Gratitude

By Oren Safdie
Directed by Maria Mileaf
Starring: Jalen Ford, Jake Bryan Guthrie, Erik Larsson & Aline Salloum.

The New York Premiere
June 5 - 30, 2022

An innocent high school crush snowballs into a life-changing moment for three coming-of-age teens. 15-year-old Najaf attends an exclusive private high school where she becomes infatuated with Drew, the class stud. Torn between her traditional upbringing and family expectations and her new sexual awakening, Najaf, finds herself caught in a web of her own making that promises liberation even as it might simultaneously lead to her undoing. Safdie's play captures youthful stirrings with all their passions, insecurities, and foibles to devastating effect. For ages 16+.

***NEW ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCE: Monday, June 27 | 7:30pm***

Tuesday - Saturday at 7:30pm
(added performances: Sun, June 5 at 7:30pm & Mon, June 6 @ 7:30pm)
Previews ($30): June 5-8 | Opening Night ($40): June 9 runs through June 30
Student Rush ($15): 15 mins before showtime with student ID.

JALEN FORD	JAKE BRYAN GUTHRIE	ERIK LARSSON	ALINE SALLOUM

Neil Patel (Scenic Designer), Laurie Churba (Costume Designer), Greg MacPherson (Lighting Designer), Bart Fasbender (Sound Design Consultant), Thomas Schall (Fight Consultant), Madeleine Burrow (Scenic Artist), Kim T. Sharp (Technical Director), Jaime Terrazzino (Assistant Technical), Joe Austria (Sound Liaison) and Joseph Phair (Electrician). Fiona Misiura (Stage Manager), Sky Trela (Assistant Stage Manager), Joe Trentacosta, JT Public Relations (Press Rep) and Sylvia Haber, Perpetuart (Graphic Design).

Please be advised: Graphic depictions of/references to sexual coercion, and abuse.

Urban Stages (Frances Hill, Artistic Director) presents MainLine Theatre’s (Amy Blackmore, Artistic Director) production of GRATITUDE.

Gratitude received its world premiere at Montreal's MainLine Theatre, where critics raved - "The 75-minute play begins rather innocently, but dissolves into so much sexual tension and human desperation with a great deal of simplicity and humour." Montréal Times; "Gratitude offers a topical look at high school lust and longing …. The scenes are well-paced, engaging, and funny. "The Globe And Mail; "Safdie has hit the proverbial ball out of the court with his new play Gratitude. Safdie's play captures youthful stirrings with all their passions and insecurities to devastating effect. Gratitude is a brave, provocative story exploring the realities around sex, love, consent, duty, gender roles, and rebellion." The Suburban / Jewish Mag; "Oren Safdie's triumphant return to Montreal with Gratitude, he does an ingenious job of bringing the conundrum to the forefront for all generations in a thought-provoking fashion … Join the humanistic and captivating game of human, moral and ethical chess, running at the Mainline." - OrcaSound Arts & Entertainment.

The kernel of Safdie's newest work grew out of his own experience attending St. George's School in Montreal. The day he was to start Grade 11, he received a phone call from the boyfriend of a girl in his class, threatening to put two bullets through his head if he showed up at school. From this, he has woven a story of four characters grappling with their newfound sexual urges while discovering the power their bodies have on others. Add to that the emotions of first love, peer pressure, sexual identity, and cultural discrepancies, and you have a story that captures the youth of our time in all its complexities.

The cast includes Jake Guthrie (NY Theater Barn's Ashes to Ashes), Erik Larsson (Regional: Brighton Beach Memoirs), Aline Salloum (Rattlestick's The Meltdown), Jalen Xavier Ford (Film: Listen to the House Party). Safdie, Mileaf, Patel, and Churba reunite for the first time in nearly two decades after collaborating on the Off-Broadway hit Private Jokes, Public Places.