CALL ME CRAZY Set for Nuyorican Poets Cafe, 7/10-27

On Thursday, July 10, New Jersey-based playwright/actress Helena D. Lewis will make a long-awaited off-off-Broadway debut of her award-winning solo play CALL ME CRAZY: Diary of a Mad Social Worker at the Theater at Nuyorican Poets Café. This much-anticipated three-week engagement runs through July 27th.

CALL ME CRAZY: Diary of a Mad Social Worker, a comedic-autobiographical one-woman play, takes a unique look at the highs and lows of working for peanuts while trying to save the world one poem at a time. After being assigned more work than she can handle, Lewis, an inner-city social worker, has a nervous breakdown, tries to kill her boss, and is committed for psychiatric observation. After being restrained, Lewis recalls her true-life experiences working with prostitutes, drug addicts, and prisoners.

"These are the crazy stories that social workers probably sit around with their peers and talk about, but now I'm telling the world." Lewis says. "I don't think (social service providers) we get recognized for what we do. We get paid the least amount to deal with most important commodity in the world-human life."

Lewis first presented CALL ME CRAZY as a short play at the 2006 Downtown Urban Theater Festival (DUTF), where it went on to win Best Short at the festival. It was later developed into a full-length play and was a Festival Pick at the 2010 DC Black Theatre Festival.

Described as a "poetic powerhouse and a passionate performer with keen insight," Lewis is an award-winning playwright, acclaimed poet, and accomplished social worker. She launched her theater career in 2002 with the one-woman show JUST ME. She is a poetry slam veteran who was a Nuyorican Poets Café Grand Slam Finalist, member of the Nuyorican Slam Team and featured on HBO's Def Poetry. In addition to her career as a performer, Lewis recently earned her Master of Social Work degree and is a certified alcohol and drug counselor and an HIV/AIDS health educator.

CALL ME CRAZY: Diary of a Mad Social Worker will run at the Theater at Nuyorican Poet's Café, 236 East 3rd Street, between Avenues B and C, in East Village, Manhattan, NYC. Performances are held on July 10 through 27, 2014 at 7:00pm. The show on the Sunday, July 20th starts at 4pm. Tickets are $15, with group tickets also available. For tickets and further information, visit www.nuyorican.org.