One of the most exciting JPP plays EVER!
Monday, September 11, 2023 @ 7 pm
JewToo, a small Jewish marketing non-profit, hires two interns to compete to be the online voice of Ava the Zionista, an A.I.-created, #girlboss Progressive Zionist. When Ava becomes an online sensation, the organization, the interns, and eventually the play itself are pushed to the brink of breakdown.
PLAYWRIGHT ALEXA DERMAN
Alexa Derman writes adventurous plays about gender, genre, systems, and speculation. Her plays include THE CREATURE (Runner-up, Princess Grace/New Dramatists; Finalist, O’Neill National Playwrights Conference), PSYCHOPSYCHOTIC (Honorable Mention, Relentless Award), GIRLISH (Fresh Ink), RESTORATION MASTER RESET (Cutting Ball in WAYS TO LEAVE A BODY), ZIONISTA RISING (Winner, Jewish Plays Project National Competition) and I’LL BE IN MY HANUKKAH PALACE (sold-out at Ars Nova ANT Fest).
Finalist: Playwrights Realm Writing Fellowship, the O’Neill, Seven Devils; semifinalist: Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Irons in the Fire; long-list: Theatre 503 International Playwriting Prize (x2). Other honors and experiences include: nomination for the Cherry Lane Mentor Project, L Arnold Weissberger Award (x2), and the Susan Smith Blackburn; participation in Orchard Project’s Audio Lab; selection as a Playwrights Center Core Apprentice (mentored by Sheila Callaghan); and recently working as a staff writer on a Netflix series. She is currently under commission from Manhattan Theatre Club via the Sloan Foundation.
BA from Yale in Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies; brand-new MFA from Brown, where she studied under Julia Jarcho. alexaderman.com
DIRECTOR WILL STEINBERGER
Will Steinberger is a Drama League Award nominated director and producer. He has directed and developed new plays for New York Stage and Film, Clubbed Thumb, New Dramatists, Hartford Stage, the Drama League, Berkshire Theatre Group, New Light Theatre Project, Valdez Theater Conference, the Wilma, and InterAct. Recent credits include Han Van Sciver’s Happy Birthday, Han (JACK), Gina Femia’s meet you at the Galaxy Diner. (New Light and The Tank), Charles Gershman’s Oedipus 2.0.2.0 (All For One f/ Eddie Cooper), and Johnny G. Lloyd’s Or, an Astronaut Play (The Tank and InVersion Theatre, of which Will is a proud co-founder) and birthday birthday birthday (Columbia University). Will is a member of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab and was honored as a finalist for the National Directors Fellowship. WSteinberger.com.
CASTING DIRECTOR JUDY BOWMAN
Working in the industry since 1992, Judy loves to work on projects with original stories, and brings an emphasis on casting that reflects a specific place in the world, or a cast that’s inclusive. Judy loves to work with many different actor communities. Her past work includes casting audiobooks for Simon & Schuster, several animated series and original programming(PBS, SciFiChannel), NY casting for Carsey-Werner, proud collaborations with INTAR and LAByrinth, and co-cast David Mamet’s “The Old Neighborhood” on Broadway. She was the dedicated CD for American Repertory Theatre(2003-2008), and spent many years on and off, working with the Actors Theatre of Louisville. Former Adjunct Asst. Professor in the MFA Film School at Columbia University, and former faculty at Harlem School of the Arts. She enjoys leading workshops at universities around the country.
STAFF BIOS
Alex Lin, Stage Directions
is a NY/NJ based actor. Favorite regional productions: Tell Them I’m Still Young (u/s), Fern Hill (u/s), Marisol, Macbeth, The Cherry Orchard, Wild Horses, Swimming in the Shallows, Steel Magnolias, Good People, The Grapes of Wrath. She can be seen in the award-winning web series Queering and the upcoming feature film Persona. Debbie has studied at The Barrow Group in NYC and was a participating actor in the MFA Directing and Playwrighting programs at Columbia Univ. She is a member of the acting companies of Hudson Theatre Works, New Jersey PlayLab, and an artist-reader for JPP. Represented by Resolute Artists Agency. Member of Actors Equity Association.
Eric Nightengale, Production Designer
Eric Nightengale is co-artistic director of Anthropological Theatricals, and a founding member of Concrete Temple Theatre in New York City and The Acme Corporation in Baltimore. He served as artistic director of 78th Street Theatre Lab from 1995 – 2008. New York directing credits include work with SoHo Rep, Penguin Rep, The Brick, Theatre Breaking Through Barriers, Dixon Place, Minetta Lane, LaMama, The Acting Company, Circle Rep, The Flea, Cherry Lane, St Clements, Ensemble Studio Theatre, HERE, and Classic Stage Company. Chicago credits include work with Victory Gardens, Bailiwick, Steppenwolf, and Second City. His work at the Edinburgh Fringe has resulted in four adaptations for BBC radio, four off-Broadway productions and a London transfer. Recent projects include HAMLET RIDE at the Flea Theatre, and a film version of KENNEDY: Bobby’s Last Crusade now available on Broadway On Demand. Upcoming productions include Brecht On Brecht at Bird Theatre in Tottori, Japan, and PACKRAT at the Oil Tank in Seoul, Korea.
