Ironbound

March 3-April 24, 2016

New York premiere co-production with
Rattlestick Playwrights Theater
by Martyna Majok
directed by Daniella Topol

2016 NOMINATIONS! PLUS archived by The New York Public Library!

Ironbound Awards

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CRITICS’ PICK! Martyna Majok’s IRONBOUND IS “VIVID, PERCEPTIVE AND QUIETLY GRIPPING! Directed with economy and delicacy by Daniella Topol.” – New York Times

“Marin Ireland POSITIVELY VIBRATES with the force of will in a STAR PERFORMANCE of beautiful complexity! LIVE-WIRE MAGNETISM by Morgan Spector! VIBRANTLY FUNNY Shiloh Fernandez! The WONDERFULLY TENDER Josiah Bania!” – New York Times

Timeout New York Critics' PickTIME OUT NEW YORK CRITICS’ PICK! 
★★★★ Tough, Moving and Insightful!“- Time Out New York

INTRIGUING, STIRRING and INTENSE. The play, like life, isn’t about easy answers.” – New York Daily News

“Marin Ireland demonstrates once again that she’s become one of Theater’s MOST INVALUABLE STAGE PERFORMERS.” – The Hollywood Reporter

“Morgan Spector, Josiah Bania, and Shiloh Fernandez make VIVID IMPRESSIONS in their roles.” – The Hollywood Reporter

Starring Josiah Bania (Ironbound at Round House Theatre, Sarah Ruhl’s Three Sisters at Yale Rep), Shiloh Fernandez (“Queen of Carthage,” “Red Riding Hood”), Marin Ireland (Kill Floor, Reasons to Be Pretty) and Drama Desk nominee Morgan Spector (A View From The Bridge, “Boardwalk Empire”)

About IRONBOUND

IRONBOUND wins 2016 Helen Hayes Award!
Winner, National New Play Network Smith Prize
Winner, David Calicchio Emerging American Playwright Prize
Winner, The Global Age Project Prize

“We are not having nice conversation.” – Darja

At a bus stop in a run-down New Jersey town, Darja, a Polish immigrant cleaning lady, is done talking about feelings; it’s time to talk money. Over the course of 20 years, three relationships, and three presidents, Darja negotiates for her future with men who can offer her love or security, but never both. Award-winning playwright Martyna Majok’s Ironbound is a darkly funny, heartbreaking portrait of a woman for whom love is a luxury–and a liability–as she fights to survive in America. #IronboundPlay


GREAT NEWS!

MARTYNA MAJOK has been nominated for the 2016 OUTER CRITICS CIRCLE JOHN GASSNER AWARD for IRONBOUND.

MARIN IRELAND received two nominations for her performance in IRONBOUND:
2016 DRAMA DESK AWARD: OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A PLAY
2016 DRAMA LEAGUE AWARD: DISTINGUISHED PERFORMANCE AWARD

IRONBOUND was selected by THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY to be recorded LIVE and added to their Theatre on Film and Tape Archive.

Next Step! IRONBOUND will close the 2016-17 Season at City Theatre, Pittsburgh. Read more here at Broadway World.

Martyna Majok

(Playwright) Martyna Majok (pronounced “my-oak”) was born in Bytom, Poland, and aged in Jersey and Chicago. Her plays have been performed and developed at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Marin Theatre Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Williamstown Theatre Festival, LAByrinth Theatre Company, Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre, Women’s Project Theatre, Ensemble Studio Theatre, The John F. Kennedy Center, Dorset Theatre Festival, New York Stage & Film, Yale Cabaret, The Playwright and Director Center of Moscow, Round House Theatre, Satori Group, Red Tape Theatre, and The LIDA Project, among others. Awards include the inaugural Women’s Invitational Prize at Ashland New Play Festival, Marin Theatre’s David Calicchio Emerging American Playwright Prize, New York Theatre Workshop’s 2050 Fellowship, Aurora Theatre’s Global Age Project Prize, National New Play Network’s Smith Prize for Political Playwriting, Jane Chambers Student Feminist Playwriting Prize, and The Merage Fellowship for the American Dream. Commissions from Manhattan Theatre Club, Marin Theatre Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The New Yorker website, Ensemble Studio Theatre, and The Foundry Theatre. Publications by Samuel French and Smith & Kraus. Residencies at SPACE on Ryder Farm, Fuller Road, and Ragdale. BA: University of Chicago; MFA: Yale School of Drama. Martyna is currently part of the Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwright Program at The Juilliard School. She has taught playwriting at Williams College, Wesleyan University, SUNY Purchase, and as an assistant to Paula Vogel at Yale. Alumna of EST’s Youngblood. Member of Women’s Project Lab, Ars Nova’s Uncharted, The Dramatist Guild, and New York Theatre Workshop’s Usual Suspects. Martyna was the 2012-2013 NNPN playwright-in-residence at NJRep. She is the 2015-2016 PoNY Fellow at the Lark Play Development Center.

