Emmy-Nominee Sharon Lawrence to Star in THE SHOT at the 2022 United Solo Festival

Robin Gerber's play The Shot, directed by Michelle Joyner, will get a New York presentation as part of the 2022 United Solo Festival, starring multi-award-winning actress Sharon Lawrence.

Performances begin on October 27 and has proven to be a 'hot ticket' as it continues to sell out at Theatre Row's Studio Theatre (410 West 42nds Street).

The Shot is presented by Harvey & Ellen Friedman, Richard Posell & Pam Wick, and Center Stage Theater (Teri Ball, Executive Director).

The current performance schedule is:

October 27, 2022 @ 8:30pm

October 28, 2022 @ 7:00pm

November 2, 2022 @ 2:00pm

The Shot, starring Emmy-nominee Sharon Lawrence, is a work of fiction drawn from the story of former Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham and the part of her life that is hard to look at and understand. Before becoming publisher, Katharine was an abused wife, derided in public and beaten in private by her husband, who had inherited The Washington Post newspaper from Katharine's father.

Katharine Graham publisher of The Washington Post won a Pulitzer Prize for her courage in revealing the Pentagon Papers. She forced a president to resign after uncovering his abuse of office in the Watergate scandal. She was the first female CEO of a Fortune 500 company. And she was a survivor of domestic abuse.

"The Shot is a story for this moment. If women can be abused with impunity, we can be paid less, denied opportunity and autonomy over our bodies. I hope The Shot empowers women who suffer intimate partner violence and gives the rest of us a window into an abused woman's soul."

Playwright, Robin Gerber

The Shot received its first public reading in Los Angeles in March of 2020 when COVID hit, shutting down the performance. During the ensuing months, the creative team continued working on the script and produced a video reading of The Shot, starring Sharon Lawrence, which raised over $25K for participating domestic violence non-profits. In October 2021 it received a developmental workshop at Santa Barbara's Center Stage Theater. This past June, The Shot premiered at Great Barrington Public Theatre and received critical praise including " The Shot is an incredible achievement and unforgettable theatre." "Lawrence is fearless as she shows Katharine's emotional roller-coaster, from the peak of joyful love and family life to the depths of despair." "The Shot is a shocking and visceral new work...an incredible achievement and unforgettable theatre." Great Barrington on Stage Blog; "Lawrence's performance is perfectly formed, timed and nuanced, and, like the writing, never sensationalized. A master-class in stage movement." Off Script.

Performance Details:

The Shot

Written by Robin Gerber, directed by Michelle Joyner,

And stars Sharon Lawrence

Performances are:

October 27, 2022 @ 8:30pm

October 28, 2022 @ 7:00pm

November 2, 2022 @ 2:00pm

Theatre Row's Studio Theatre is located at 410 West 42nd Street

The running time is 65 min.

Tickets are $42.50-$46.50

And can be purchased by visiting:

https://bfany.org/theatre-row/shows/united-solo-theatre-festival-2022/

ROBIN GERBER

(Playwright) The Shot, Robin's first play, was selected for the 2017 Ojai Playwrights Conference. After a well-spent youth involving drugs, sex and feminist activism, Robin took the next logical step and became a Washington, D.C. lawyer. She worked on Capitol Hill for a legendary leader of the House of Representatives, before leaving to be a union lobbyist during the Clinton years. Robin's post-politics writing life includes: The bestselling advice book, Leadership the Eleanor Roosevelt Way (Penguin), Katharine Graham (Penguin), Barbie and Ruth , about the founder of Mattel (HarperCollins), and the novel Eleanor vs. Ike , which imagines Eleanor Roosevelt running for President in 1952 (HarperAvon). Robin has toured the professional speaking circuit, motivating audiences at many Fortune 500 companies with stories from the lives of great women leaders. She has also appeared as a guest historian for the Biography and History channels and as a featured historian on the CNN documentary series "First Ladies" speaking about Eleanor Roosevelt. robingerber.com

Sharon Lawrence

(Katharine) After earning a degree in journalism from the UNC-Chapel Hill, Sharon has gone on to be prominently featured on stage and screen over the last 25 years. Her television work includes her multiple EMMY nominated and SAG award-winning run on "NYPD Blue," as well as notable stints on hit shows such as "Queen Sugar," "Shameless," "Dynasty," "On Becoming A God In Central Florida," "Desperate Housewives," "Rizzoli & Iles" and "Grey's Anatomy" earning her another EMMY nomination. Film work includes the indie hits Middle Of Nowhere from Ava DuVernay and The Lost Husband , both on Netflix. Sharon spent 10 years on Broadway in Cabaret, Fiddler on the Roof and as Velma in Chicago and since in LA at The Mark Taper Forum, in Poor Behavior and The Mystery Of Love and Sex, the cabaret, Love, Noel , at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, in several roles at The Geffen Playhouse and at The Pasadena Playhouse in A Song At Twilight, A Kid Like Jake and Orson's Shadow , for which she was nominated for an Ovation Award and won the LA Drama Critics Circle Award. In 2021 work in The Gaze on YouTube garnered her a 5th Emmy nod and a recurring role in "Rebel" for ABC. Upcoming is "Joe Pickett" on Spectrum premiering on Dec 6th and a sequel to the groundbreaking "The Christmas House" on Hallmark Dec 18. Non-profit service has played a major role in Sharon's life as former Chair of the Women in Film Foundation, current Chair the BoD of Heal The Bay, and as a Trustee of the Screen Actors Guild Foundation. IG @sharonelawrence

Michelle Joyner

(Director/ /Dramaturg ) Currently living in The Berkshires in Western Massachusetts, Michelle has helmed plays there with Shakespeare and Co., Berkshire Playwrights Lab, Great Barrington Public Theatre and Theatre Fest. In Los Angeles: Santa Monica Rep, Greenlight Productions, and LA Women's Shakespeare Co. Locally: Ojai Playwrights Conference. Internationally: The Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She has also directed a short film and leads The Long Table, a women's writing group. She is an accomplished stage and screen actor with a long career and has written ten studio screenplays. She is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA, AEA, and WGA, and the production of her short play Asking For A Friend recently gained her admission to The Dramatists Guild. Her first full-length play Iodine will have a reading later this year. michellejoyner.com

TERI BALL

(Executive Producer/Center Stage Executive Director) has a background in the performing arts that includes experience as an Executive Director, Development Director, Marketing Director, non-profit management consultant and professional theatrical stage manager and production manager. In addition to her many years of professional experience, Ms. Ball holds a masters degree in Non-Profit Arts Management from Carnegie Mellon University, a Bachelors degree in Theater from Cal State Northridge. She is currently a member of the Californians for the Arts RISE Taskforce, and is Secretary of the California Chapter of the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA).