Commissioned through Working Theater’s Five Boroughs/One City Initiative, and inspired by stories from the Brighton Beach community. 

ADA AccessibilityThe venue has an elevator onsite. Please note, it is 32″ wide. 

The Blue Parts

created by playwright Liba Vaynberg & director Dina Vovsi 

Welcome to Brighton Video. What do you need? We have it… or something like it… Oh, you can’t read Russian? Customers aren’t flocking to Marina’s store, but one stormy afternoon, she finds herself sheltering Abdur, a teenager on a mission to save the whales. A familiar and singular story of migration inspired by stories from the communities of Brighton Beach, The Blue Parts examines the lives we lead when we leave the places we call home.

Join us in Manhattan for this one-night developmental reading. Reservations are free, but required. Fro more information, email [email protected]

RSVP

Working Theater is committed to the safety of our audiences, artists, and staff. Masks and vaccinations are no longer required but highly encouraged to protect yourself and others at our performances. Masks and hand sanitizer will be available upon request. We will continue following guidance from CDC and local guidelines to update these protocols as needed. 

Liba Vaynberg (Playwright): Liba’s play Scheiss Book won Best One-Woman Show and Backstage Magazine Audience Choice Award at the United Solo Festival at Theatre Row and was also produced at Dixon Place & Stonewall Inn. Her play Round Table was programmed as part of Fault Line Theatre’s new work series IRONS IN THE FIRE. The Russian and the Jew, written with Emily Margolin, was selected as a 2017-2018 COJECO (Council of Jewish Émigré Community Organizations) BluePrint Fellowship and was produced this Winter at the Tank. As a performer, she appeared on New Amsterdam (NBC), Madam Secretary (CBS), Billy & Billie (DirecTV), The Deuce (HBO) and on stage at Classic Stage Company, the Women’s Project with Fault Line, HERE, La Mama, Yale, Williamstown, La Jolla Playhouse, Hartford Stage, Contemporary American Theatre Festival, Huntington Theatre, Penguin Rep & Miami New Drama. Liba studied Molecular Biology & International Studies at Yale before getting her MFA from Columbia. libavaynberg.com

Dina Vovsi (Director) is a New York-based director and theatermaker committed to developing and devising new plays. Upcoming: Deborah Yarchun’s DRIVE (The Civilians’ R&D Group Findings Series, May 2019) and Mac Wellman’s SINCERITY FOREVER (The Flea, Summer/Fall 2019). Recent: UNTITLED PARLOR PLAY, OR, FOR HOME AMUSEMENT (Access Residency), IPHIGENIA AND OTHER DAUGHTERS (LIU Post), FIRST BY FAITH: THE LIFE OF MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE (United Solo, Best Educational Show), THE BASTARD (Dixon Place), VISITING HOURS (TheaterLab). Dina has developed new work at The Culture Project’s Women Center Stage, The Barn Arts Collective, FringeNYC, Working Theater, Atlantic Acting School, Pipeline Theatre Company, Fresh Ground Pepper, Theatre 167, The Flea, and more. Assistant directing: Broadway, off-Broadway, and regionally, with Roundabout, Playwrights Horizons, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, and more. Dina is a Resident Director at The Flea and a member of the 2018-2019 Civilians R&D Group. She has been a Robert Moss Directing Fellow at Playwrights Horizons, the recipient of an SDC Foundation Observership, a member of the Lincoln Center Directors’ Lab, an O’Neill National Directors Fellowship Finalist, and a Mass MoCA Assets for Artists Grantee. www.dinavovsi.com

Kate Abbruzzese (Masha) (Off Broadway: workshops of Richard II, As You Like It (The Public Theater), Pound opposite Christopher Lloyd, An Evening With The Macbeths (Red Bull Theatre). Regional: Margot Wendice in Dial M For Murder, Gwendolen Fairfax in The Importance of Being Earnest (The Old Globe); Miranda in The Tempest, Allie in Dairyland (Chautauqua Theater); Stephanie in Black Dick (O’Neill Playwrights Conference), Shelby in Steel Magnolias (Cincinnati Playhouse), Portia in Julius Caesar, Hamlet in Hamlet (Shakespeare & Company), Perdita in The Winter’s Tale (Hudson Valley Shakespeare), Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice (Baltimore Center Stage). Film/television: “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “The Blacklist,” “NCIS: NOLA,” “The Chaperone.” Honors: O’Neill Playwrights Conference semifinalist, finalist and two-time winner of the Red Bull Short New Play Festival, recipient of the Molly Thacher Kazan Prize, Olympia Dukakis Scholarship, and Ron Van Lieu Scholarship. Education: B.A. from Vassar, M.F.A. from NYU Graduate Acting. Proud member of The Actors Center.