Daniella Topol

(Director) Daniella Topol’s previous WP Theater productions include: Cori Thomas’ When January Feels Like Summer, Jessica Dickey’s Row After Row, Sheila Callaghan’s Lascivious Something, Trista Baldwin’s Sand. Recent productions include: Rachel Bonds’ Five Mile Lake (South Coast Rep),  Jessica Dickey’s Charles Ives Take Me Home (Rattlestick Theatre) Rajiv Joseph’s Monster at the Door (Alley Theatre), Lloyd Suh’s Jesus in India (Magic Theatre and MaYi Theatre), Carla Ching’s Sugarhouse at the Edge of the Wilderness (MaYi Theatre), Willy Holtzman’s The Morini Strad (City Theatre), Sheila Callaghan’s Dead City (New Georges) and Janet Allard and Niko Tsakalakos’ Pool Boy (Barrington Stage Company), Anna Ziegler’s PHOTOGRAPH 51 (Theatre J), Susan Bernfield’s STRETCH (People’s Light and Theatre Company). She has directed readings and workshops for a number of companies and is currently a member of the board of the Lark Play Development Center, has been a grants review panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, NY State Council on the Arts and TCG. She is an NYTW Usual Suspect, member of EST, a Women’s Project Lab alumnus, and a New Georges affiliated artist. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and daughter.

Josiah Bania

(Maks) Josiah Bania is thrilled to be making both his Rattlestick and New York City theatre debut. Regional credits include the world premiere of Ironbound, at Round House Theatre, Sarah Ruhl’s adaptation of Three Sisters at Yale Repertory Theatre; Loves Labour’s Lost at Chautauqua Theatre Company; The Secret in the Wings, at Yale Summer Cabaret; The History Boys at Artists Repertory Theatre; The Uneasy Chair at CoHo Theater; A Christmas Carol, and JAW: A Playwright’s Festival at Portland Center Stage. Television credits include “The Good Wife”, “Leverage”, and “The Mysteries of Laura”. Josiah holds an MFA from the Yale School of Drama, where he appeared as Iago in Othello, Bolingbroke in Richard II, Medvedenko in The Seagull, and Nolan in Petty Harbour.

Shiloh Fernandez

(Vic) Shiloh Fernandez grew up in the small Northern California town of Ukiah. He moved to Los Angeles and has been in several major motion pictures and television productions. He’s proud to be making his New York stage debut in Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre and WP Theater’s premiere of Ironbound.

Marin Ireland

(Darja) Marin Ireland is a highly acclaimed actress of stage and screen. She stars opposite Corey Stoll in the independent feature GLASS CHIN, a performance for which she’s nominated for a 2016 Independent Spirit Award. She was recently seen in the indie film, THE FAMILY FANG, which debut at the Toronto Film Festival, and other recent film credits include THE PHENOM, BOTTLED UP, and 28 HOTEL ROOMS. This past year, she starred in the NBC miniseries THE SLAP, in addition to recurring roles on HBO’s GIRLS and Showtime’s MASTERS OF SEX. She will next star in the Amazon series, SNEAKY PETE. Tony Award nominated for her performance in Neil LaBute’s REASONS TO BE PRETTY, Marin recently received rave reviews for her performance in Lincoln Center Theater’s play KILL FLOOR and starred on Broadway in Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of THE BIG KNIFE, opposite Bobby Cannavale.

Morgan Spector

(Tommy) Morgan Spector Broadway: Machinal, Harvey, A View From the Bridge. Off-Broadway: Russian Transport (New Group, Drama Desk Nomination). Regional: Dissonance (Bay Street Theatre), The Lion King national tour, Enemies: A Love Story (Wilma Theatre). Television: Series Regular: “The Money (pilot),””Allegiance”, “The Broad Squad” (pilot), “Paradise Pictures (pilot). Recurring: “Boardwalk Empire,” “Person of Interest,” “Zero Hour,” “Law & Order: CI,” “How to Make It in America.” Guest Star: “Orange is the New Black,” “Do No Harm,” Film: Permission, The Bleeder, Christine, Split, The Drop, All Is Bright, Grand Street, Musical Chairs, Burning Blue, The Last Airbender. BA, Reed College; MFA, American Conservatory Theatre.

