Lightning Rod Special Announces New York Premiere of The Appointment

Lightning Rod Special (LRS), creator of Underground Railroad Game, has announced the New York premiere of The Appointment as part of Next Door at NYTW. It will play the Fourth Street Theatre from April 18-May 4, following a limited run at Philadelphia's FringeArts in March.

Directed by Eva Steinmetz with original music by Alex Bechtel and music direction by Amanda Morton, The Appointment unpacks the economic, societal, and political systems that disempower groups of people from making informed reproductive decisions. The production will be performed by Katie Gould, Jaime Maseda, Lee Minora, Brett Ashley Robinson, Scott R. Sheppard, Brenson Thomas, and Alice Yorke.

The creative team includes production design by Oona Curley, lighting design by Masha Tsimring, costume design by Jill Keys, sound design by Liz Atkinson, and choreography by Melanie Cotton. Meredith Sonnen serves as co-creative producer, with additional creation by nicHi Douglas, Jenson Titus Lavallee, and Mason Rosenthal.

At a first draft showing of the work in 2017, tickets were free with a suggested donation solicited at the door for the show's partner organizations, Women's Medical Fund and Philadelphia Women's Center, who facilitated postshow conversations and assisted with the development of The Appointment. With the audience's help, the workshop performances raised $4,818 for compassionate reproductive health services. For the March 2019 Philadelphia engagement at FringeArts, Lightning Rod Special will again partner with Women's Medical Fund to feature a robust series of opportunities for audiences to learn more about local reproductive justice efforts and to get involved with those efforts before even leaving the theater, including a long table with local experts and an adult sex ed trivia night.