News: World Premiere of "Public Servant" at Theatre Row Announces Open-Captioned and Audio-Described Performances

Photo provided by Spin Cycle PR
Theater Breaking Through Barriers was founded in 1979 by as Theater by the Blind, and it begins its 40th anniversary with the World Premiere of Public Servant, written by Bekah Brunstetter, of NBC’s Emmy-winning drama This Is Us and the just-announced Oklahoma TV series. The company's mission is to change the image of people with disabilities from one of dependence to independence, to fight stereotypes and misperceptions associated with disability, and to show how vibrant, fluid, and exuberant the work of artists with disabilities can be. “As New York’s only Off-Broadway theater company dedicated to advancing the work professional artists with disabilities, it has been a key priority of ours to create theater that is fully accessible to all,” notes TBTB Artistic Director Nicolas Viselli. “Over the years we have been actively working to increase the number of open captioned and audio described performances for our deaf/hard of hearing and blind/low vision patrons and we are extremely proud to be partnering with c2 open captioning service and audio describer, Andrea Miskow to offer five all access performances during our world premiere production of Bekah Brunstetter's Public Servant.”

In Public Servant, Ed has been newly elected as County Commissioner, and, with his daughter Hannah by his side, he plans to change the world - or at least his little corner of it. Meanwhile, all that world-weary Miriam needs is to sell her late mother’s house. Disillusioned with the system but desperate, she turns to Ed for help with what should be a simple request, but, in the world of politics, nothing is ever simple. 

Public Servant is directed by Geordie Broadwater and stars Chris Henry Coffey (Broadway’s Bronx Bombers, David Schwimmer’s Trust opposite Clive Owen and Viola Davis), Christine Bruno (Jose Rivera’s adaption of The Maids, Bekah Brunstetter’s Forgotten Corners... with TBTB), and newcomer Anna Lentz in her Off-Broadway debut. The play is the second part of a trilogy by Brunstetter that began with The Cake in February at Manhattan Theatre Club. Currently in previews at Theatre Row's Clurman Theatre (410 West 42nd Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues), Public Servant's opening night is set for Thursday, June 6, 2019, and its open-captioned and audio-described performances take place on the following dates:

• Tuesday, June 11 at 7:00 pm
• Friday, June 14 at 8:00 pm
• Wednesday, June 19 at 7:00 pm
• Thursday, June 27 at 8:00 pm
• Saturday, June 29 at 3:00 pm

The production runs through June 29. Performances are Tuesday - Wednesday at 7 pm, Thursday - Friday at 8 pm, Saturday at 3 pm and 8 pm, and Sunday at 3 pm. Tickets are $58 and are available at 212-239-6200 or www.telecharge.com.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: The Immersive "American Blues: 5 Short Plays by Tennessee Williams" Takes Audiences on a Marvelously Crafted Journey

Image
American Blues: 5 Short Plays by Tennessee Williams Written by Tennessee Williams Directed by Jim Niesen Presented by the Irondale Ensemble Project at The Space at Irondale 85 South Oxford St., Brooklyn, NYC October 27-November 26, 2023 Shadenia Savid in Moony's Kids Don't Cry . Photo by Natasha Rotondaro In 1948, Tennessee Williams published American Blues , a collection of five one-act plays, and a remarkable new production of this collection by Brooklyn's Irondale shows that these works have lost none of their power to both entertain and challenge audiences in the intervening three-quarters of a century. Comprising plays written in the decade between 1936 and 1946 - Moony's Kids Don't Cry (1936); The Dark Room (1939); The Case of the Crushed Petunias (1941); The Long Stay Cut Short, or, the Unsatisfactory Supper (1946); and Ten Blocks on the Camino Real (1946) - American Blues represents the second part of Irondale's American Century, the first install
Read more

Review: Nancy Redman’s "A Séance with Mom" Conjures Mother-Daughter Hilarity and Love

Image
A Séance with Mom Written by Nancy Redman Directed by Austin Pendleton Presented at Chain Studio Theatre 312 W. 36th St., Manhattan, NYC April 20-23, 2023 [Update 5/1/23: shows added May 24-June 4, 2023 (no performance May 29)] Nancy Redman Nancy Redman appears onstage, a simple table in front of her, a walker off to the side. Within seconds, we are immersed in a séance involving two then three then four characters—all emerging from only Redman. Redman plays Nadine, a woman who has something urgent to address with her dead mother, Gussy. Redman manages multi-faceted character work, each character in conversation with the other, complete with different gestures, accents, and mannerisms. The effect is riveting and, ultimately, deeply cathartic. The heart of the show comprises Nadine’s mission to reach her mother through a séance in order to talk. An unwitting rabbi plays the bumbling gatekeeper to the spirits in the séance, while Nadine’s something—actually several somethings—to tell her
Read more

Review: From Child Pose to Stand(ing) Up: "Yoga with Jillian" and "Penguin in Your Ear" at the Women in Theatre Festival

Image
Yoga with Jillian Written by Lia Romeo Directed by Andrew W. Smith Presented by Project Y Theatre and Richard Jordan Productions in association with The Pleasance June 2-17, 2023 Penguin in Your Ear Written and performed by Eliza Bent Directed by Jess Barbagallo June 10, 2023 Part of the Women in Theatre Festival , presented by Project Y Theatre at A.R.T./New York Theatres Michole Biancosino. Photo courtesy of Project Y Theatre This June, Project Y Theatre Company presents the eighth annual installment of its Women in Theatre Festival (WIT), which showcases new work by women and maintains "more than 50% female representation of all artists involved." This year, the festival includes a lobby installation project, titled In the Betweens , from scenic designer Chen-Wei Liao, through which audience members pass on their way into the theater proper. One first chooses first between "light" and "dark" rooms and then moves into "the gardens" before re
Read more