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater – Co-Producer

Rattlestick Playwrights’ Theater is a multi-award-winning, 501(c)(3) organization and recipient of the 2007 Ross Wetzsteon Memorial OBIE Award, which recognized us for work and our mission: developing and producing innovative new plays. Rattlestick is also the recipient of the 2014 OBIE award for The Hilltown Plays. Now in our 20th Season, we have introduced new writers and received critical acclaim for our innovative work. The 2014/2015 season includes outstanding writers such as Keith Josef Adkins, Robert Boswell, Sheila Callaghan, Laura Eason, Laith Nakli, Scott Organ, Rubén Polendo, and Daniel Talbott. as well as Martín Zimmerman, Michael Laurence and Charlotte Miller in Los Angeles. Although there are other companies that showcase new playwrights, there are very few who can match our focus, achievement and the continuing support from a play’s inception to its final production. www.rattlestick.org

  • IRONBOUND TRAILER


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  • PHOTOS: IRONBOUND OPENING NIGHT!


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    WATCH THE IRONBOUND TRAILER

    VIEW the trailer for the critically acclaimed IRONBOUND by Martyna Majok and directed by Daniella Topol.  Starring Josiah Bania (Ironbound at Round House Theatre, Sarah Ruhl’s Three Sisters at Yale Rep), Shiloh Fernandez (“Queen of Carthage,” “Red Riding Hood”), Marin Ireland (Kill Floor, Reasons to Be Pretty) and Drama Desk nominee Morgan Spector (A View From The Bridge, “Boardwalk Empire”). Film by Erik Pearson & Banjan Brownstone, LLC. Music by Josiah Bania.


     

    herMajesty hails The Pipeline Festival

    “herMajesty’s NY-based dream pop revels in spacey, glam Briticisms and a blissful expansiveness that can only be described as, well, majestic.” – CMJ Music Report

    The New York City indie rock/pop band, herMajesty answered a late night call for music for THE PIPELINE FESTIVAL‘s “Behind the Scenes” video. The band generously provided the use of their melodic song “Operator,” with the message “Shine so Bright” Pipeline Festival!

    Listen to IRONBOUND’s Josiah Bania sing the Blues “Czerwony Jak Cegla.”

    REVIA Magazine: Playwright Martyna Majok Taking Center Stage

     

    PHOTO FLASH: IRONBOUND


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    Get to Know IRONBOUND’s MARIN IRELAND

    MARIN IRELAND

    MARIN IRELAND is DARJA

    “We are not having nice conversation.” – Darja

    (Darja) Marin Ireland is a highly acclaimed actress of stage and screen. She stars opposite Corey Stoll in the independent feature GLASS CHIN, a performance for which she’s nominated for a 2016 Independent Spirit Award. She was recently seen in the indie film, THE FAMILY FANG, which debut at the Toronto Film Festival, and other recent film credits include THE PHENOM, BOTTLED UP, and 28 HOTEL ROOMS. This past year, she starred in the NBC miniseries THE SLAP, in addition to recurring roles on HBO’s GIRLS and Showtime’s MASTERS OF SEX. She will next star in the Amazon series, SNEAKY PETE. Tony Award nominated for her performance in Neil LaBute’s REASONS TO BE PRETTY, Marin recently received rave reviews for her performance in Lincoln Center Theater’s play KILL FLOOR and starred on Broadway in Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of THE BIG KNIFE, opposite Bobby Cannavale.

    Follow Marin @MARINIRELAND #IronboundPlay #Immigrant


     

    Get to Know IRONBOUND’s MORGAN SPECTOR

     

    Morgan-Spector---#IronboundPlay

    MORGAN SPECTOR is TOMMY

    “I could…try to be more understanding-“ – Tommy

    MORGAN SPECTOR’s credits include Broadway: Machinal, Harvey, A View From the Bridge. Off-Broadway: Russian Transport (New Group, Drama Desk Nomination). Regional: Dissonance (Bay Street Theatre), The Lion King national tour, Enemies: A Love Story (Wilma Theatre). Television: Series Regular: “The Money (pilot),””Allegiance”, “The Broad Squad” (pilot), “Paradise Pictures (pilot). Recurring: “Boardwalk Empire,” “Person of Interest,” “Zero Hour,” “Law & Order: CI,” “How to Make It in America.” Guest Star: “Orange is the New Black,” “Do No Harm,” Film: Permission, The Bleeder, Christine, Split, The Drop, All Is Bright, Grand Street, Musical Chairs, Burning Blue, The Last Airbender. BA, Reed College; MFA, American Conservatory Theatre.

