Gina Femia's ALLOND[R]A to Play New Ohio Theatre

ALLOND[R]A by Gina Femia, the recipient of the 2018 Leah Ryan Prize for Emerging Women Writers, will have a public reading, directed by Elena Araoz on Monday January 28, 2019, 7pm, at New Ohio Theatre located at 154 Christopher Street #1E, New York, NY 10014. For reservations, email leahryansfeww@gmail.com.

ALLOND[R]A tells the story of Allonda and her friends as they wrestle their way through the summer - sometimes it's on the playgrounds in the projects of Coney Island, sometimes it's with their feelings and often it's at home. A coming of age story about friendship and heartache, ALLOND(R)A asks how much is too much to fight for?

About the playwright

Gina Femia's plays include ALLOND(R)A (Winner: Leah Ryan Prize), The Mermaids' Parade (Semifinalist, The Relentless Award, Finalist, Princess Grace Award), Annie and the Fat Man (Honorable Mention, The Kilroys), THIS HAPPENED ONCE AT THE ROMANCE DEPOT OFF THE I-87 IN WESTCHESTER (Workshop, Youngblood), For The Love Of (World Premiere: Pride Films & Plays, West Coast Premiere: Theatre of NOTE), and The Violet Sisters (Great Plains Theatre Conference).

She is an Alum of EST Youngblood, Pipeline Theatre's PlayLab and New Georges' Audrey Residency (Accidental Burlesque) and received a commission from Retro Theatre Productions (We Are A Masterpiece).

Gina is a current member of Joust Theatre's Writer's Round Table and Project Y Writer's Group. She is a New Georges Affiliated Artist and a New York Madness Company Member, and has received residencies with P73's Summer Residency, NTI at the O'Neill, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Fresh Ground Pepper and Grin City Collective. She has been nominated for the Doric Wilson Award and the Cherry Lane Theatre Mentor Project. MFA, Sarah Lawrence College (Lipkin Prize in Playwriting).

About the Director

Elena Araoz is a director of theatre and opera, having worked internationally, Off-Broadway and regionally. Recent productions include Mac Wellman's A Chronicle of the Madness of Small Worlds (New York Theatre Workshop Next Door), Sweat (People's Light and Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare Festival St. Louis), Architecture of Becoming (Women's Project), Fornes' two plays Conduct of Life and Mud (Boundless Theatre Company), Octavio Solís' Prospect (Boundless), Dipika Guha's Mechanics of Love (To-by-For Productions), Catherine Filloux's Kidnap Road (La MaMa), Vir-ginia Grise's She-She-She (New Ohio), Hilary Bettis' Alligator (New Georges/Sol Project), Warren Leight's Union Square Incident (24 Hour Plays on Broadway), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Prague Shakespeare Festival), The Power (Beijing). Opera productions include: La traviata (New York City Opera at BAM), Lucia di Lammermoor (Opera North), Falstaff (Brooklyn Philharmonic at BAM), Latin Lovers (Glimmerglass). As playwright and director: Two Arms and a Noise (Bucharest International Theatre Platform), Plastic Drastic (Rose Theatre). Upcoming: Original Sound (Cherry Lane Theatre), Migrations (McCarter Theatre), Fur (Boundless), the new opera I Am A Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams (White Snake Productions). Faculty: Princeton University. Website: www.elenaaraoz.com

About the Leah Ryan Fund

Leah Ryan's Fund for Emerging Women Writers (FEWW) and its annual prize were established in 2010 to honor the memory of Leah Ryan, and to encourage and support the work of women writers. It is the purpose of the prize to perpetuate the integrity, compassion and creativity that Leah herself possessed and inspired in others.

Leah Ryan's FEWW intends both to encourage brilliant and unrecognized women playwrights with an annual cash prize and a New York City showcase of the winning work. In addition, the fund plans to provide financial support to women writers afflicted with a serious illness. For more information please visit http://www.leahryansfeww.com/index.html.