Hypothetical Presents 'There or Here' Beginning 9/6

Hypothetical Theatre Company will present the World Premiere of Jennifer Maisel's THERE OR HERE. Workshopped at PlayPenn in Philadelphia, the play was selected as a finalist for the 2007 Sundance Theatre Lab, the 2008 O'Neil Theatre Conference, and the 2008 STAGE International Script Competition for the best new play about science and technology. Directed by Amy Feinberg, previews begin September 6th at the 14th Street Theater. Opening night is slated for Tuesday, September 9th.
 
THERE OR HERE is a dark comedy about a mixed race couple who outsource their baby-making surrogacy to a woman in India. Nothing is off limits on this non-stop ride through the endless possibilities of outsourcing including customer service, phone sex, and even drive thru dining. It's a story ripped straight from the headlines -- even Oprah Winfrey covered surrogacy outsourcing on a recent show.

The production features Shalin Agarwal , Purva Bedi, Annie Meisels (Pera Pelas with Second Stage), Judy Rosenblatt  (Austin Pendelton's American Clock) and Alok Tewari (Rafta Rafta with The New Group), with sets by Mark Szymzak, lighting by Tim Kaufman, sound by Tim Cramer and costumes by Jessica Reed.

Jennifer Maisel is an award winning playwright, television and film writer. She is the recipient of the 2006 Women Working With Women Collaboration Award from the New York Coalition of Professional Women in the Arts and Media for the play birds. In 2002, she was given both the Fund for New American Plays Awards and the Charlotte Woolard Award (from the Kennedy Center) for The Last Seder. Her short plays How I Learned to Spell  and Goody F***ing Two Shoes (Humana Festival) were both finalists for the Actors Theatre of Louisville's Heideman  Award. Her play Mad Love garnered the Roger L. Stevens Award from the Kennedy Center's Fund for New American Plays and was a finalist for the California Playwrights Competition, the Jane Chambers Playwriting Award and the PEN West Literary Award. Other plays by Maisel include Mallbaby, Eden, ... And The Two Romeos, Dark Hours, and The Last Seder, which is currently running in Los Angeles and will have productions later this year in Minneapolis and St. Louis. Her TV writing credits include the WB series Related.

The Hypothetical Theatre Company is a not-for-profit professional producing company in residence at the 14th Street Y. Past productions include Michael Weller's Ghost on Fire, Buying Time and The Heart of Art;  Quake by Melanie Marnich; Detail of a Larger Work by Lisa Dillman (ranked in the top five shows of 1998 by TheatreScope Magazine);  Michael McKeever's The Garden of Hannah List (winner of the 1998 Carbonell Award);  Don Nigro's My Sweetheart's the Man in the Moon; and Jeffrey Sweet's The Action Against Sol Schumann. For more information visit www.HypotheticalTheatre.org.

THERE OR HERE runs September 6 -28, Thurs. at 7pm, Fri. & Sat. at 8pm and Sun. at 2 pm with an additional performance Mon. 9/8 and Tues. 9/9 @ 7pm. The 14th Street Theater is located at 344 East 14th Street (between 1st & 2nd Aves. -- accessible from the L train at 14th Street). Tickets are $18, available at 212-352-3101 or www.TheaterMania.com

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