    Follow Morgan @MORGUEINSPECTOR #IronboundPlay #Immigrant

     

    Get to Know IRONBOUND’s JOSIAH BANIA

    Josiah Bania - Ironbound

    JOSIAH BANIA is MAKS

    “We are not just body. Lift. Pull. Push. We are more than this.” – Maks

    “Josiah Bania is the embodiment of youthful, crazy charisma!” – DC Theatre Scene on the world premiere of IRONBOUND at Round House Theatre

    Josiah Bania is making  his Rattlestick, WP Theater, and New York City theatre debut in Ironbound. Regional credits include the world premiere of Ironbound, at Round House Theatre, Sarah Ruhl’s adaptation of Three Sisters at Yale Repertory Theatre; Loves Labour’s Lost at Chautauqua Theatre Company; The Secret in the Wings, at Yale Summer Cabaret; The History Boys at Artists Repertory Theatre; The Uneasy Chair at CoHo Theater; A Christmas Carol, and JAW: A Playwright’s Festival at Portland Center Stage. Television credits include “The Good Wife”, “Leverage”, and “The Mysteries of Laura”. Josiah holds an MFA from the Yale School of Drama, where he appeared as Iago in Othello, Bolingbroke in Richard II, Medvedenko in The Seagull, and Nolan in Petty Harbour.

    Follow Josiah @JosiahBania #IronboundPlay #Immigrant

     

    Get to Know IRONBOUND’s SHILOH FERNANDEZ

    Shiloh Fernandez headshot
    SHILOH FERNANDEZ is VIC

    “…I’m just tryin to help.” – Vic

    Shiloh Fernandez grew up in the small Northern California town of Ukiah. He moved to Los Angeles and has been in several major motion pictures and television productions including starring opposite Amanda Seyfried in “Red Riding Hood,” Shailene Woodley in “White Bird in a Blizzard,” and  alongside Zac Efron and Emily Ratajkowski in “We Are Your Friends.”  In 2015, Shiloh made his debut as a producer and screenwriter in the independent thriller “Queen of Carthage,” in which he also starred in opposite Oscar-nominated actress Keisha Castle-Hughes (“Whale Rider”). Shiloh’s latest movie “Long Nights Short Mornings” recently premiere at the 2016 SXSW festival. Shiloh is making his New York stage debut in Rattlestick Playwrights Theater’s and WP Theater’s premiere of the award-winning and critically acclaimed IRONBOUND by Martyna Majok and directed by Daniella Topol.

    Follow Shiloh @shilohfernandez #IronboundPlay #Immigrant

    Watch the trailer for his latest movie here: LONG NIGHTS SHORT MORNINGS.

     

    Martyna Majok’s favorite part of the playmaking process…

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    Steppenwolf Article: GETTING TO KNOW PLAYWRIGHT MARTYNA MAJOK

    What is your favorite part of the playmaking process, and why?

    Martyna Majok: Workshops. Tom Stoppard likens outside perspectives on his plays to going through customs at the airport. The officer asks you to declare what you have in your luggage. you tell him. “A four character play about a lady at a bus stop in Jersey.” Then he goes rifling through your bags and finds all these things you didn’t realize you’d packed. Like capitalism and the contradictions of modern feminism in certain socioeconomic situations.

    Read more at Steppenwolf.org

    GET TO KNOW CELEBRATED DIRECTOR DANIELLA TOPOL

    Daniella Topol

    Director Daniella Topol’s previous WP Theater productions include: Cori Thomas’ When January Feels Like Summer, Jessica Dickey’s Row After Row, Sheila Callaghan’s Lascivious Something, Trista Baldwin’s Sand. Recent productions include: Rachel Bonds’ Five Mile Lake (South Coast Rep),  Jessica Dickey’s Charles Ives Take Me Home (Rattlestick Theatre) Rajiv Joseph’s Monster at the Door (Alley Theatre), Lloyd Suh’s Jesus in India (Magic Theatre and MaYi Theatre), Carla Ching’s Sugarhouse at the Edge of the Wilderness (MaYi Theatre), Willy Holtzman’s The Morini Strad (City Theatre), Sheila Callaghan’s Dead City (New Georges) and Janet Allard and Niko Tsakalakos’ Pool Boy (Barrington Stage Company), Anna Ziegler’s PHOTOGRAPH 51 (Theatre J), Susan Bernfield’s STRETCH (People’s Light and Theatre Company). She has directed readings and workshops for a number of companies and is currently a member of the board of the Lark Play Development Center, has been a grants review panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, NY State Council on the Arts and TCG. She is an NYTW Usual Suspect, member of EST, a Women’s Project Lab alumnus, and a New Georges affiliated artist. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and daughter.

