Waterwell's SALOME OF THE MOON Opens Tonight as Part of PPAS New Works Lab

Waterwell, one of the Village Voice's Best Arguments for Devised Theater and creators of GOODBAR and #9, continues its annual series of new play workshops at the Professional Performing Arts School (PPAS) in Manhattan with Salomé of the Moon, a new play by Nick Jones and directed by Knud Adams. The production opens tonight and continues through Saturday, May 10th at 7p, with an additional Saturday matinee at 2p.

Pizza! Cake! Incest! Murder! Madness! Salome is a Princess who lives in a palace. You'd think she'd be happy, but she is anything but. Her mother barely talks to her, her stepdad drinks too much (and is weirdly always asking her to dance) and there's a prophet in the well who says everyone hates them. Plus, nobody came to her birthday party! By turns hilarious and moving, Salomé of the Moon is a coming of age story about a Princess determined to find love and happiness in an age of cruelty and waste.

"Nick's been writing some of the strangest, funniest and flat out best plays of the last few years," said Artistic Director Tom Ridgely in a statement. "And especially now that he's serving time out in Hollywood, we couldn't be more thrilled to be premiering a new play of his in New York with the incredible young actors of our Drama Program. To go through the new play process with a writer of his caliber, guided by an artist as sensitive and rigorous and Knud Adams, at this stage in their training, is just an unbelievable gift. Their work is inspiring. The play is hilarious, compassionate and deeply disturbing. And the production is literally a feast. Let's just say that we are over the moon."

Designed to stimulate the creation of high-quality new plays for young actors, Waterwell's New Works Lab @ PPAS offers emerging and established playwrights the chance to develop their work with the support of professional directors and designers and a cast of exceptionally talented high school artists. This annual workshop series presents stripped down, actor-centric productions that add to the canon of thematically rich, complex and original scripts and roles for student actors. Previous NWL playwrights have been A. Rey Pamatmat (A Spare Me, 2013), Bekah Brunstetter (Nothing Is The End Of The World (except for the end of the world), 2012) and Stephen Karam (Emma, 2011); all three plays have been published and are available from Playscripts.

The creative team for Salomé of the Moon also includes James J. Fenton (Scenic Designer), Deanna Frieman (Costume Designer), Bradley King (Lighting Designer), and Daniel Kluger (Sound Designer). The cast of fourteen are all seniors in the Waterwell Drama Program at the Professional Performing Arts School (PPAS).

Performances at the PPAS Auditorium today through Saturday, May 10th at 7:00 p.m., with an additional Saturday matinee at 2:00 p.m. Tickets are free for PPAS students, $20 dollars for adults and can be purchased at www.brownpapertickets.com. PPAS is located at 328 W 48th St in New York, NY. For more information, visit http://www.waterwell.org.