ATHENA

September 5 - 16, 2018

ATHENA is back by popular demand for a limited time only! Catch The Hearth's production of Gracie Gardner’s “fierce and lovely comedy” (The New York Times) -- a Critic's Pick in its debut at JACK this past winter.

Mary Wallace and Athena are brave, and seventeen, and fencers, and training for the Junior Olympics. They practice together, they compete against each other, they spend their lives together. They wish they were friends.

​Alexis Soloski, The New York Times: “Hugely appealing. . .It’s important and a little heartbreaking to see playwrights and producers deciding that stories about the awful, wonderful, completely ordinary business of growing up in a woman’s body are worth telling. I’m so glad to see these plays now.”

PRODUCTION TEAM
Producer - The Hearth (Co-Artistic Directors: Julia Greer and Emma Miller)
Playwright - Gracie Gardner
Director - Emma Miller
Performers - Julia Greer and Abby Awe
Set Designer - Emmie Finckel
Lighting Designer - Vicki Bain
Sound Designer - Z Worthington
Costume Designer - Dara Affholter
Props Designer - Jess Cummings
Production Stage Manager - Hanako Rodriguez
Assistant Stage Manager - Katherine Deal
​Public Relations - Emily Owens

DATES:
Wednesday, September 5 at 8 pm
Thursday, September 6 at 8 pm
Friday, September 7 at 8 pm
Saturday, September 8 at 3 pm & 7 pm
Sunday, September 9 at 3 pm
Tuesday, September 11 at 8 pm
Wednesday, September 12 at 8 pm
Thursday, September 13 at 8 pm
Friday, September 14 at 8 pm
Saturday, September 15 at 3 pm & 7 pm
Sunday, September 16 at 3 pm

Gracie Gardner (Playwright) is a Brooklyn-based writer. Her work as a playwright has been developed and seen at the Bridge Residency, Naked Angels, Tripeg Lobo, SubCulture, the Kraine Theater, Mason Holdings, the Flea, Hearth Gods, Adaptive Arts, Tiny Rhino, the Secret Theater, 24 Hour Plays: Nationals, YES NOISE, Collaborative Arts Mobility Project, the Queens Theater, and Core Artist Ensemble. Her credits include Pussy Sludge (HERE Arts Center, Sanctuary, Less Than Rent), Primary (Project Playwright Award, Sanguine Theater Company, IRT Theater), IndianapolisAlyssa1985 Is Getting Married (Dixon Place, WorkShop Theater, MITF), Very Dumb Kids (Cincinnati Conservatory), Human Resources (James E. Michael Award), and Manning Manning Manning (Horn Gallery Grant). She is a proud member of the Obie-winning group EST / Youngblood and she is an alum of the Tank's TV Pilot Development Group and Project Y's Playwright Group. Her work as a filmmaker has been seen in the UK Screen One International Film Festival, Citizen Jane Festival, the PIT, Brooklyn Vegan, the Deli, No Fear of Pop, Gumball Mag, Juice, and Elle.

Emma Miller (Director) is a director, writer, and educator. Her work has been seen at JACK, South Oxford Space, The 999 Festival, Queens Theatre, The Tank, Dixon Place, 440 Studios, The Bridge Residency, Lucid Body House, Cincinnati Fringe/KNOW Theatre, and Kenyon College. She has assisted at Queens Theatre, Dobama Theatre, Notre Dame College, and the Kenyon Playwrights Conference. Emma received the Thomas Turgeon Memorial Prize for Achievement in Direction twice for her work on A Steady Rain and Gidion's Knot, and was nominated for a New York Innovative Theatre Award for her direction of For Annie. Emma was a Fellow in the Artistic Department at Playwrights Horizons. She is co-artistic director of The Hearth and is an alumna of Kenyon College and of the National Theater Institute - Advanced Directing.

THE HEARTH tells the stories of women. We nurture and celebrate female and non-binary artists (playwrights, directors, actors, and designers) and develop plays that represent the complex and vast spectrum of womanhood. The Hearth produces plays that explore female characters who pulse with emotional, intellectual, and psychological complexity. We seek to challenge stereotypes, advance and complicate the conversation about feminism, and expand perceptions of what it means to be a woman. We are committed to making room for the next generation of female artists in the landscape of the American theater.

Photo Credit: Rachel Nicholson