    Learn more about Daniella Topol

    Website: daniellatopol.com

    Read Meet the Directors, The New York Times

    Photograph of Daniella Topol by Chad Batka

     

    GET TO KNOW AWARD-WINNING PLAYWRIGHT MARTYNA MAJOK

    (Playwright) Martyna Majok (pronounced “my-oak”) was born in Bytom, Poland, and aged in Jersey and Chicago. Her plays have been performed and developed at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Marin Theatre Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Williamstown Theatre Festival, LAByrinth Theatre Company, Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre, Women’s Project Theatre, Ensemble Studio Theatre, The John F. Kennedy Center, Dorset Theatre Festival, New York Stage & Film, Yale Cabaret, The Playwright and Director Center of Moscow, Round House Theatre, Satori Group, Red Tape Theatre, and The LIDA Project, among others. Awards include the inaugural Women’s Invitational Prize at Ashland New Play Festival, Marin Theatre’s David Calicchio Emerging American Playwright Prize, New York Theatre Workshop’s 2050 Fellowship, Aurora Theatre’s Global Age Project Prize, National New Play Network’s Smith Prize for Political Playwriting, Jane Chambers Student Feminist Playwriting Prize, and The Merage Fellowship for the American Dream. Commissions from Manhattan Theatre Club, Marin Theatre Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The New Yorker website, Ensemble Studio Theatre, and The Foundry Theatre. Publications by Samuel French and Smith & Kraus. Residencies at SPACE on Ryder Farm, Fuller Road, and Ragdale. BA: University of Chicago; MFA: Yale School of Drama. Martyna is currently part of the Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwright Program at The Juilliard School. She has taught playwriting at Williams College, Wesleyan University, SUNY Purchase, and as an assistant to Paula Vogel at Yale. Alumna of EST’s Youngblood. Member of Women’s Project Lab, Ars Nova’s Uncharted, The Dramatist Guild, and New York Theatre Workshop’s Usual Suspects. Martyna was the 2012-2013 NNPN playwright-in-residence at NJRep. She is the 2015-2016 PoNY Fellow at the Lark Play Development Center.

    WebsiteMartynaMajok.com

    Recent Articles:
    Heavyweight Playwriting Fellowship Names 2015-16 Recipient, Variety
    8 Playwrights Receive ‘Exit’ Grants as They Graduate From EST’s Youngblood, American Theatre
    UpClose: Martyna Majok, Women’s Voices Theater Festival, DC Theatre Scene
    Getting to Know Playwright Martyna MajokSteppenwolf Theatre Company

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    LISTEN! ENJOY! WP THEATER’S 2015 HOLIDAY MUSIC PLAYLIST

    For your listening pleasure, Team WP Theater put together a sing along, snap your fingers, swaying playlist of classic holiday songs. Click above, listen, and enjoy the holiday season and new year with these tunes by your side.

    “IRONBOUND is…The first KNOCKOUT of the Women’s Voices Theater Festival” – The Washington Post

    IRONBOUND NEWS + MORE

    IRONBOUND NEWS + MORE

    Women's+Voices+Theater+FestivalThe premiere of IRONBOUND by Round House Theatre with the dynamic duo, Martyna Majok and Daniella Topol, at the 2015 Women’s Voices Theater Festival was met with rave reviews! Here are just a few of the stellar reviews:

    “The first KNOCKOUT of the Women’s Voices Theater Festival” -The Washington Post

    “…a deceptively simple, thought-provoking, and an ELEGANT WORK OF ART.” -Broadway World

    5-Stars“IRONBOUND by Martyna Majok…amounts to 90 MINUTES OF BLISTERING GOODNESS.” -DC Theatre Scene

    #1 HIT OF THE WEEK” & “…a well written script; superb acting and a high-end production all helmed by the immensely talented director Daniella Topol.” -MD Theatre Guide

    DON’T MISS THE NEW YORK PREMIERE OF THIS “ELEGANT WORK OF ART!”

     

    Take a Look Inside! WP’s New Season Brochure!


    WP’s New Season Brochures! Subscribe Today!

    Theatermania Features WP’s New Season!

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    Sarah Ruhl’s Dear Elizabeth to Make New York Premiere at Women’s Project. The two-character drama is on tap for the organization’s 2015-16 season.

    The two-character drama is on tap for the organization’s 2015-16 season.

    David Gordon • Off-Broadway • Aug 24, 2015

    Off-Broadway’s Women’s Project Theater has announced its 2015-16 season, set to take place at the organization’s new home, theMcGinn/Cazale Theatre.

    The season will kick off with the New York premiere of Sarah Ruhl’s Dear Elizabeth, under the direction of Kate Whoriskey. Performed with a rotating cast (still to be announced), the drama follows the friendship between poets Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell, whose relationship spanned 30 years and included more than 400 letters. The play will run from October 26-December 5.

    Next is Martyna Majok’s Ironbound, directed by Daniella Topol. A coproduction with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, the work follows Darja, a Polish immigrant cleaning lady, over the course of 20 years as she negotiates for her future with three different men who can offer her love or security, but never both. The work runs March 2-April 10.

