YESTERDAY IRAN/TODAY IRAQ opens July 24 at MITF

A soldier’s letters from World War II reach across the years

to a young man on his way to fight in Iraq

in

Yesterday Iran/Today Iraq
Presented In Association with

The 14th Annual Midtown Theatre Festival

 On the day he departs to Iraq for his first combat deployment, a soldier discovers his grandfather’s life during World War II in a forgotten box of letters, in L.S. Goldberg’s Yesterday Iran/Today Iraq. Based on actual World War II letters and conversations with Iraq War veterans,Yesterday Iran/Today Iraq will be performed at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre at 312 West 36th Street, 1^st floor, on Wednesday, July 24th at 9:30pm, Thursday, July 25th at 6pm, and Friday, July 26th at 7:30pm.

Fresh out of boot camp, and eager to fight for his country, Private Steven “Stippy” Goodman finds a boxful of letters his grandfather – Lt. Chester Goodman, a decorated World War II officer – wrote more than 60 years earlier when he served in Iran from 1943 to 1945. Bemused by these long-ago accounts of a war far less dependent on technology than today, and dismissive of his grandfather’s non-combat support service as easy, Stippy is sure that his tour of duty will be a more action-packed experience. But his grandfather knows the real enemy is one that can’t be found on any map.

An AEA-Approved Showcase directed by Rebecca Etzine, the cast of Yesterday Iran/Today Iraq features Andrew Hutchinson* and Blake Williams. The production team consists of Victoria Sun (stage manager), Scott Epstein (set designer), Aidan Zev Meyer (sound designer), Shane Moan (lighting designer) and Judi Simon (costumes and props).

An early short version of Yesterday Iran/Today Iraq was produced at the Manhattan Repertory Company and had a reading at the Dramatists Guild. For this production of Yesterday Iran/Today Iraq, the production team has created a unique treasure hunt of clues about the play at www.facebook.com/yesterdayiran. Followers can guess the significance of the clues and the individual who correctly guesses the greatest number of clues will be given an award at the end of the play’s run. Additional information about the production can be found atwww.twitter.com/YITIplay.

Yesterday Iran/Today Iraq is presented as part of the 14th Annual Midtown International Theatre Festival. The approximate running time of the show is 60 minutes. All tickets are $15 and can be purchased by calling 866-811-4111 or online as follows:

Wed, July 24 (9:30 p.m.): https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/9795883

Thurs., July 25 (6:00 p.m.): https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/9795885

Fri., July 26 (7:30 p.m.): https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/9795884

L. S. Goldberg is an educator, writer, and producer, and has written and produced plays and screenplays that reveal the significance of footnotes to history. She produced, co-wrote, and co-directed the History of Fraunces Tavern & Early New York, a film with correspondent Lynn Sherr and Tony winner Philip Bosco, which plays regularly at Fraunces Tavern Museum. She has received numerous grants and academic assistantships for her writing. Her screenplays and plays have been finalists in renowned competitions, including The Nicholl Fellowships, Austin Heart of Film Festival Screenplay Competition, The Chesterfield Film Company, Scriptapalooza, and New Works of Merit Playwriting Competition. The John Harms Center for the Performing Arts selected her screenplay That Lady from St. Louis about author Kate Chopin for a staged reading and excerpts from it were published in the Xavier Review. Other scripts garnering attention include a family drama A Gift for Father and a sci-fi comedy Missing Linc, both placed in final rounds of competitions. You, The Jury, a reality series, received recognition at Scriptapalooza. She is developing a story about the life of Holocaust artist Charlotte Salomon entitled Unwrapped Gifts. She has served as arts management consultant to Circle in the Square Theatre, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Second Stage, and others. She has taught drama, film, writing and literature at universities in Boston, New York, and New Jersey, and currently teaches at Fordham University and New Jersey City University.  

Rebecca Etzine is currently the Artistic Director of The Cradle Theatre Company, where she has directed The Winter’s Tale, Romeo and Juliet, and Love’s Labour’s Lost. Other credits include Twelfth Night (Fordham University), Dybbuk (Fordham University), The Fever Chart: Three Visions of the Middle East (Carver Theatre Company, regional premier), Rosie in the Shadow of Melrose (Carver Theatre Company), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Asst. Director, Baltimore Shakespeare Festival Middle School Summer Camp). Rebecca is a graduate of Fordham University with a double major in Directing and Performance.

The Midtown International Theatre Festival’s 2013 Season runs from July 15 – August 4, 2013  at the June Havoc Theatre, 312 W. 36th Street, 1st floor; the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre, 312 W. 36th Street, 1st floor; the Main Stage Theater, 312 W. 36th Street, 4th floor; and the Jewel Box Theater, 312 W. 36th Street, 4th floor. 

John Chatterton created the MITF in 2000, a Midtown alternative to other theatre festivals, as a way to present the finest Off-Off Broadway talent in convenience, comfort, and safety. In 2003, the MITF moved its activities to their current location, the Theatre Building on W. 36th St., where it has been successfully ensconced since. In 2008 the Festival expanded from two theatres in that building to four, at the WorkShop Theater Company and Abingdon Theatre Company spaces. The MITF’s artistic emphasis is on the script itself, and therefore the Festival focuses on effective but minimal production values. For more information, visit www.midtownfestival.org.