World Premiere of EVENTS by Bailey Williams to be Presented by The Hearth and The Brick in December

The Hearth Theater Company in association with The Brick will present the World Premiere of EVENTS, a dark comedy by Bailey Williams (I thought I would die but I didn't at The Tank), directed by Sarah Blush (Sehnsucht at JACK), at The Brick (579 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211), December 1-18.

The other day, something happened to Itchy at work. She started itching. On another day, the office of Todd David Design plans an event. An event, as you know, is a story with a beginning, a middle, and an itch. The theme of the event is eggs. But what is the story of the egg? This is going to be an indelible, one-of-a-kind experience for Mark, Joanna, their company Juvenescence, and the guests. Just watch out for the art, okay? Don't itch anything if you're not sure.

Alternating between wild hilarity and quiet devastation, Events by Bailey Williams (currently a member of Ars Nova's Play Group) investigates the impossibility of living and working without confusing the two. The play shifts from Itchy's perspective to the office of a high-end events design and production company and back again until the boundaries of the play dissolve in tandem with the boundaries of Itchy's self. The audience is left to ponder how a job can mean the literal difference between life and death, particularly for the most vulnerable among us. Written during the height of the pandemic, Events challenges a culture that only sees value in productivity and truth within a narrow view of reality. It exposes the precarity of living and wonders at the surreal, transformative power of grief.

Performances are scheduled for Thursday, December 1 at 8pm, Friday, December 2 at 8pm, Saturday, December 3 at 8pm, Monday, December 5 at 8pm, Tuesday, December 6 at 8pm, Wednesday, December 7 at 8pm, Thursday, December 8 at 8pm, Friday, December 9 at 8pm, Saturday, December 10 at 8pm, Tuesday, December 13 at 8pm, Wednesday, December 14 at 8pm, Thursday, December 15 at 8pm, Friday, December 16 at 8pm, Saturday, December 17 at 8pm, and Sunday, December 18 at 2pm. Tickets ($25) are available for advance purchase at https://www.bricktheater.com/event/baileywilliamsevents/2022-12-01/. The performance will run approximately 80 minutes, with no intermission.

Bailey Williams (Playwright) is a writer of plays and fiction. Future: Coach Coach, dir. Dara Malina, Clubbed Thumb's Winterworks 2023. Past: I thought I would die but I didn't, dir. Sarah Blush, The Tank, 2019; Buffalo Bailey's Ranch for Gay Horses, Troubled Teen Girls and Other: a 90 Minute Timeshare Presentation, Exponential Festival, 2018. She is a member of Ars Nova's Play Group and a recipient of the 2022 New Georges' Audrey Residency with Emma Horwitz. She was a member of the 2021-2022 Clubbed Thumb Early Career Writers Group and a 2022 MacDowell Fellow for Fiction. MFA: Brooklyn College, Playwriting.

Sarah Blush (Director) directs, writes, and develops theatre and other media. Select: Bailey Williams' I thought I would die but I didn't (The Tank; Time Out Critics Pick), Sehnsucht (JACK; NY Times Critics Pick), ruth tang's Future Wife: Party in a Spreadsheet (New Georges). She has developed new work at Ars Nova, Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Playwrights Center, Bushwick Starr, HERE and more, associate/assistant directed extensively, and directed/taught at NYU Graduate Acting, NYU Meisner, The Atlantic Acting School, and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Recipient of the Clubbed Thumb Directing Fellowship, New Georges Audrey Residency, Barn Arts Residency, New York Society Library's Emerging Female Artist Grant, and a 2021-22 Colt Coeur Resident Artist. Currently: Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab 2022-2023 with Sophie Weisskoff; developing a TV show with Sofya Levitsky-Weitz and Lionsgate TV.

The Hearth nurtures and celebrates artists who are women, trans, nonbinary and people of underrepresented genders (playwrights, directors, actors, and designers) and develop plays that represent the complex and vast spectrum of womanhood. The Hearth produces plays that explore 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 women artists in the landscape of the American theater. We've previously produced twice extended and once remounted Athena by Gracie Gardner at JACK, happy life by Kathy Ng at Walkerspace, The Commons by Lily Akerman at 59E59 Theaters, For Annie by Beth Hyland at Lucid Body House, She Buried the Pistol by Lydia Blaisdell at WOW Festival at La Jolla Playhouse and among many workshops and internal development, we've hosted public readings of plays by Nissy Aya, Leila Teitelman, Lizzie Stern, and Rae Binstock. www.thehearththeater.com