Jewish Plays Project Launch OPEN New Works Festival at 14th Street Y Today

Artistic Director David Winitsky and Producer Jenny Levison, of the Jewish Plays Project have announced the plays that have been chosen for OPEN: The Festival of New Jewish Theater at the 14th Street Y. The performances and readings of these plays will be held today, June 10-30, 2013 at the Theater at 14th Street Y, 344 East 14th Street (between 1st and 2nd Ave), New York, NY. Tickets are free and open to the public. Reservations are suggested. To reserve tickets, visit: www.jewishplaysproject.org/tickets.

"We are thrilled to be back as the guest of the 14th Street Y (Stephen Hazan Arnoff, Executive Director) and LABA: a Laboratory for Jewish Culture (Ronit Muszkatblit and Elissa Strauss, Co-Artistic Directors)" says Mr. Winitsky, "and to present 12 new plays from some of the best and brightest minds in Jewish theater."

OPEN will consist of readings and workshops of the plays. Playwrights include Brooke Berman (Second Stage, Primary Stages), Adam Kraar (New Group, Playwrights Center), Jonathan Caren (Rattlestick, Old Globe) and Gary Winter (13P, The Flea). Directors include Daniella Topol (Jesus in India, Photograh 51), JPP Resident Director Ben Kamine (Thomas Bradshaw's Job), Tamilla Woodard (Polanski/Polanski, Hotel Project), and Ian Morgan (Associate Artistic Director at The New Group).

The plays are drawn from the JPP's international Jewish Playwriting Contest, which has received and vetted 340 plays from 26 states and 8 countries in two years. Plays are initially reviewed by a panel of 45 artists, and then chosen via audience vote in live events in Jewish communities throughout the northeast. A workshop of the 2013 Contest winner, Estelle Singerman by David Rush, will conclude the residency on June 29 and 30.

The plays will be presented in two series: Series A features plays "we believe are ready for production. Series B takes newer plays out for a spin," says Artistic Director David Winitsky.

Series A projects include:

The Law of Return by Martin Blank

Directed by Tamara Fisch

Tuesday, June 11th at 7 pm

The Karpovsky Variations by Adam Kraar

Directed by Tamilla Woodward

Thursday, June 13th at 7 pm

Centrifugal Force by Gary Winter

Directed by Pirronne Yousefzadeh

Sunday, June 16th at 5 pm

Let Me Go by Jonathan Caren

Directed by Benjamin Kamine

Thursday, June 20th at 7 pm

Martyr's Street by LABA Fellow Misha Shulman

Directed by Ian Morgan

Saturday, June 22nd at 7 pm

1300 by Brooke Berman

Sunday, June 23rd at 5 pm

Series B plays include:

The Man in the Sukkah by Deborah Yarchun

Directed by Annie Levy

Wednesday, June 12th at 7 pm

Black Fire/White Fire by Peter Ullian

Directed by David Winitsky

Friday, June 14th at 5 pm

Good Night Mrs. Bernstein by Lauren Kettler

Directed by Shira-Lee Shalit

Saturday, June 15th at 7 pm

A Question of Water by Steven Schutzman

Directed by Tzipora Kaplan

Friday, June 21st at 5 pm

A People by Lauren Feldman

Directed by David Winitsky

Thursday, June 27th at 7 pm

Concluding the residency, Estelle Singerman, by David Rush, winner of the 2013 Jewish Playwriting Contest, will receive a workshop productiondirected by David Winitsky. The design team will include Joshua Benghiat (Lighting) and Orli Nativ (Costumes), and the performance will be Saturday, June 29th at 7 pm and Sunday, June 30th at 5 pm.

For full details on all the shows, visit www.jewishplaysproject.org/open. New York City audiences are invited to come out to get a taste of the next revolution in Jewish culture.

ABOUT LABA: LABA is laboratory for Jewish culture at the 14th Street Y in New York City, which includes an artist fellowship program. Every year the LABA staff selects a group of 10 fellows -- a mix of artists, writers, dancers, musicians, actors and others -- to partake in a yearlong study of classical Jewish texts centered around a theme. The fellows then interpret these texts in their work which is featured in the bi-monthly online journal and annual year-end festival. A central focus of LABA is to present Judaism's rich literary and intellectual traditions in a non-denominational, non-religious setting, so that these writings may serve as inspiration for the fellows' art. www.labajournal.com

ABOUT THE JEWISH PLAYS PROJECT: The Jewish Plays Project is a development house for 21st Century Jewish theater that seeks to ignite an explosive engagement between cutting-Edge Theater artists and Jewish audiences by developing and advocating for a new generation of plays and musicals that embrace and investigate the intersection of Jewish identity and secular self.

The JPP puts bold, progressive Jewish conversations on world stages. The JPP's innovative and competitive development vehicle invests emerging artists in their Jewish identity; engages Jewish communities in the vetting, selecting and championing of new voices; and secures mainstream production opportunities for the best new plays. www.jewishplaysproject.org

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