(MAPLEWOOD, NJ) – In Ike Holter’s edgy new comedy Exit Strategy, a crumbling Chicago school is about to be shut down over the dead body of at least one teacher. Vice Principal Ricky Hubble has been hiding in his office, still afraid of the kids and teachers, just as he was as an insecure high school student 13 years ago – until an unexpected encounter with a student challenges this mouse to roar.

The Theater Project, which frequently chooses plays to shine light on social issues of community concern, presents Exit Strategy from April 6 to April 23 in Maplewood. In this work, the playwright uncovers all the humor in the teachers’ room gossip, conflicts and chaos in the staff’s efforts to save the school.

“The play was written in response to the sweeping 2009 school closures in Chicago,” says artistic director Mark Spina. “With all the current drama in Trenton and Washington about school funding, it might be a good idea to start thinking about these issues NOW.”

The play features Nicholas Wilder (Philadelphia), Liz Zazzi (Montclair), BK Dawson (Hoboken), Gary Glor (Union), and Rokia L. Shearin, Melody Vargas and Thomas Vorsteg (New York).