Studio Theatre Kicks Off Season with IF I FORGET

Studio Theatre kicks off its 40th Anniversary season by stepping outside its front door as Associate Artistic Director Matt Torney directs Tony Award-winning playwright (Dear Evan Hansen) and Bethesda native Steven Levenson's If I Forget. This observant, political-but-personal family drama set in 2000 centers on the dynamics of a modern Jewish family in DC's Tenleytown neighborhood. Brought together by their elderly father's 75th birthday, the adult children of the Fischer family squabble over what to do with their long-held and now lucrative 14th Street property, igniting debates on religion, politics, and history. The first act opens days after the collapse of the Israel-Palestine Camp David peace talks, and If I Forget considers events of the outside world-and the weight of the turn of a millennium-through a domestic lens, grounding events and issues of the time in personal perspectives, while interrogating what it means to be an American Jew in the twenty-first century.

"Steven Levenson's take on his hometown is a perfect project to launch our 40th Anniversary Season," says Artistic Director David Muse. "It's got great parts for actors and a plot that turns on 14th Street real estate. But even deeper, Steven's play is a provocative examination of modern Jewish life, asking questions about assimilation, religious and cultural Judaism, and American Jews' relationship to Israel and the Israeli government-what this family might need to forget to move forward into the twenty-first century, and what they'll lose if they do."

It's July 2000: the Gore/Bush/Nader election cycle is in full swing, the Camp David Summit is falling apart, and in Tenleytown, a modern Jewish family is fracturing over what to do with their 14th Street real estate. Their mother has died, their father will need full-time care, and as their adult children debate what to do next, no topic is off limits: American Jews and their relationship to Israel, who's already given enough to this family, a sibling's parenting choices. A political and deeply personal play about history, responsibility, and what we're willing to sacrifice for a new beginning, told with vicious humor and unflinching honesty by Bethesda native Steven Levenson.

Steven Levenson is the Tony Award-winning book writer of Dear Evan Hansen. His plays include If I Forget, The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin, Core Values, The Language of Trees, and Seven Minutes in Heaven. Honors include the Obie Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Drama League Award, Drama Desk Nomination, Hull-Warriner Nomination, Lucille Lortel Nomination, and the Helen Hayes Award. A former Artist in Residence at Ars Nova and a member of the Roundabout Leadership Council, he worked for three seasons as a writer and producer on Showtime's Masters of Sex and is a founding member of Colt Coeur and an alumnus of MCC's Playwrights Coalition and Ars Nova's Play Group. His plays are published by Dramatists Play Service and Playscripts. A graduate of Brown University, he is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, Inc. and the WGA.

Matt Torney is entering his fifth season as Associate Artistic Director at Studio, where he has directed Translations, The Hard Problem, MotherStruck!, Hedda Gabler, Jumpers for Goalposts (nominated for two Helen Hayes Awards, including Best Ensemble), The New Electric Ballroom, and The Walworth Farce (nominated for two Helen Hayes Awards). Prior to his work at Studio, Torney served as the Director of Programming for Origin Theatre in New York, an Off Broadway company that specializes in European new writing. His New York credits include Stop the Tempo and Tiny Dynamite at Origin Theatre (Drama Desk Award nominee), The Twelfth Labor at Loading Dock, The Dudleys at Theatre for the New City, The Angel of History at HERE Arts, and Three Sisters and A Bright Room Called Day at the Atlantic Theatre School. Regional credits include Sherlock Holmes and the Crucifer of Blood and Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme at Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre and Improbable Frequency at Solas Nua (Helen Hayes Award nominee for Best Choreography). International credits include Digging for Fire and Plaza Suite with Rough Magic (National Tour), Angola at workshop at The Abbey Theatre, Paisley and Me at the Grand Opera House Belfast, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot at Making Strange (Irish Theatre Award nominee for Best Director), and Woyzeck at Rough Magic (Best Production nominee at the Dublin Fringe Festival). Originally from Belfast, Torney holds an MFA from Columbia University.

Now entering its 40th season, and its ninth under the leadership of Artistic Director David Muse, Studio Theatre is Washington's premier venue for contemporary theatre, "where local audiences will find today's edgiest playwrights" (Variety). One of the most respected midsized theatres in the country, Studio Theatre produces exceptional contemporary drama in deliberately intimate spaces. Drawing inspiration from great ensembles-where people work together with a spirit of generosity and professional rigor-Studio brings characteristic thoughtfulness and daring to its work onstage and off, through its new work incubator and engagement, education, and workforce training initiatives. Celebrating its 40th anniversary in the 2018-2019 Season, Studio looks to honor its history through encouraging a creative culture in which artistry and boldness stem from inclusion, training, stewardship, and the collaborative spirit of the rehearsal room . Every year, Studio serves nearly 75,000 people, including over 1,000 youth and young adults through engagement and education initiatives. Throughout Studio's 40-year history, the quality of its work has been recognized by sustained community support, as well as 367 nominations and 70 Helen Hayes Awards for excellence in professional theatre.

Location: 1501 14th Street NW (northeast corner of 14th and P Streets).

Parking: Studio has a parking partnership with Washington Plaza Hotel at 10 Thomas Circle NW, three blocks south of Studio; patrons who park at the hotel's parking garage can purchase a $13 voucher at concessions. Street parking is extremely limited; arrive early to increase your options.
Metro Stops: Red Line: Dupont Circle, Orange/Blue Lines: McPherson Square, and Green/ Yellow Lines: U Street/Cardozo.
Accessibility: Studio's theatres are all wheelchair accessible; seats are available by reservation. Assistive listening devices are available for all shows at concessions. Call the Box Office at 202.332.3300 for more information.

For more information and tickets, visit studiotheatre.org