    Closing out the first season at the McGinn/Cazale is the first-ever WP Pipeline Festival, in which WP Lab playwrights, directors, and producers present five brand-new plays from March 24-April 23. The writers are Sarah Burgess, Monet Hurst-Mendoza, Martyna Majok, Riti Sachdeva, and Susan Soon-He Stanton. Directors are Adrienne Campbell-Holt, Lee Sunday Evans, Sarah Krohn, Danya Taymor, and Tamilla Woodard. Producers are Rachel Karpf Reidy, Pearl Kermani, Kristen Luciani, Liz Olson, and Rachel Sussman.

    Women’s Project Theater is currently under the leadership of producing artistic director Lisa McNulty and managing director Maureen Moynihan.

    For more information on WP’s New Season click here.

    BroadwayWorld.com Features WP’s New Season!

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    Sarah Ruhl’s DEAR ELIZABETH to Launch Women’s Project Theater’s 2015-16 Season at New Home

    Women’s Project Theater, under the leadership ofProducing Artistic Director Lisa McNulty and Managing Director Maureen Moynihan, just announced the 2015-2016 Season and the beginning of its three-year residency at the McGinn/Cazale Theater (2162 Broadway, at 76th Street), creating an artistic home for women in theater.

    “I’m thrilled for WP Theater to set down roots in this wonderful space with such a storied theatrical history, and to bring all of these brilliant women together in one season,” said McNulty. “Our upcoming season features such an exciting range of talent: from Sarah Ruhl, one of our most treasured and accomplished writers; to Martyna Majok, who is making her Off-Broadway debut; to a festival fully dedicated to new work from the emerging artists of the WP Lab. This is the essence of what WP Theater does-creating a theatrical home where female-identified artists are welcome at every point in their careers, a place where women’s voices are central. I’m also really excited to partner with The Kilroys and The Lilly Awards this year on a series of events that will celebrate all of these invaluable organizations under WP Theater’s new roof. With the generous support of The Royal Little Family Foundation, WP has been given the opportunity to make 76th & Broadway the destination for some of the most exciting new theater in town.”

    WP Theater’s inaugural season at the McGinn/Cazale Theater will commence with the New York premiere of DEAR ELIZABETH, written by two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee and Tony Award nominee Sarah Ruhl (The Oldest Boy, In the Next Room, or the vibrator play), directed by Kate Whoriskey (Ruined, Sweat) from October 26 to December 5, 2015. Drawn from the famed correspondence between Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell – two of the twentieth century’s most brilliant poets – DEAR ELIZABETH tells a tale of unconventional friendship and intimacy that spanned thirty years and more than 400 letters, with postmarks from Maine to Key West, from London to South America. Performed with a rotating cast of the theater community’s most brilliant and beloved performers – to be announced shortly – DEAR ELIZABETH is an insightful and impassioned examination of Bishop and Lowell’s lives, their work, and the true nature of friendship.

    In a co-production with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, IRONBOUND by Martyna Majok (Petty Harbor), directed byDaniella Topol (When January Feels Like Summer, Row After Row) will make its New York Premiere March 2 – April 10, 2016 at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. IRONBOUND is a darkly funny, heartbreaking portrait of a woman for whom love is a luxury – and a liability – as she fights to survive in America from award-winning playwright Martyna Majok. At a bus in a run-down New Jersey town, Darja, a Polish immigrant cleaning lady, is done talking about feelings; it’s time to talk money. Over the course of 20 years, three relationships, and three presidents, Darja negotiates for her future with men who can offer her love or security, but never both.

    To cap off the first year at the McGinn/Cazale Theater, WP Theater will present the first-ever WP PIPELINE FESTIVAL in which WP Lab playwrights, directors and producers’ two-year residency culminates in the presentation of five brand new plays – written, directed and produced by the fifteen women of the WP Lab – from March 24 to April 23, 2016. As the artistic heart of WP Theater, the Lab provides rising stars in the industry with a vital professional network, entrepreneurial and leadership training, rehearsal space, and most significantly, tangible opportunities for the development and production of bold new work for the stage. The Lab artists featured in the inaugural WP PIPELINE FESTIVAL are:

    Writers: Sarah Burgess, Monet Hurst-Mendoza, Martyna Majok, Riti Sachdeva, Susan Soon-He Stanton

    Directors: Adrienne Campbell-Holt, Lee Sunday Evans, Sarah Krohn, Danya Taymor, Tamilla Woodard

    Producers: Rachel Karpf Reidy, Pearl Kermani, Kristen Luciani, Liz Olson, Rachel Sussman

    Some recent successes by WP Lab artists include: Director Adrienne Campbell-Holt’s theater company Colt Coeur’s production of Dry Land, by Ruby Rae Spiegel, earned rave reviews from New York’s top critics and was listed as one of New York Post’s Top 10 theater experiences of 2014. Playwright Majok’s IRONBOUND is a part of the 2015-2016 WP season, Lee Sunday Evans earned a 2015 Obie Award for her direction of A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks of the Greatest of the Great Lakes (New Georges, in association with WP Theater) and Sarah Burgess’s play, Dry Powder, is slated for the 2015-2016 season at the Public Theater, directed by Thomas Kail.

