New York Neo-Futurists Gala Will Celebrate Innovative Theatre on October 29th

The New York Neo-Futurists Gala comes to The French Institute on October 29th, from 7pm-10:30pm. The award-winning downtown theater's annual fundraiser will feature entertainment, silent & live auctions, catered small plates, and an open bar of designer cocktails.

The New York Neo-Futurists are a collective of wildly productive writer-director-performers that create theater that is fusion of sport, poetry and living-newspaper; non-illusory, interactive performance that conveys experiences and ideas as directly and honestly as possible; immediate, irreproducible events at affordable prices. Since opening in Brooklyn in 2004 the New York Neo-Futurists have premiered over 5,000 plays and have become a downtown New York institution. In addition to performing The Infinite Wrench fifty weeks a year and producing Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind from 2004 until 2016, the New York Neo-Futurists have been a stalwart presence in the Off-Off Broadway community, having won numerous Innovative Theatre Awards and Drama Desk Nominations. Most recently, The Infinite Wrench took home the 2017 Innovative Theatre Foundation Award for "Outstanding Performance Art Production". The Infinite Wrench unleashes a barrage of two-minute plays and while each one offers something different, be it funny, profound, elegant, disgusting, topical, irrelevant, or terrifying, all are truthful and tackle the here-and-now, inspired by the lived experiences of the performers.

The 2018 Gala will continue the tradition of honoring artists and those that support the arts. Previous honorees have included Ellie Covan, Laurie Anderson, Dread Scott, Charles Mee, Eric Bogosian, and Debevoise & Plimpton. This year's gala honoree is Horse Trade Theater Group. They will be recognized for their "Outstanding Contributions To The Arts", for 20 years of providing affordable theatre space to all New York artists and for being the home of the New York Neo-Futurists weekly show for almost 13 years!

The Horse Trade Theater Group was founded in 1998 in the East Village. The three theaters in the group are the Kraine Theater, the Red Room and UNDER St. Marks. These three theaters are the artistic homes to the many Off-Off Broadway theatre artists involved with Horse Trade as resident artists and guest artists, including the New York Neo-Futurists.

Horse Trade's mission is to operate a self-sustaining theater group which cultivates new and exciting theater and provides the community with low-cost, high-quality venues run by knowledgeable and helpful people. It hosts "FRIGID New York", an annual uncensored theater festival whose mission is to create an accessible community of varied voices. To bring together independent theater artists, by supporting them in their work within a greater Theater community. To have artists support each other's talent while creating lasting artistic partnerships. As well as to expose the Artists' work and promote it to local audiences. Their biggest annual Festival gives 100% of the ticket sale proceeds back to the artist. In 2015, Horse Trade Theater Group/The Fire This Time Festival won the Obie Grant at the Obie Awards presented by the American Theater Wing.

This evening is a chance to show love for independent downtown theater, support the arts, and rub shoulders with the creative elite. Tickets may be purchased online at nynf.org, by phone at 866.811.4111 or at the door. General Admission tickets are $150. Our Gala is proud to be sponsored in part by Elland Road Partners. For more information call 347.871.6365 or visit www.nynf.org.

Photo Credit: Bret Lehne