Press Contact: Judd Hollander & Cynthia
Leathers
Bunch of People Press & Publicity
/ 212-242-1648 / BNCHPEOP@AOL.COM
Can
a Video Arcade
Employee Find True Love,
Reconnect
With Her Mother
and
Save The World...or at least herself??
Find
out in the World Premiere of Up,
Up, Down, Down
Beginning
February 3rd at the Access Theatre
If you
have the courage to face it, the truth is out there. Barton Bishop's Up, Up, Down, Down
combines the addictive lure of video gaming with the paranoia of the Bush years
and throws in a love story for good measure. New York Theatre Experiment will
present the World Premiere of this multi-media dark comedy, directed by Erik
Pearson, on February 3rd at the Access Theatre, located at 380
Broadway.
Twentysomething Joy's tranquil existence working in a video arcade is
suddenly shattered when her long-estranged mother barrels back into her life,
claiming to have stumbled onto a terrorist plot, the secrets of which are
encoded in a video game she stole. At first Joy dismisses her mother's claims
outright, but why is there a car now following them everywhere they go and who
is the shadowy figure trailing them every step of the way? To find out what's
real and what's not, and aided by a co-worker (and manic video gamer) she
secretly loves, and her very best friend -- who technically might not even exist
-- Joy may have to reveal a long-hidden secret in her past, before she loses
everything she holds dear.
The cast
of Up, Up, Down, Down features Carter
Gill, Allyson Morgan, Jonathan O’Brien, Amy Tribbey, Christopher T. VanDijk and
Ben Williams.
Barton Bishop’s plays have been
produced throughout the United
States and internationally. His work has been
published by Playscripts, Inc., Heinemann Press, and Smith & Krauss. New
York productions include The Amphibian Song, The Complex, The
Great Who Knows, God’s Daughter, Things Fall, Meanwhile (which has
been produced in over 15 states and internationally), Still the
River Runs, and
Eminene. In addition to writing for
theatre, he has written over 300 episodes for several animated television
series, including YuGiOh,
Dinosaur King, Pokemon, Winx
Club, and Shaman King
(for which he also worked on the video game series), and he is a staff
writer for Gameloft, a mobile game development company. He received a BA in Theatre from
Rollins College in his home state of Florida, and earned his MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU’s
Tisch
School of the Arts. At one point, Dramatist Magazine named him among
the "Fifty Playwrights to Watch."
Erik
Pearson has directed in New
York for The
Playwrights Realm, American Opera Projects, HERE, terraNOVA, The Lark and
NYU/Tisch, as well as regionally for The Shakespeare Theatre Company,
Shakespeare Santa Cruz and BRAVA! He was artistic director of The Quixote
Project and co-artistic director of Rococo Risqué and Yale Cabaret. Erik
has designed projections in New
York for STREB,
American Opera Projects, and the new musical Heading East with B.D. Wong. Regionally he has
designed for The Magic, Shakespeare Santa
Cruz, Marin Theatre
Company and Center Rep as well as Moorehouse/Spellman College, Brandeis Theater
Company and U.C.S.C. where he taught theatrical projection design. He works
regularly as Wendall Harrington's associate designer. He has an MFA from
the Yale School of Drama.
More
About New York Theatre Experiment (NYTE):
Founded in 2004,
New York Theatre Experiment is dedicated to artistic
exploration and innovation. NYTE develops and produces works of theatre that
expose the complexity of the human condition, as well has a special interest in
works that explore the contemporary cultural moment. Past projects include
Capture the Flag: A Festival of New American Plays,
Charise Jones: The Comeback XXXmas Tour, Burn, Fallen, The Long
Christmas Dinner and A New York Christmas Carol, Stuck,
and...and...and, and Feud. NYTE is also
committed to the development of the next generation of theatre artists and
audiences. NYTE’s unique educational programs are designed to empower and
inspire, and, like their productions, are intended to make theatre accessible,
relevant and personal for all audiences.
Running through
February 20th, Up, Up, Down, Down will be performed
at the Access Theatre, located at 380 Broadway (between Walker and White
Streets) on the 4th Floor. Show times are Wednesday-Friday at 8pm, Saturday at
2pm &
8pm and Sunday at
2pm. There is no Sunday
performance on February 6th. All tickets are $18.00. Reservations:
1-800-838-3006 or www.brownpapertickets.com/event/145005. For further
information, go to www.newyorktheatreexperiment.org., www.twitter.com/nytexperiment or
www.facebook.com/newyorktheatreexperiment.
Photos are available upon request.
Members of the press
are invited to all performances.
Information for Listing Editors
WHAT:
Up, Up, Down, Down
By
Barton Bishop
Directed
by Erik Pearson
Executive
Producers: Rori Bergman &
Laura Gale
Stage
Managers: Marlene Berner &
Laura Bultman
Sound
Design: Charles
Coes
Set
Design: Liz
Groth
Lighting
Design: Cat Tate
Starmer
Costume
Design: Melissa
Trn
Presented by New York Theatre Experiment
Featuring:
Carter Gill, Allyson
Morgan, Jonathan O’Brien, Amy Tribbey, Christopher T. VanDijk, Ben Williams
Synopsis:
In this
world premiere multi-media dark comedy, twentysomething video arcade employee
Joy's tranquil existence is suddenly shattered when her long-estranged mother
barrels back into her life, claiming to have stumbled onto a terrorist plot, the
secrets of which are encoded in a video game she stole. At first Joy dismisses
her mother's claims outright, but why is there a car now following them
everywhere they go? To find out what's real and what's not, aided by a co-worker
she secretly loves and a video game character only she can see, Joy may have to
reveal a long-hidden secret in her past, before a figure with a gun signals
"game over!"
WHERE:
The
Access Theatre
380
Broadway (between White and
Walker
Street)
4th
Floor
(note:
an elevator to the theatre is available)
WHEN:
February
3rd to February 20th
Wednesday-Friday at
8pm
Saturday at
2pm &
8pm
There is
no Sunday performance on February 6th
TICKETS:
$18.00.
RESERVATIONS:
1-800-838-3006 or www.brownpapertickets.com/event/145005
INFORMATION:
www.newyorktheatreexperiment.org, www.twitter.com/nytexperiment or
www.facebook.com/newyorktheatreexperiment
SUBWAY
INFO:
Take the A, C, E, 6, N, R trains to Canal
Street
Photos
are available upon request.
Members
of the press are invited to all performances.
If you have received
this communication in error, or no longer wish to receive our press releases,
please reply to this email with "" . You will be
promptly removed.
