Moonlight Productions to Present NIGHT BLOOMING JASMINE, 8/29-9/15

Horse Trade Theater Group in association with Moonlight Productions (produced by Kelley Girod of The Fire This Time Festival) will present Emmy-nominated playwright Israela Margalit's NIGHT BLOOMING JASMINE, August 29-September 15 at UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place).

The production will be directed by Artem Yatsunov (Claire Went to France; The Virilogy with StrangeDog Theatre Company) and feature Joe Barbarino, Paul Guskin , Mariam Habib, Anthony Knotts, Ben Morrow, Nuah Ozryel, Alissa Razzano, and Shannon Sullivan. The creative team will include Lighting Design by Rebecca Bickley, Set, Props, and Costume Design by Jamie Larson, and Sound Design by Mark Van Hare. The production will be Stage Managed by Keila Fontanez-LaSalle.

When Night Blooming Jasmine was first presented in New York in 2000, it sold out its limited run at The Tribeca Playhouse. The press concurred, calling it "fast moving and engaging," (The New York Times); " a gem... a novel and humane picture of the relationship between Israeli Jews and Arabs," (The Jewish Post);"inventive plotting... gut-wrenching... profoundly right" (Backstage); and "an extraordinary theatrical experience" (Yediot America).

Now, thirteen years later, the revised and updated Night Blooming Jasmine is timelier than ever. The desperate love story of a young Israeli war hero and a Palestinian woman, juxtaposed against the cultural clash between their families, the suspicion, prejudice and violence that permeates every corner of their lives, and a seemingly never-ending war, is as current and relevant as it has ever been. This is a play the keeps the audience at The Edge of their seats and provokes discussion.

The production will run August 29-September 15 at UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Avenue and Avenue A); Thursday through Saturday at 8pm(no show Friday, September 13) and Sunday, September 8 & 15 at 7pm. Tickets ($18, $15 students & seniors; $15 group rate) are available online at www.horseTRADE.info or by calling Smarttix at 212-868-4444.

Israela Margalit (Playwright) is an award-winning playwright, TV writer, concert pianist and recording artist. Her credits include: Trio (6 years in Moscow and throughout Russia and Ukraine, Ovation-recommended Los Angeles, Pecks Theater festival Hungary); On the Bench (Best Play Honorary Mention New York 15-minute play Festival); First Prize (Arclight Theater, New York); 3 O'clock in Brooklyn (Access Theater, New York); Night Blooming Jasmine (Tribeca Playhouse); TV specials with Sir Peter Ustinov (Emmy nomination, Gold Medal New York Film and TV Festival, two NEA Media Awards); Classic Changes (Finalist, Long Island Film Festival); Script consultant Columbia TriStar; Headwriter RWS, Russia Chanel 1.
ARTEM YATSUNOV (Director) received his B.F.A. in Theater from Montclair State University, NJ in May of 2008. He is Artistic Director and a co-founder of the StrangeDog Theatre Company. Favorites projects: Ben Clawson's Omnivores, The Virilogy, Claire Went to France, The StrangeDog Eat Dog and Pony Show, and The St.Valentine's Day Massacre; Noah Hidle's Kitty Kitty Kitty; Shakespeare's Richard III. He heads StrangeDog Theatre's initiative to collaborate with and support the local live music scene and has showcased such acts as the unofficial StrangeDog House Band The MICKS, Squeeze Rock, Amanda Duncan, Black Water, Joanna Burns, and The One&Nines - just to name a few.

KELLEY NICOLE GIROD (Producer) is the founder and Producing Artistic Director of NYC based The Fire This Time Festival (www.firethistimefestival.com) for which she was awarded "Person of the Year 2011″ nytheatre.com. Other producing credits include Outcry (Horse Trade Theatre 2012, Jack 2013), Israela Margalit's reading of Night Blooming Jasmine (Horse Trade Theater 2013), and Archetypes, Imprecators, and Victim's of Fate: An Evening of Work by Kelley Nicole Girod (Horse Trade Theater 2013).

HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work that has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade's Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York - the first and only festival of its kind in New York City. In 2011 Horse Trade received the New York Innovative Theatre Ellen Stewart Stewardship Award for demonstrating a significant contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership.

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