    In addition to the two New York play premieres and WP PIPELINE FESTIVAL, WP Theater will also produce a series of events with other gender-focused theater and advocacy organizations, including The Kilroys (thekilroys.org) and The Lilly Awards (www.thelillyawards.org). WP Theater is invested in making its new artistic home a place where the theater community can come together to celebrate women’s talents and voices onstage. Details on these events to follow.

    For details on WP subscriptions, visit WWW.WPTHEATER.ORG or call (212) 765-1706. WP Theater makes its home at the McGinn/Cazale Theater thanks to the generous support of The Royal Little Family Foundation.

    WOMEN’S PROJECT THEATER (WP) is the nation’s oldest and largest theater company dedicated to developing, producing and promoting the work of female theater artists at every stage in their careers. WP Theater supports female-identified theater artists and the world-class, groundbreaking work they create, and provides a platform where their voices can be heard and celebrated on the American stage.

    Founded in 1978 by visionary producer, Julia Miles, WP has been the launching pad for many of our nation’s most important theater artists. Eve Ensler, María Irene Fornés, Katori Hall, Pam MacKinnon, Lynn Nottage andLeigh Silverman, among many, many others, all found early artistic homes here. Throughout its 38 year history, WP has produced over 600 main stage productions and developmental projects, and published 11 anthologies of plays. No other producing institution in the country can claim this kind of ongoing history of advocacy and support for women in the theater, and we look ahead to the next generation of artists who will also begin their careers here.

    WP Theater accomplishes its mission through several fundamental programs: the WP Lab, a two-year mentorship and new play development program for women playwrights, directors, and producers; the Playwright In Residence commissioning program; the Developmental series; and the Main Stage series, which features a full season of Off-Broadway productions written and directed by extraordinary theater artists.

    Lisa McNulty (Producing Artistic Director). Lisa is about to enter her second season as Producing Artistic Director of Women’s Project Theater. Lisa comes to WP from Manhattan Theatre Club, where she served as Artistic Line Producer for eight seasons, working on more than 30 productions both on and off Broadway, including plays byLynn Nottage, Sarah Treem, Harvey Fierstein, and Tarell Alvin McCraney, among many, many others. Lisa has a long history with WP Theater. She was originally hired by the company’s founder, Julia Miles, as the Literary Manager from 1997-2000, where she dramaturged work by María Irene Fornés, Julie Hébert, and Karen Hartman, among others. In 2004, she returned to WP as its Associate Artistic Director where she served as the company’s casting director and literary manager and again ran WP’s Playwrights Lab. Her independent producing career includes projects with Sarah Ruhl, Todd Almond, and Lucy Thurber, all at 13P. Lisa has also served as the Producing Associate at the McCarter Theatre, acting as Line Producer on McCarter’s mainstage, as well as developing McCarter’s commissioned short series.

    Maureen Moynihan (Managing Director) Maureen started her career in Chicago working for the Steppenwolf Theatre Company and commercial producer Fox Theatricals. Prior to joining WP Theater, Maureen spent over a decade working for Blue Man Productions in several positions including serving as their Executive Director for five North American Productions. Since moving to New York, she has worked for several nonprofit and commercial organizations including Manhattan New Music Project, York Theatre Company and the immersive theatrical experience Queen of the Night.

    Selected through a highly competitive process, the WP Lab is the only program in America putting playwrights, directors, AND producers together in the same room. Providing both professional development and leadership training, Lab participants obtain executive coaching, make professional contacts, and receive training that proves invaluable to their development. The benefits of the WP Lab extend well beyond the two-year residency. Having forged strong working relationships in the Lab, both with fellow Lab artists and outside professional contacts, Lab artists continue to work together and with other brilliant voices in the artistic collective long after their official residency ends. WP’s top priority is to achieve a standard of excellence for these artists, advocating for women by producing stellar work featuring extraordinary talent.

    For more information on WP’s New Season click here.

    Playbill Features WP’s New Season!

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    Sarah Ruhl NY Premiere Part of Women’s Project Theater Season 

    By Robert Viagas
    and Michael Gioia
    25 Aug 2015

    Women’s Project Theater, founded in 1978 to develop, produce and promote the work of women theatre artists, has announced its upcoming season lineup at its new artistic home.
    To begin a three year residency at the McGinn/Cazale Theater (2162 Broadway, at 76th Street in New York) artistic director Lisa McNulty announced that the season will include the New York premieres of Sarah Ruhl’s Dear Elizabeth and Marytyna Majok’s Ironbound.

