WHERE AND WHEN
September 3 at 9 PM, September 4 at 6:30 PM, September 5 at 9 PM, September 6 at 6:30 PM, and September 7 at 8 PM
Theater for the New City (Johnson Theater) 155 1st Avenue
Presented by Theater for the New City (Crystal Field, Artistic Director) as part of Dream Up Festival 2019
Tickets: $15 Box Office: (212) 254-1109, www.dreamupfestival.org
Running time: 70 minutes
Critics are invited to all performances

New York July 10 -- "Abdication" by Naya James is a trilogy of stories about our ever-expanding desire to give up. This show will presented by Theater for the New City as part of their 2019 Dream Up Festival on September 3 through September 7 for its World debut, directed by Lucia "Lu" Bellini.

"Abdication" is a series of three separate stories, each of which takes place in their own realities of the near-future. Though the show is non-linear, each story has characters who are grappling with whether to fight for their independence to think and feel, or to give in to simpler and easier life for them in the short run.

Naya James is a writer, actor and producer in New York City. She is the owner of the independent film production company Anjali Productions, which focuses on stories of the evolution of human consciousness. Her writing has been featured around town in festivals at theaters including Theater 54, The Paradise Factory, The Algonquin and the Richmond Shepard Theater.

Lucia "Lu" Bellini is a director and actor for film and theater. She is a member of Wednesday Repertory Company and NY Madness. Her previous works as director include: "Stuck" and "Who Mourns For Bob The Goon?" which won the award for Outstanding Direction of a Staged Reading at the 2015 Planet Connection Festivities. Ms. Bellini has also worked as an assistant director for "The Floor is Lava" at La MaMa and has worked as director for artistic festivals such as the 2018 Planet Connection Festivities Award Ceremony at the Abrons Arts Center's Playhouse Theatre.

James and Bellini have previously worked together in a production of the former's play, "Stuck."

ABOUT THE DREAMUP FESTIVAL
The tenth annual Dream Up Festival (www.dreamupfestival.org) is being presented by Theater for the New City from August 25 to September 15. An ultimate new works festival, it is dedicated to the discovery of new authors, fresh ideas and edgy, innovative performances. Audiences savor the excitement, awe, passion, challenge and intrigue of new plays from around the country and around the world.

The festival does not seek out traditional scripts that are presented in a traditional way. It selects works that push new ideas to the forefront, challenge audience expectations and make us question our understanding of how art illuminates the world around us.

In addition to traditional plays, a unique and varied selection of productions will again be offered, drawing upon a variety of performance genres including musicals and movement theater. The Festival's founders, Crystal Field and Michael Scott-Price, feel this is especially needed in our present time of declining donations to the arts, grants not being awarded due to market conditions, and arts funding cuts on almost every level across the country and abroad.

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