Stephen Karam is an incredibly talented playwright who won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Play for The Humans. On August 15, 2018 my friends and I are planning to put on a production of one of his earlier plays, Speech & Debate, at the Producers Club, an Off-Off- Broadway Theater (seating capacity approximately 50). Speech & Debate, a dark comedy, tells the story of three misfit teenagers who explore a town scandal and its repercussions through a newly formed speech and debate team. In this timely play, Karam explores the importance of addressing the truth and the troubles of bridging the gap between adolescence and adulthood. The original production, which premiered at the Roundabout Theater Underground, was a New York Theater Critics’ Pick and received rave reviews. The New York Times wrote: “The play’s real accomplishment is its picture of the borderland between late adolescence and adulthood, where grown-up ideas and ambition coexist with childish will and bravado.” It would be an absolute honor for us to bring this story and its message to the stage. My friends and I have grown up performing in plays, and we view this project as an amazing opportunity for us to expand our experience and skill sets beyond acting to producing, directing, staging, marketing; i.e., the business of theater from soup to nuts. We are hoping that this production will serve as the inaugural production of a newly-formed theater company that will strive to bring inspiring and timely content to the stage, while also being inclusive to people from all cultural and religious backgrounds. CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM Christina Jimenez (Director)- Christina Jimenez will be a freshman at NYU's New Studio on Broadway this fall. She has been performing in musicals since she was 12 years old. She just graduated from PPAS where she was seen as Anita in "West Side Story". Christina is very excited to be making her directorial debut in "Speech and Debate". Ravi Schwartz (Diwata)- Ravi Schwartz is an 18 year old actor/singer based in NYC. Ravi has appeared in various musicals at the Riverdale children’s theater and trained at the Atlantic Acting School. She looks forward to studying Drama at NYU Tisch. She is very excited to produce and star in this amazing play! Talia Kupferman (Teacher/reporter)- Talia is a current junior and Biology major at Stern College for Women. You may have seen Talia in her most recent performance of Thoroughly Modern Millie as the conniving Mrs. Meers. She would like to thank her friends and family, and the entire cast and crew of ‘Speech and Debate!’ Special shout out to Ruth Debrofsky, Ivy Lynn, and Karen Cartright! Milo Cassarino (Solomon)- Milo is a rising senior at Dwight Englewood school. He loves acting and singing in mostly musicals. Besides his previous performances in musicals he is also a part of his school robotics team. Although he has only been in musicals he is excited to be a part of his first play! Amram Zeitchik(Howie)-Amram Zeitchik is currently a sophomore at Binghamton University, where he is majoring is biomedical engineering. He was most recently seen in the Hinman Production Company’s ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’. Performing has been a passion of his for many years and he is very excited to be part of ‘Speech & Debate’ The budget for our production is as follows: Cost to rent theater: $650 Cost of the rights to the material: $137 Costumes: $40 Set: $30 Misc.: $143 Total: $1,000 We are seeking to raise $750 from this platform which would provide us with great flexibility to offer tickets at a very low price, or to make them available for those who can’t afford them, as the circumstances warrant. Any excess amounts raised from this platform combined with ticket sales will be used to develop and fund other projects for our soon to be named theater company. Please consider giving whatever you can to help me and my aspiring actor friends realize our dream! Thank you, Ravi Schwartz