpson and Producing Director Carol Ostrow, is one of New York's leading off-off-Broadway companies. Winner of a Special Drama Desk Award for outstanding achievement, Obie Awards and an Otto for political theater, The Flea has presented over 80 plays and numerous dance and live music performances since its inception in 1996. Past productions include Anne Nelson's The Guys, A.R. Gurney's O Jerusalem, Screenplay, Mrs. Farnsworth and Post Mortem, Roger Rosenblatt's Ashley Montana Goes Ashore..., Kate Robin's The Light Outside, Elizabeth Swados' JABU, Talking Band's The Parrot, Karen Finley's Return of the Chocolate Smeared Woman, Glyn O'Malley's A Heartbeat to Baghdad, Yussef El Guindi's Back of the Throat, Julian Sheppard's Los Angeles, Adam Rapp's Bingo with the Indians and most recently, Will Eno's Oh, The Humanity and other exclamations and Peter Handke's Offending the Audience.

THE FOOTAGE runs October 23 - November 30, performance times vary.  The Flea Theater is located at 41 White Street (between Broadway & Church Streets -- accessible from the A,C,E,N,R,Q,W,6,J,M,Z to Canal or 1 to Franklin Street). Tickets are $20. For a complete performance calendar and tickets, visit www.theflea.org or call 212-352-3101.

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