THEATRE 167’s THE CHURCH OF WHY NOT TO BE PUBLISHED BY INDIE THEATER NOW
Performances Continue Through March 15
NEW YORK, N.Y., Mar. 6, 2015 – Theatre 167’s THE CHURCH OF WHY NOT, currently playing at Manhattan’s West End Theatre, will be published by IndieTheaterNow. The play, which features an ensemble cast of 19 and inspired by a real-life interfaith activist community, runs in the very space that inspired it through March 15.
Critics say:
“You’ll walk away with a fresh perspective and a renewed faith in the goodness of humanity…Conversion is not the point — service is. That ethos is crystal clear in this lovingly crafted portrait of an indispensable Upper West Side institution.” –Theatermania
“The rest of the world needs to see and learn from “The Church of Why Not” … this production is absolutely a catalyst for conversation and if seen by enough people and congregations could also be a catalyst for change.”–GiaOnTheMove
“The performers especially the kids are truly amazing!… I enjoyed this production very much and was glad to be part of the congregation.” –Hi Drama
The Church of Why Not will be performed on Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 3pm and 8pm and Sundays at 7pm. Tickets are available at www.theatre167.org.
The West End Theater in the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew is located at 263 West 86th Street, half a block from the 86th Street stop on the 1 train.
ABOUT THE CHURCH OF WHY NOT
THE CHURCH OF WHY NOT is a new play inspired by the believers and skeptics, the Jews and Christians, the activists and addicts, and the seekers and lost souls who pass through the doors of a church on the Upper West Side — staged at the very spot that inspired it. THE CHUCH OF WHY NOT is conceived and directed by Ari Laura Kreith and written by Camilo Andres Almonacid, Jenny Lyn Bader and J. Stephen Brantley.
As one of New York City’s most diverse and bustling destinations, The Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew brings together Christians, Jews, Muslims, atheists and more through a dynamic slate of programs and initiatives. In addition to the founding Methodist congregation, the church hosts the Jewish congregation B’nai Jeshurun, an Ethiopian Evangelical congregation, the Arab Youth Orchestra, LGBT Bapti-Metho-Costals, a homeless shelter, soup kitchen and the West Side Campaign Against Hunger. The Church of Why Not tells the story of this vibrant congregation and the people who pass through its doors.
THE CHURCH OF WHY NOT joins Theatre 167’s earlier Jackson Heights Trilogy–167 TONGUES, YOU ARE NOW THE OWNER OF THIS SUITCASE, and THE CHURCH OF WHY NOT–in IndieTheaterNow’s library of titles.
ABOUT INDIE THEATER NOW
Indie Theater Now (ITN) is an online service that presents and preserves new American plays in script form. Our vision is to be both comprehensive and inclusive. ITN is kind of like a traditional review/preview site, but on steroids: Instead of simply just writing ABOUT a play that excites us, we share the full text of that play, along with dynamic, continually updated content that provides background and context–e.g., podcasts, interviews, reviews, videos, photos, etc.–created by the playwrights themselves as well as other artists and ITN staff. In this way readers can discover the work more fully, wherever they are, at their convenience. It’s also kind of like traditional play publishing, but on a massively larger scale (i.e., hundreds of new plays published per year rather than a few dozen) and at comparative warp-speed: the “Now” in Indie Theater Now reflects our ability to publish work days, not months or years, after its initial presentation on stage.
ABOUT THEATRE 167
Theatre 167 creates and stages plays that reflect the city around us. The first plays the company produced were inspired by a neighborhood in Queens where 167 languages are spoken by immigrants hailing from 100 nations. Their productions reflect the same deeply diverse backgrounds that comprise their New York City audience. A collaborative system of collective authorship allows for the inclusion ofmultiple voices in the creation of new work. Theatre 167 is a resident company of the West End Theater in the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew.