Savidu Geevaratne (he/him) (Abdur) is a Sri Lankan American actor, singer, and musician based in NYC. Training: NYU Tisch New Studio on Broadway. Previous work includes As You Like It, Head Over Heels (NYU), Your Own Personal Exegesis (LCT3), Monsoon Wedding (St. Anne’s Warehouse). He spent his past few summers singing all over Cape Cod as part of “Hyannis Sound”, a professional a cappella group and can be heard on their most recent albums. Check them out on Spotify! He is grateful to his Amma for encouraging him to follow his passions and to his fellow scouts in Troop 233 who, in preparation for a 7th grade whale watching trip, sat through his overly detailed and thoroughly researched powerpoint presentation titled: “Whales”. @the_savidoodle_

Emily Roth (Stage Manager) is a freelance stage manager based in NYC. Recent credits include Miss Saigon (White Plains Performing Arts Center), Dial M for Murder (White Heron Theatre Company), Sea Monsters of the Deep (White Heron Theatre Company), How The Hell Did I Get Here? (Pemberley Perry), The Woman in Black (Pemberley Perry), Ajijaak on Turtle Island (IBEX Puppetry), and Alternating Currents (Working Theater). She is the co-author of Stage Management Basics: A Primer for Performing Arts Stage Managers (Focal Press © 2017, 2nd ed © 2022).

Amrita Ramanan (she/her) is a dramaturg, creative producer, and artistic leader who holds the values of anti-racism, anti-colonialism, equity, and access at the core of her practice. She is the Director of New Work Development at the Public Theater and has previously held the roles of Director of Literary Development and Dramaturgy at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Literary Manager at Arena Stage, and Associate Producer and Resident Dramaturg at Double Edge Theater. Most recent dramaturg credits include The Harder They Come by Suzan-Lori Parks (The Public Theater) and Elyria by Deepa Purohit (Atlantic Theater Company). Amrita is completing her third year as a National Theater Project Advisor for the New England Foundation for the Arts. She considers herself a professional advocate for playwrights and storytellers across all mediums.

Zuzanna Szadkowski (Marina) is best known for playing Dorota in the CW’s “Gossip Girl.” Currently, she can be seen in HBO’s “The Gilded Age.” Other television credits include “Modern Love,” “Bull,” “Search Party,” “The Knick,” “The Good Wife,” “Elementary,” “Girls,” “Guiding Light,” “The Sopranos,” and “Law and Order.” Film credits include “Worth,” “Minyan,” and “Loserville.” Theatre credits include Uncle Romeo Vanya Juliet (WSJ Performance of the Year 2018), The Crucible and Peter Pan with Bedlam, queens at LCT3, The Comedy of Errors as part of The Public Theater’s Mobile Shakespeare Unit, King Philip’s Head… with Clubbed Thumb, Love, Loss and What I Wore on Off-Broadway, The 39 Steps at ATL, and The Merry Wives of Windsor at Two River Theater. Zuzanna is also a writer and has been published in The New York Times and Alien Nation.

The Blue Parts is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.  

Deepest thanks to our 38th Season Supporters

Working Theater is supported in part by generous community members like you, and major gifts from: The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation New York Theater Program in partnership with the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York | Howard Gilman Foundation | The One World Fund | The Shubert Foundation | The New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature  | Public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council

SEASON SPONSORS:
PLATINUM SPONSOR: MagnaCare 
GOLD SPONSORS: Cigna, EmblemHealth, Empire BlueCross BlueShield 
SILVER SPONSORSArcher, Byington, Glennon, & Levine, LLP, CWA Local 1180, NYC Central Labor Council, Segal, United Federation of Teachers, Vision Screening Inc/DDS Inc