New Georges to Celebrate 25th Anniversary with World Premieres by Hilary Bettis and Sheila Callaghan
New Georges, a theatrical production company devoted to women, has announced that they will celebrate their 25th anniversary with the World Premiere of Hilary Bettis’ “Alligator,” directed by Elena Araoz, and of Sheila Callaghan and Daniella Topol’s collaboratively-created “Water.”
“In its 25-year history,” the company’s release said, “New Georges has brought forth an unprecedented generation of women playwrights and directors, providing them with steady artistic support and first or career-transforming productions in New York City.”
“It feels a bit unreal to reach this milestone! But when I look at this season, with its emphasis on experimentation and artists we love, I know exactly why we’re still making plays,” said Founding Artistic Director Susan Bernfield. “The core of our work, all year long, remains serving a thriving 200-member artist community — devising programs to meet their ever-changing needs, sometimes just offering a hearty conversation.”
“Alligator” will be presented November 22-December 17 at the new ART/New York Theatres at 53rd Street and 10th Avenue, where New Georges will be a pilot company in the theaters’ opening months.
It tells the story of “Emerald and Ty, twin orphaned teenagers who live in the backwoods of the Florida Everglades and wrestle ‘gators in a roadside attraction. Careening through encounters in their small tourist town, they meet self-destructive young locals looking for a future and desperate young wanderers looking for a home; all carry secrets under ever-present layers of desire. Alternately realistic and surreal, scored with gritty rock music, ‘Alligator’ is a muscular, satisfying play about learning to tame our darkest impulses.”
“Water” will be presented June 4–30, 2017 at 3LD Art & Technology Center (80 Greenwich Street). It is “a collaboratively created piece of participatory theater that explores human relationships to the environment in the face of profound ecological threat, reunites playwright Callaghan, director Topol, New Georges and 3LD eleven years after the extended run of New Georges’ critically-acclaimed 2006 production of Callaghan and Topol’s ‘Dead City,’ the first production to open at 3LD.”
“Water ”will be part of “Water City,” a month-long, multi-disciplinary art event, curated by New Georges Deputy Artistic Director Sarah Cameron Sunde, featuring performances, artwork and conversations that confront the global water crisis.
For tickets and more info, head to New Georges website.