Fresh Play Festival at the Clurman Theatre

The MCC Theater Youth Company�s third annual FreshPlay Festival will run at Theatre Row�s Clurman Theatre from 15 - 18 Aug 2007, under the artistic direction of Lucy Thurber and Stephen DiMenna.

The FreshPlay Festival is an evening of original one act plays penned by New York City teens and produced for the stage by a roster of professional directors, actors and designers.

The festival "merges the voices and creativity of urban youth with the experience of professionals in an evening of provocative, innovative and fresh theater, providing talented youth the unique opportunity to see their works presented on an Off Broadway stage."

The MCC Theater Youth Company is a free after-school program for New York City public school students, ages 14 -20, who are interested in acting and playwriting. The Youth Company is designed to inspire young people to find and express their voices through the creation and performance of original theater pieces, while providing them with a safe artistic environment where they may grow and learn.

2007 FreshPlay Festival Offerings:

• The Fishes Dream in January
  Playwright: Jennifer Goris - Age 17, Marble Hill High School
  Director: Jackson Gay
  Synopsis: Secrets, sex and a smashed television.
• Caught Up
  Playwright: Delilah Rivera - Age 18, Bronx Academy of Letters
  Director: Lou Moreno
  Synopsis: Where do you turn when you�ve exhausted all your options? Hungry, forlorn and abandoned by her mother, Roxanne is left with only one resource: herself.
• Man with Trench Coat
  Playwright: Kyle-Steven Porter - Age 19, Recent graduate of Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School
  Director: Michael Barakiva
  Synopsis: Nobody notices the man who knows everything; the man who knows everything notices everyone. Just another day in the park�
• Then
  Playwright: MCC Theater Youth Company, with Lucy Thurber
  Director: Michael Barakiva
  Synopsis: Fifteen friends gather for their last drink, their last argument, their last photograph and one last night together before the future � and the present - tears them apart.

The FreshPlay Festival features set design by Susan Zeeman-Rogers, costume design by Eleni Christou, lighting design by Nicole Pearce and sound design by Bart Fasbender.