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originally published: 05/03/2023 

(BASKING RIDGE, NJ) --  Following the success of its season opening production of Parade, American Theater Group (ATG), Central Jersey’s professional regional theater company, has announced its next production -- Right to Be Forgotten -- a searing new drama by Sharyn Rothstein.  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.

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 technology columnist Kara Swisher as "the best dramatic depiction about tech and its power over our world."

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 prestigious Francesca Primus Prize. Rothstein is currently a writer and Co-Executive Producer on Orphan Black: Echoes, the spin-off of the sci-fi hit Orphan Black, soon to be on AMC. She was a writer/producer for the USA legal drama SUITS for many years. She teaches at NYU's Tisch School of Drama, where she received an MFA in Dramatic Writing.

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, including:  In The Summer Pavilion (Backstage Critic's Pick, @NYCFringe & 59E59) and Kentucky Canata  (Best of Off-Broadway by critic Howard Miller @ HERE) both by Paul David Young, The Golden Year (Time Out 3 stars, WorkShop Theatre) and The Dishonorable Discharge of Private Pitts (IATA) theatre both by Daniel Damiano; and Broad Channel by James Bosely (UP Theater Co).  MacGowan regularly directs at The Stella Adler Conservatory/NYU Tisch and recently directed and adapted Henry 4, Park 1 which toured NYC public schools, senior centers and notably Rikers prison.  She is a Drama League Directing Finalist and a member of SDC, AEA, and holds an MFA from The New School for Drama.

“I have been interested in producing Right to be Forgotten since I attended a reading of it in New York in 2017,” noted Jim Vagias, Producing Artistic Director of ATG. “Its theme of not being able to escape one’s past is amazingly current. Years ago, a mistake could be considered a youthful lapse – but in today’s world, one’s past is always just a click away.”

 

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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.  Additional information about casting will be announced shortly.

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.

Bringing a professional performing arts venue with a diverse lineup of entertainment to Basking Ridge and the surrounding communities makes the Sieminski Theater and Somerset County an artistic and cultural destination. It offers a newly expanded performance schedule from American Theater Group, Light Opera of New Jersey, New Jersey Festival Orchestra, Trilogy Repertory and countless touring groups. The intimate 257 seat award-winning venue features technical amenities that rival any Broadway theater. Visit www.sieminskitheater.org to view its upcoming entertainment schedule, where any seat is the best seat in the house.

JCC MetroWest has been a pillar of the community for over 140 years. Nearly 2,000 people come to the J for educational, social, cultural and fitness programs every day. The Leon & Toby Cooperman JCC in West Orange and the day-camp, Camp Deeny Riback, serve an area that covers 400 square miles – from New York City to the east in Essex County and extending to the outlying suburbs of Morris County to the west. Through classes, theater events, the fitness center, summer camps and community-wide festivals JCC MetroWest touches approximately 50,000 people each year. In keeping with Jewish heritage and values, JCC MetroWest is an inclusive community of communities.  The J is open to and appreciates people of all ages, genders, races, religions, nationalities, ethnicities, abilities, sexual orientations, education, socioeconomic levels, and political perspectives. The J’s mission is to strengthen the community and add meaning to the lives of those served by connecting them to—and through—shared Jewish experiences.