    New this season will be the inaugural “Pipeline Festival,” which will include five new plays written, directed and produced by WP Lab Artists.

    McNulty issued a statement calling the McGinn/Cazale Theater “an artistic home for women in theatre,” adding “I’m thrilled for WP Theater to set down roots in this wonderful space with such a storied theatrical history, and to bring all of these brilliant women together in one season. Our upcoming season features such an exciting range of talent: from Sarah Ruhl, one of our most treasured and accomplished writers; to Martyna Majok, who is making her Off-Broadway debut; to a festival fully dedicated to new work from the emerging artists of the WP Lab.”

    She said, “This is the essence of what WP Theater does—creating a theatrical home where female-identified artists are welcome at every point in their careers, a place where women’s voices are central.”

    Here’s a closer look at the season:

    Dear Elizabeth (Oct. 26-Dec. 5) is written by two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee and Tony Award nominee Sarah Ruhl (The Oldest Boy, In the Next Room, or the vibrator play), directed by Kate Whoriskey. “Drawn from the famed correspondence between Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell–two of the 20th century’s most brilliant poets–Dear Elizabeth tells a tale of unconventional friendship and intimacy that spanned 30 years and more than 400 letters, with postmarks from Maine to Key West, from London to South America.” It will be performed with a rotating cast of “the theater community’s most brilliant and beloved performers.”

    Ironbound (Mar. 2-April 10, 2016) A co-production with (and performed at) Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. Written by Martyna Majok (Petty Harbor) and directed by Daniella Topol. Described as “a darkly funny, heartbreaking portrait of a woman for whom love is a luxury – and a liability – as she fights to survive in America. At a bus in a run-down New Jersey town, Darja, a Polish immigrant cleaning lady, is done talking about feelings; it’s time to talk money. Over the course of 20 years, three relationships, and three presidents, Darja negotiates for her future with men who can offer her love or security, but never both.”

    The WP Pipeline Festival (Mar. 24-April 23) Five brand new plays – written, directed and produced by the fifteen women of the WP Lab: Writers Sarah Burgess, Monet Hurst-Mendoza, Martyna Majok, Riti Sachdeva and Susan Soon-He Stanton. Directors Adrienne Campbell-Holt, Lee Sunday Evans, Sarah Krohn, Danya Taymor and Tamilla Woodard. Producers  Rachel Karpf Reidy, Pearl Kermani, Kristen Luciani, Liz Olson and Rachel Sussman.

    For more information on WP’s New Season click here.

    American Theatre Magazine Features WP’s New Season!

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    Women’s Project Theater Announces New Season in a New Home

    Women’s Project Theater Announces New Season in a New Home
    On the slate are Sarah Ruhl’s epistolary play about Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell, and a co-production with Rattlestick of Martyna Majok’s ‘Ironbound.’
    BY AMERICAN THEATRE EDITORS
    NEW YORK CITY: Women’s Project Theater announced their 2015–16 season of plays, which will run in their new Upper West Side home at the McGinn/Cazale Theater. Producing artistic director Lisa McNulty and managing director Maureen Moynihan announced the beginning of a three-year residency at the theatre on Broadway at 76th Street.

    “I’m thrilled for WP Theater to set down roots in this wonderful space with such a storied theatrical history, and to bring all of these brilliant women together in one season,” said McNulty in a statement. “This is the essence of what WP Theater does—create a theatrical home where female-identified artists are welcome at every point in their careers, a place where women’s voices are central.”

    The season will begin with the New York premiere of Sarah Ruhl’s play Dear Elizabeth(Oct. 26–Dec. 5). The play, which will feature a rotating cast, examines the relationship between the poets Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell through letters they wrote to each other.

    Rattlestick Playwrights Theater and WP will then partner to present Ironbound by Martyna Majok (March 2–April 10), in its New York premiere. The play follows a woman for whom love is luxury.

    Closing the season will be the first WP Pipeline Festival, running March 24–April 23. The festival will feature five new plays developed during the WP Lab’s two-year residency. The artists involved are Sarah Burgess, Money Hurst-Mendoza, Martyna Majok, Riti Sachdeva, Susan Soon-He Stanton, Adrienne Campbell-Holt, Lee Sunday Evans, Sarah Krohn, Danya Taymor, Tamilla Woodard, Rachel Karpf Reidy, Pearl Kermani, Kristen Luciani, Liz Olson, and Rachel Sussman.

    WP Theater will also produce a series of events with other gender-focused theatre and advocacy groups, including the Kilroys and the Lilly Awards. Details of these events are yet to be announced.

    For more information on WP’s New Season click here.