Astoria Performing Arts Center to Present NYC Premiere of Charly Evon Simpson's JUMP

Astoria Performing Arts Center (APAC) presents the New York premiere of Jump following the critically-acclaimed presentation of Marguerite. The award-winning theater company continues their 2019-20 season with this production taking place at APAC Pop Up theater located at 28-21 Steinway Street in Astoria, Queens.

Jump, written by Charly Evon Simpson (EST's Behind the Sheet, 2019-20 recipient of the Paula Vogel Playwriting Award from the Vineyard Theatre, co-recipient of the Dramatists Guild's Lanford Wilson Award) tells the tightly woven story of a pair of sisters and their father grappling with loss while an unexpected friendship blooms between two strangers who realize they have more in common than they thought.

Jump shines light on how we process traumatic experiences to ultimately find peace. The 95 minute play will be directed by Hypokrit Theater Company Artistic Director Arpita Mukherjee.

"We are thrilled to be producing Charly Evon Simpson's Jump. Her intuitive nature about emotional inner lives makes her work so specific, but also so relatable. She presents us with the universality of a family's grief, a nuanced way of how trauma can be processed, and storytelling techniques that will invite audience members into the world of the play in unexpected ways." says Dev Bondarin, APAC Artistic Director.

Astoria Performing Arts Center presents Jump

Written by Charly Evon Simpson

Directed by Arpita Mukherjee

Featuring Kelechi Ezie*, Alex J. Gould*, Natasha Hakata & Dathan B. Williams*

Creative Team:

Set Design: Riw Rakkulchon

Lighting Design: Devorah Kengmana

Costume Design: Rodrigo Muñoz

Sound Design: Jeanne Travis

Production Manager: Meghan McVann

Production Stage Manager: Sophie Koester

Associate Director: Sharifa Elkady

*Appearing courtesy of Actors' Equity Association.

APAC Pop-Up Theater, 28-21 Steinway Street, Astoria, Queens.

February 7th - 23rd, 2020

Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Saturdays and Sundays at 3pm

Press previews:

Fri Feb 7 at 8pm

Sat Feb 8 at 3pm and 8pm (official opening night)

Sun Feb 9 at 3pm

Tickets: $20-$25

www.apacny.org

Charly Evon Simpson's plays include Behind the Sheet, Jump, form of a girl unknown, it's not a trip it's a journey, and more. Her work has been seen and/or developed with Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Lark, P73, The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, PlayMakers Repertory Company, Chautauqua Theater Company, Salt Lake Acting Company, and others. She is a recipient of the Lanford Wilson Award and was nominated for the John Gassner Award. She has received commissions from the EST/Sloan Project, MTC/Sloan, The Movement/NYU and The Flea. Charly is currently a member of WP Theater's 2018-2020 Lab and The New Georges Jam. She's a former member of SPACE on Ryder Farm's The Working Farm, Clubbed Thumb's Early Career Writers' Group, Ensemble Studio Theatre's Youngblood, and Pipeline Theatre Company's PlayLab. She received her BA from Brown University, a master's in Women's Studies from University of Oxford, New College, and her MFA in Playwriting from Hunter College. www.charlyevonsimpson.com

Arpita Mukherjee is the Artistic Director and co-founder of Congressional Award winning Hypokrit Theatre Company and the Festival Chair for Tamasha for South Asian performing artists. Her recent directing credits include Anon(ymous) by Naomi Iizuka (Iowa State University), One Way by Ben Bonnema and Christopher Staskel (NAMT), The Golden Threshold by Cheeyang Ng and Eric Sorrels (Live & In Color), Strange Men by Will Snider (PlayPenn 2019), Citizen Scientist by CQ (Barrington Stage Company Playworks Weekend), Vietgone by Qui Nguyen (reading Song Collective), Sense and the City by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin (4 Flights Up Festival), Reclaiming Our Time: A Concert (MTF at Joe's Pub), Eh Dah? Questions For My Father by Aya Aziz (Next Door @NYTW), and Elements of Change by Divya Mangwani (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, UNICEF). Her upcoming directing credits include Maya by Cheeyang Ng and Eric Sorrels (Pace University New Musical Lab), House of Joy by Madhuri Shekar (San Diego Rep). Arpita has developed work at WP Theater, The Public Theater, and Ma-Yi Theatre amongst others. She is a 2018 - 2020 Women's Project Lab Member and a 2018 Eugene O' Neill National Directing Fellow. She is an alumni of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab. Arpita was selected as a 2019 Mabou Mines Resident Artist, a 2019-2020 LMCC Governors Island Artist-in-Residence, and the 2019 Iowa State University Artist-in-Residence. Arpita is currently the book writer for Monsoon Wedding musical.