A world premiere new play by Lizzie Vieh.
An isolated island community, a two-lane highway, an all-night gas station, and a woman’s corpse dumped on a deserted beach. The residents of gated community Ivy Dunes are used to disappearance—with each hurricane, a little more of their narrow barrier island washes away. But when more than just the coastal ground is disappearing from the island, the police descend, the ocean encroaches, and the residents of this barrier island community must find a way to survive through the rippling aftershocks and the ever-shifting landscape.
“Barrier Islands” is a new play about the tangled intersections between men and women; sex and violence; pain and forgiveness. Receiving its world premiere in New York City this winter, “Barrier Islands” is a collaboration among two professional actors, a Drama League directing fellow, and an award-winning New York City playwright.
The Wild Project - The wild project is a theater, film, music, and visual arts venue that presents diverse, engaging, inspiring, and entertaining works to the vibrant and growing community of Alphabet City in New York’s East Village, while bringing together the artists and the environment in a unique way. Founded in 2007, the wild project is an innovator among arts venues, providing an eco-‐friendly theater and gallery where the artists and space nurture each other. The company is dedicated to creating an environment that supports the artists, and to cultivating artists that support the environment. With an eco-‐conscious approach to presenting the dynamic works of hundreds of emerging artists each year, he wild project offers an artistic and environmental education for patrons of all ages, interests, and incomes in its community.
About Project Creator:
Lizzie Vieh, Playwright
An actor and playwright based in Brooklyn, Lizzie received her Bachelor of Arts in Theater Arts from Brown University and her Master of Fine Arts in Acting from the Brown University / Trinity Rep Graduate Program. Lizzie is the Literary Director at Red Garnet Theatre Company. Her plays At Night It Glows and The Phoenix Lights were featured as part of Brown University’sWriting is Live playwriting festivals, and At Night It Glows was awarded the David Wickham Memorial Fund, an award given annually to a student who “defies convention, with an innate, unusual, and risk-‐taking talent for writing.” Most recently, Lizzie performed the lead role in Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis in two productions, one at a theater festival in Prague, and another at Brooklyn’s Magic Futurebox Theater. Lizzie is the co-‐founder of the Red Garnet Theater Company.
Zi Alikhan, Director
After graduating with a BFA in Musical Theatre from NYU Tisch, Zi founded BASiC with the dream of creating an NYC-‐based performance collective dedicated to making socially aware performance for the millennial generation. He has since served as the company’s Artistic Director. Zi has since been named a Drama League Artist in Residence for 2015, a Drama League Directing Fellow (Hangar Theatre Residency, Class of 2014) and being granted an Observership with the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers (SDC), assisting Tony-‐nominee Marcia Milgrom Dodge on a world premiere at the Pasadena Playhouse.
Favorite NYC Directing: GROSS INDECENCY (BASiC/GayFest), The Mistakes Madeline Made (BASiC/14th Street Y), To Damascus (The Pearl Theatre Company/PYP), The Gospel According to Faggots (Brooklyn Arts Exchange) N/F (HERE Arts/DUTF), The Future Mrs. Harry Windsor (Dixon Place), The Cradle Will Rock (NYU/Atlas). Regional: THE GRIND. Or, How We Became Posthuman and Yo, Vikings!, both at the Hangar Theatre. Zi resides in West Harlem.
Russell Jonas, Actor
Russell has been a professional actor for close to a decade. In addition to acting, he can also add management consultant, restauranteur, aerospace scholar, war zone aid worker, and street clown to his resume. His travels have taken his to Sudan, Kenya, Peru, Mexico, Russia, and all 48 continental United States. Russell is constantly seeking new challenges outside my comfort zone.
Aleisha Force, Actor
After receiving a BA in Theatre and Speech from Angelo State University, Aleisha earned a secondary teaching degree from Stephen F. Austin State University, and stamped out the ignorance in the youth of America as a high school teacher in Humble and Bryan, Texas. She then moved to Dallas to act full-‐time. A proud alumna of the Southern Methodist University Meadows School of the Arts Graduate Acting Class of 2012, she is now a resident of New York City. She performs in theatre, voice-‐overs, TV, film, commercials, and industrials in order to fund her yuppie indulgences of yoga, distance running and watching black and white films. She fills her downtime with the Argentine Tango.
Donny Repsher, Producer
Donny Repsher is producing “Barrier Islands” at The Wild Project. By day, he is a Development Officer, managing the Patron Program at Signature Theatre Company. Donny graduated with a BFA in Acting from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, where the rest of his family currently resides.
Link to the project:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/barrier-islands-at-the-wild-project#/
