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THE SCARIEST
Off-Broadway Engagement Begins Limited Run March 2

The Exchange (formerly Jean Cocteau Rep) takes on some of the greatest horror stories in history with the Off-Broadway premiere of THE SCARIEST. This evening length collection of 8 new plays by writers including Kristin Newbom, Laura Schellhardt, Mark Schultz, and Gary Sunshine is based on the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne, W.W. Jacobs, Hans Christian Anderson, and The Book of Revelations. Directed by Ari Edelson and Meredith McDonough, performances begin March 2 at The Green Room at The Theatres at 45 Bleecker. Opening night is set for Thursday, March 6th. THE SCARIEST is produced on an Off-Broadway contract.

No matter where in the world, no matter what culture, people know that there is something lurking around the shadows, creeping under the bed. For THE SCARIEST, The Exchange has commissioned four of New York's most exciting playwrights to remix some of the greatest classics of the horror genre. These modern stage interpretations have all been recast into contemporary settings and to confront modern-day terrors with the same punch the famed originals did. The bill for the evening includes:

- Finally and Third Wish. If you had three wishes, what would you do? Just be careful what you wish for. Mark Schultz presents two different takes on WW Jacobs classic The Monkey’s Paw.

- The Apothecary’s Daughter. Have you ever met a poisonous woman? How close would you get? Laura Schellhardt's take on Nathaniel Hawthorne's tale of love and death, Rappaccini’s Daughter.

- Revelations. What happens when your personal life invades your work? Kristin Newbom takes on the last book of The Bible.

- The Names of Foods. What depths do we go to save our own, not knowing what the future may hold? Gary Sunshine takes on Hans Christian Anderson's The Story of A Mother.

THE SCARIEST features Rebecca Brooksher (Dying City), Angel Desai (Company), Andy Grotelueschen (Clowns.), Jesse Hooker (Some Men), Mandy Siegfried (Noises Off), and Joaquin Torres (King Lear) with sets by Clint Ramos, costumes by Emily Pepper, lights by Christopher Studley. and sound by Lindsay Jones.

The Exchange is a company committed to creating the classics of the future. Productions range from reinterpretations of classic texts to new commissions. Through the Orchard Project and other development initiatives, the Exchange redefines the way new theatre is made. Key to this push is seeking interactive ways to engage both audiences and artists in dynamic exchange of ideas and artistic vision.

Kristin Newbom's plays include Telethon, Our Serial Remains, Educated Fleas, Happy?, Sakes Alive, Bluestory, The Pirate Play, and Subrosa. Before attending Brown University (MFA playwriting 2005), Kristin was Co-founder and Co-artistic director of The Compound, Seattle's experimental performance group. Kristin has also directed many plays including; The Incubus Archives by W. David Hancock at The Playwrights Center, Eurydice and The Clean House, by Sarah Ruhl at Seattle Rep and The Women's New Play Festival, and Fefu and Her Friends by Maria Irene Fornes at Cornish College of the Arts.

Laura Schellhardt received her MFA in playwriting from Brown University. Her plays have been produced at The Kennedy Center, ACT, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Provincetown Theatre Company, Trinity Repertory Company, and SPF. Original works include The Outfit (Jeff Award Nominee), Courting Vampires, Shapeshifter, Inheritance, Je Ne Sais Quoi, and Searching for Lochness. She is a 2007-08 Jerome Playwriting Fellow, a recipient of the New Play Award from ACT, and a 2005 Dramatist Guild Playwriting Fellow. Her play The Chair will receive a workshop at Trinity Repertory this year and The K of D, workshopped as part of the 2006 O'Neill National Playwright's Conference, will be produced by Woolly Mammoth next season. She is also the author of Screenwriting for Dummies. Laura teaches playwriting at Northwestern University.

Mark Schultz won the 2006 Kesselring Prize. His other plays include Everything Will Be Different (Soho Rep), Last, The Place Where, The Nativity Sonata, Gift, and Still. He is a founding member and artistic associate of Theater Mitu, a member of Rising Phoenix Rep, and Co-Coordinator of MCC Theater's Playwrights' Coalition. He holds an MFA in playwriting from Columbia University.

Gary Sunshine received the 2005 Helen Merrill Award for Emerging Playwrights. His plays include Sweetness, Mercury (produced in association with Eve Ensler), and Kahn and Kant. His work has been seen at New York Stage & Film, NYTW's Just Add Water Festival, SPF, Rattlestick, The New Group, MCC Theater, The Actors Studio, The Flea, The Directors Company, Hypothetical Theater Company, Cherry Lane Alternative, and Rising Phoenix Rep. His one-act play Al Takes A Bride was published in The Best American Short Plays of 2001. He received an M.F.A. from NYU. He is a member of MCC's Playwrights Coalition and a resident playwright at New Dramatists.

Ari Edelson is Artistic Director of the Exchange and the Orchard Project. As a director, his recent credits include Vengeance (Cherry Lane), Expats (The New Group), Jump! and Realism (The Exchange), and The Attic (Play Company). He has also worked with companies such as La Jolla Playhouse, Long Wharf, the Old Vic, Circle in the Square, the Royal National Theatre, Theatre Royal Haymarket, and The Vineyard. Ari graduated from Yale University and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

Meredith McDonough is Associate Artistic Director of the Exchange. Her directing credits include Half of Plenty (SPF), The Wikepedia Plays (Ars Nova), Adam Rapp's Members Only, Itamar Moses' Authorial Intent, Driving Miss Daisy (Delaware Theatre Company), Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Heaven & Hell (Humana Festival) and Hazard County (Actors Express). She is a member of the Women's Project Directors Lab, an Affiliated Artist with New Georges, a Drama League Fellow, and was the New Works Program Director for the National Alliance for Musical Theatre. She holds an MFA in directing from UCSD and a BS in Performance Studies from Northwestern University.

THE SCARIEST runs March 2 - 30, Tuesday - Saturday at 8pm & Sunday at 3pm. The Green Room is located at The Theatres at 45 Bleecker (at the corner of Bleecker Street and Lafayette Street -- accessible from the 6 train at Bleecker or the F,V,B,D trains at Broadway-Lafayette). Tickets are $24 and can be purchased at telecharge.com or 212-239-6200. For more information, please visit exchangenyc.org.