Esti Bernstein, Stage Manager
Esti Bernstein (STAGE MANAGER) is a New York Jew who loves Junior’s cheesecake—and not just on Shavuot! (Can you blame her?) Proud Resident Stage Manager with Broken Box Mime Theater. Special shoutout to Lauren and Carly. Love and thanks to friends and family, ACL, BBB, GVB, and BNB.
Jenna Levere, Production Associate
is an NYC based actress who recently made both her 54 Below and Greenroom 42 debut earlier this year. Since graduating from Manhattan School of Music in 2020, she has performed in a special orchestra concert of South Pacific at Sutton Parks (u/s Nellie) and Sherry’s Bop at the Players Theater. jennalevere.com
FEATURING THESE AMAZING ARTISTS
Alysia Reiner as LIZ
John-Andrew Morrison as MAX
Sharone Sayegh as AVA
Jordan Bellow as DAVID
Ali Stoner as ELLA
Audrey Lynn Weston as RHONDA
Jenna Levere, Production Associate
Esti Bernstein, Stage Manager
Eric Nightingale, Projection and Sound Designer
CAST BIOS
Alysia Reiner (LIZ) TV: SAG Award for “Fig” on Orange Is the New Black, Ms. Marvel, Better Things, Shining Vale, The Deuce, Broad City, How To Get Away with Murder, many more. FILM: Going Places, Marshmallow, Spider-Man: No Way Home, 5 Flights Up, Egg, Equity, Sideways, many more. THEATRE: My H8 Letter to the Gr8 American Theatre (The Public), An Oak Tree, Pentecost (Barrow Group), Tucumcari ( LA Premiere) A Play of One’s Own (Edinburgh Festival, Critics Choice Award) and more. @alysiareiner alysiareiner.com
John-Andrew Morrison (MAX & OTHERS)received a TONY Award Nomination, a Lucille Lortel Award and an OBIE Award for his work in A Strange Loop (Broadway and Off Broadway). Outer Critics Circle Honoree for his performance in Blues for an Alabama Sky. Most recently MALVOLIO with The Classical Theater Of Harlem.
Sharone Sayegh (AVA THE ZIONISTA)most recently played Bonnie in Come From Away on Broadway, after playing the role on the 1st National Tour. Before that, she originated the role of Anna in The Band’s Visit on Broadway (OBC). Other Broadway: Mamma Mia!. Off Broadway: Mrs. Trumbauer in Road Show (City Center Encores), Anna in The Band’s Visit (Atlantic Theater Co, World Premiere), Sharone in The Wildness (Ars Nova, World Premiere), and Scheherazade in Scheherazade (Prospect Theater Co). Regional: La Jolla Playhouse, The Muny, Florida Rep, San Jose Rep. TV: Instinct (CBS), Limitless (CBS). Syracuse University Alum, sharonesayegh.com @sharonesayegh
Jordan Bellow (DAVID)is a performer of stage and screen. NY credits include Clubbed Thumb, Theatre for a New Audience, The Civilians, and The Playwrights Realm. Regional – Fisher Center, Denver Center, Syracuse Stage, Westport Country Playhouse, Indiana Repertory Theatre and South Coast Repertory. Film/TV – “Dickinson”, “Gotham”, “Orange Is The New Black”.
Ali Stoner (ELLA) has collaborated on productions/workshops at The American Repertory Theater, The Moscow Art Theater, Williamstown, EST, and others. Some Film/TV: “That Damn Michael Che” (HBO), “Lisey’s Story” (Apple TV+), and a supporting lead in the first ever zero-waste feature “Citywide” (Fishtown Films). @ali.stonerrr. www.ali-stoner.com
Audrey Lynn Weston (RHONDA). Off-Broadway: Michael Friedman and Alex Timbers’ musical adaptation of Love’s Labour’s Lost, (Shakespeare in the Park), Old Jews Telling Jokes, Alphabetical Order, U.S. Drag, Rag and Bone. Film / TV: The Family Fang, Not Fade Away, The Five Stages of Grief, Henry’s Crime, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, “Blue Bloods,” “Untitled Holmes / Robespierre FX pilot,“ “Elementary,” “The Good Fight, “Louie.” Audrey met her husband, Peter Stadlen, nearly 20 years ago at the JCC in Manhattan (while working downstairs in the registration box office).
Alex Lin (STAGE DIRECTIONS) is just a girl from Jersey. Plays developed at Second Stage, NYTW, MTC, the O’Neill, South Coast Rep, Playwrights Realm, and Theater Mu. As an actor, Actors Theatre of Louisville (The Wolves), HVSF (Julius Caesar), Ma-Yi (The House of Billy Paul), and Commonwealth Shakespeare (Richard III). Juilliard.
Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan creates opportunities for people to connect, grow, and learn within an ever-changing Jewish landscape. The JCC serves over 55,000 people annually through 1,200 programs each season that educate, inspire, and transform participants’ minds, bodies, and spirits. Since its inception, the JCC has been committed to serving the community by offering programs, classes, and events that reach beyond neighborhood boundaries, reaching people at all stages of their lives. Learn more at mmjccm.org.