New Perspectives Presents MOTHER OF GOD!

NEW PERSPECTIVES THEATRE COMPANY is pleased to announce the world premiere production of Michele A. Miller?s MOTHER OF GOD!, directed by Melody Brooks. MOTHER OF GOD! will play a three-week limited engagement at Richmond Shepard Theatre (309 East 26th Street, NYC). Performances begin Thursday, March 10 and continue through to Saturday, March 26. Opening Night is Friday, March 11 (8 p.m.).

PRESS PERFORMANCES: MARCH 10, MARCH 11, MARCH 12
(Press will be happily accommodated at any performance.)

With historical context but creative license, both profane and profound, Mother of God! investigates the intersection of the politics of Sex and of Religion embedded in the story of the coming of the Messiah. Written by a Jewish mother about the ultimate Jewish Mother, this play expands upon what is a very short story in the New Testament.

The production features production design by Meganne George, and lighting design by Joyce Liao. Rhawnie Reil is the stage manager.

MOTHER OF GOD! plays the following regular schedule through Saturday, March 26:

Wednesdays at 8 p.m.
Thursdays at 8 p.m.
Fridays at 8 p.m.
Saturdays at 8 p.m.
Sundays at 3 p.m.

Tickets are $18; $15 student/senior; now available online at http://www.theatermania.com or by calling 866-811-4111. Tickets may also be purchased in-person at the theatre ½ hour prior to performance, subject to availability. For more information, please call New Perspectives at 212-630-9945.

Running Time: 2 hours

Website: www.nptnyc.org or www.motherofgod1play.wordpress.com

Mother of God! is an original play developed in New Perspectives? Award-winning Women?s Work LAB.

BIOGRAPHIES

MELODY BROOKS (Director/Dramaturg) is the founder and Artistic Director of New Perspectives. Ms. Brooks directs the Women?s Work LAB, currently managing the development of 6-10 short and full-length scripts a year; she also serves as Executive Producer for NPTC?s Voices From the Edge Festival, showcasing new works by African-American artists. She has developed and directed a number of original scripts with the company, notably Exhibit #9 by Tracey Scott Wilson, (AUDELCO Award); Jihad by Ann Chamberlin, (OOBR Award); and Anatomy of a Love Affair by Deirdre Hollman, (optioned by Essence Entertainment). Other developmental directing credits include Finding Home by Keline Adams, starring Marcella Lowery (from The Cosby Show), Untitled and Unfinished, written and performed by Yolanda Wilkinson and presented at NPTC and the Downtown Urban Theatre Festival; and Touchscape, written and performed by James Scruggs for the Queer at HERE Festival. Ms. Brooks has also directed many of NPTC's innovative classic productions. Most recently she directed a workshop of Hamlet based on scholarship showing the script parallels the Book of Revelation. A full production is planned for September 2011.

MICHELE A. MILLER (Playwright) is a mother, writer, and an archaeologist who has also worked in theatre administration and as a writer and editor. Michele has a M.A. in Anthropology and Ph.D. in Archaeology and has conducted extensive field-work in Greece, Israel, France and the U.S. Her interest in human society throughout the past and in historical and mythological characters informs many of her plays. Michele?s full-length play, Real Estate, was a semi-finalist in the 2002 American Theatre Coop Playwriting Contest and received readings at Women's Project & Productions, Word of Mouth and Vital Theatre workshops. Products of Conception, a play featuring one couple?s journey through infertility and loss, was produced as part of the Estrogenius Festival at Manhattan Theatre Source in October, 2003, and as part of the Strawberry Festival in the summer of 2004, where it was reprised as a ?Producer?s Choice?. Her play, Bedtime Stories was produced as part of the Development Series at Manhattan Theatre Source in May 2004. Her one-act plays have been seen as part of ?New Acts? at Boston Playwrights' Theatre, the Tandem Acts Festival of the Women?s Project Theatre, and Blueberry Pond Theatre?s 2006 Spring Sampler. Her full-length play Choice was chosen in 2008 for development by New Perspectives' Women's Work program and her short play Power Girls Support Group was produced by the company in the summer of 2008.

NEW PERSPECTIVES THEATRE COMPANY is an award-winning, multi-racial company performing in the Theatre District and in communities throughout the five boroughs of New York City. The Company?s mission is to develop and produce new plays and playwrights, especially women and people of color, to present classic plays in a style that addresses contemporary issues, and to extend the benefits of theatre to young people and communities in need. Our aim is not to exclude, but to cast a wider net. Now in its 19th season, notable NPTC productions have included Richard III, starring Austin Pendleton; Exhibit #9 by Tracy Scott Wilson (1999 Audelco Award); Jihad by Ann Chamberlain (1996 OOBR Award for Best Production); The Taming of the Shrew (2002 OOBR Award for Best Production), Admissions by Tony Velella (10 Best Plays of 1995, Backstage); the U.S. premiere of Visit by world-renowned Argentinean playwright Ricardo Monti; and the New York Premieres of Vaclav Havel?s The Increased Difficulty of Concentration; The Shaneequa Chronicles, written and performed by 2001 OBIE Award-winner Stephanie Berry (produced with Blackberry Productions); and Lemon Meringue Façade by Ted Lange, along with several innovative Shakespeare productions. NPTC was named a ?Person of the Year? in 2010 by NY Theatre Experience as a co-founder of 50/50 in 2020: Parity for Women Theatre Artists.

New Perspectives Theatre Company presents
MOTHER OF GOD!
Richmond Shepard Theatre
309 East 26th Street, NYC
March 10-26, 2011
Wednesday ? Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 3pm
Tickets $18 ($15 students and seniors)
www.theatermania.com or by phone at 1-866-811-4111