New York Neo-Futurists to Conduct Theatrical Experiment with THE GREAT AMERICAN DRAMA

The New York Neo-Futurists will present their full-length experiment, The Great American Drama at the Jeffrey and Paula Gural Theatre/ A.R.T. New York Theatres (502 West 53rd Street). The Great American Drama is created by Connor Sampson and written by Connor Sampson, Nicole Hill, Dan McCoy & Katy-May Hudson, with Direction and Dramaturgy by Greg Taubman.

The show will begin on January 17, open on January 22 and will run through February 5, 2017. Tickets are $18 online, $20 at the door and $15 for students at the door with a valid ID. Group sales are also available. All tickets can be purchased by visiting www.nyneofuturists.org.

The Great American Drama is a living, ever-changing theatrical experiment to test the validity of the American Dream; that anyone, regardless of their given circumstance, can achieve prosperity and success through hard work and determination. Through interviews and surveys, potential audience members will tell the creative team how they like their theater and what would make them buy a ticket, and four Neo-Futurists will strive to deliver every request. After each show, the audience will be invited to review the performance and the cast update the show accordingly in pursuit of theatrical success...that is, until their run at A.R.T./ New York ends on February 5th.

Please participate in The Great American Drama by explaining how you like your theater before you see the show, click here for our survey.

The cast features Connor Sampson, Nicole Hill, Dan McCoy, Katy-May Hudson and Lijie Y. Creative team includes Justin Cornell (Technical Director/Lighting Designer), Andrew Hanley (Composer), Ross Jernigan (Projection Designer), Chie Morita (General Manager), Greg Taubman (Co-Director/Dramaturg), and Hadley Todoran (Stage Manager).

"Everyone has a dream and we live in a country that says everyone's dreams can come true. So, then, why does our country feel like it's in a state of chaos? Why do we feel lied to? Why aren't we happier? And where are our dreams taking us? The Great American Drama will try to find some meaning in the chaos and seek answers by jumping down this rabbit hole. As a company, we believe in theatre that is a fusion of sport, poetry, and living-newspaper; non-illusory, interactive performance that conveys our experiences and ideas as directly and honestly as possible. And we believe in making that theatre affordable. We also believe in making theatre that reflects the times that we're living in and theatre that can change along with them. That's why we're producing The Great American Drama." New York Neo-Futurists.

THE NEW YORK NEO-FUTURISTS are a collective of wildly productive writer/director/performers. The single unifying element of all Neo-Futurist work is that it is performed from the perspective of absolute honesty. The performers always appear as themselves on stage, speaking directly from their own perspective. The Neo-Futurist aim to create an unreproducible living newspaper of the comic and tragic, the political and personal, the visceral and experimental. Since opening in Brooklyn in 2004, the New York Neo-Futurists have premiered over 4,250 plays and have become a downtown New York institution. In addition to performing Too Much Light Makes The Baby Goes Blind every Friday and Saturday for the past 12 years, the New York Neo-Futurists have been a stalwart presence in the Off-Off Broadway community with their full-length productions, having won numerous Innovative Theatre Awards and Drama Desk nominations including the 2016 IT award for best musical for Steve: A Docu-Musical. Beginning in 2017 the New York Neo-Futurists, in collaboration with their sister companies in Chicago and SF, will produce a new weekly show that will replace the long running Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind.

IF YOU GO:

The Great American Drama
A full-length Neo-Futuristic experiment created by Connor Sampson
Written by Connor Sampson, Nicole Hill, Dan McCoy & Katy-May Hudson
Co-Director and Dramaturg: Greg Taubman

January 17 - February 5, 2017
Opening night is Sunday, January 22, 2017
Performance Schedule: Tuesday - Saturday at 7:30; Sunday at 2:30pm

At Jeffrey and Paula Gural Theatre/ A.R.T. New York Theatres, located at 502 West 53rd Street.

Tickets are $18 online, $20 at the door and $15 for students at the door
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.nyneofuturists.org/great-american-drama or by clicking here.

Photo by Hunter Canning