Theater for the New City's Dream Up Festival to present "Still, Birth," a play about pregnancy loss by Robyne Parrish and Coley Campany.

WHERE AND WHEN
August 28 at 6:30 PM, August 29 at 9 PM, August 30 at 9 PM, August 31 at 5 PM, September 1 at 8 PM
Theater for the New City (Cabaret 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: 40 minutes
Critics are invited to all performances
Photos are available for download at: https://photos.app.goo.gl/8TM5hCWLmZbKzV4p9

NEW YORK July 29 -- "Still, Birth" by Robyne Parrish and Coley Campany is a large cast play focusing on two women dealing with pregnancy loss, complications with late term abortion, and the healing process in the aftermath of their personal tragedies. Theater for the New City will present the play's world premiere August 28 to September 1 as part of their 2019 Dream Up Festival, directed by Robyne Parrish.

The drama follows Lillie, who is experiencing her second miscarriage, and Meredith, who after being five months pregnant finds out that her child won't be able to live outside her womb. With the help of loved ones closest to them, Lillie and Meredith are able to find a way to move past their ordeals and eventually are able to heal.

The actors are Amanda Brooke Lerner as Lillie and co-author Coley Campany as Meredith, plus the ensemble of Clarke Jackson, Robyne Parrish, Ken Perlstein, Erin Lindsey Krom, Laura Siskin Fernandez, Bree O'Connor, Kim Rios Lin Bova and Javana Mundy.

Co-author Robyne Parrish is also an actress and director. She has directed productions regional, Off-Broadway and Off-off Broadway theater. Her most recent directing credits include "The Seagull" (Seaton Hill University), "Mumburger," "4.48 Psychosis," "The Carols," The Musical of Musicals the Musical," Stop Kiss," "The Zero Hour,"The Mercy Seat," "House of Yes," "Looking for the Pony" and "Shaken and Stirred" (Off the Wall).

Co-author Coley Campany is a writer, actress, dancer and choreographer. She began her professional career with Ballet Memphis, then joined New Ballet Ensemble where she danced, taught and choreographed for 11 years. After two major dance injuries and several miscarriages and late term pregnancy losses, she began to look for other ways to create. After moving to New York City, Campany found her artistic community through the LAByrinth Theater Intensive Ensemble. This has given her the inspiration to explore her voice by combining writing, dance and acting. "Still, Birth" was written to reflect on Campany's aspiration of finding various ways to address the subject of pregnancy loss. This fall, she will begin submitting a movement film of the same name that she co-wrote to film festivals in the hopes of furthering the discussion of pregnancy loss.

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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