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originally published: 05/24/2023 

(BASKING RIDGE, NJ) -- American Theater Group (ATG), a professional regional theater company in Central Jersey, presents Right to Be Forgotten -- a searing new drama by Sharyn Rothstein in June.  The show will run June 8-10 at JCC MetroWest in West Orange, NJ and June 15-18 at the Sieminski Theater in Basking Ridge. It's a powerful look at today's social media landscape, the drama explores how a young man's mistake at 17 haunts him online a decade later.

Desperate for a normal life, he goes to extraordinary lengths to erase his indiscretion. But freedom of information is a big business, and the tech companies aren’t going down without a fight. Secrets, lies, and political backstabbing abound in this riveting new drama, heralded by New York Magazine as "the best dramatic depiction about tech and its power over our world."

Leading the cast is Seth Clayton as Derril, who previously appeared in ATG’s Tell Them I’m Still Young in 2019. Other credits include The Madrid (Manhattan Theatre Club, alongside Edie Falco), Becoming Nancy (Alliance Theatre), and Peter and the Starcatcher (Actors Theatre of Louisville). TV/Film: Gotham, Mostly 4 Millenials, Mums The Word.

Leela Bassuk will portray Sarita. An actor and writer, Bassuk studied creative writing at The University of Iowa, and served for a year with AmeriCorps service before moving to NYC to pursue an MFA in acting at The Juilliard School (class of 2025).

Maria Jung will play Marta. Recent theater credits include: Is Edward Snowden Single? (The Player's Ring), Avalon (Opera House Arts), Chill (Merrimack Rep Theater), I Phigenia 2.0 (Neighborhood Playhouse). Film/TV: Birth/Rebirth (Sundance Select 2023), Paterno (HBO).

 

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Amanda Kristin Nichols has been cast as Annie. Recent theater credits include The Dreamer at HERE Arts, Three Sisters at Sheen Center, and Shakespeare’s R+J at The Hangar Theater. Film & TV credits include Mr & Mrs Smith, New Amsterdam, and The Sinner (USA). Graduate of the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama.

Zaven Ovian will portry Alvaro Santos. His theater credits include: Emilie (Duende Productions), Romeo and Juliet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern… (Huntington Theatre Company), English, Shakespeare in Love, Big Fish (SpeakEasy Stage), and Water By the Spoonful (Lyric Stage). He earned a BFA from Boston Conservatory.

Chelsie Sutherland has been cast as Eve. Her most recent credits include staged readings of A Guttah Ritual at the Tank Theater, Your Blues Ain't Sweet Like Mine and Let It Use You at Manhattan Theatre Club.

“We are thrilled with this accomplished, stellar cast, which, under the direction of Kathy Gail MacGowan, will do justice to Sharyn Rothstein’s razor-sharp script,” noted Jim Vagias, Producing Artistic Director of ATG. “It’s fascinating to see these young, emerging artists create a gripping and highly entertaining theatrical experience.”

ATG staged Rothstein's play, A Good Farmer, to wide acclaim in 2018. She is an award-winning playwright and television writer. Her plays have been produced around the country by theaters such as Williamstown Theater Festival, Manhattan Theater Club, Ars Nova, Chicago's Raven Theatre, DC's Arena Stage and others. Her play By The Water was the recipient of the American Theater Critic’s Association’s prestigious Francesca Primus Prize.

Kathy Gail MacGowan will direct the production, and most recently directed the New York premiere of Lauren Gunderson’s play Emilie: La Marquise du Chatalet Defends Her Life Tonight at The Flea Theatre and Conor McPherson's The Night Alive at The Chain Theater.  She has directed hundreds of developmental readings for new work in New York, leading to the direction of 15 premieres by New York playwrights.

The Maurice Levin Theater at JCC MetroWest is located at 760 Northfield Ave in West Orange, NJ. Performances will run Thursday through Saturday, June 8-10, at 7:00pm with an additional 1:00pm matinee on Saturday the 10th.

The Sieminski Theater is located on the scenic campus of Fellowship Village at 8000 Fellowship Road in Basking Ridge, NJ. Performances will be Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2:30pm. Tickets for both venues can be purchased at www.americantheatergroup.org.

American Theater Group (ATG), founded in 2012, produces new and classic works primarily by American playwrights with an emphasis on the development of new works and the rediscovery of undeservedly neglected older ones. It also provides quality arts-in-education initiatives, including its annual DramaFest for students and its PlayLab program for BIPOC and queer playwrights. ATG programming is made possible in part by an American Rescue Plan Act grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support general operating expenses in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Made possible by the Somerset County Cultural & Heritage Commission, a partner of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.