Production History of Liberty City

2000
Jessica Blank and April Yvette Thompson meet while working on The Exonerated, a play Blank wrote with Erik Jensen based on interviews they conducted with exonerated death row inmates. Blank and Thompson begin conversations about creating a theatre piece together.

2003
Using the techniques developed for The Exonerated, Blank begins interviewing Thompson with tape recorder running. It quickly becomes clear that Thompson’s family should be the center of the play. Choosing the most moving and challenging stories from the 400-page transcript, Blank begins interviewing Thompson in character, telling her family’s stories from multiple points of view.

2003 - 2007
Blank and Thompson continue to develop and shape the script of Liberty City with workshops and readings at 651 Arts, Hartford Stage, The Lark Play Development Center, ACT Seattle, Center Theatre Group, the Daryl Roth Theatre, and a residency with the Classical Theatre of Harlem and New York Stage & Film.

April 2007
Thompson and Blank present Liberty City as a Mondays @ 3 reading at NYTW. Artistic Director James C. Nicola invites them to develop the project further at the Dartmouth Summer Residency, with the potential to bring a full production to the NYTW stage.

July 2007
Thompson and Blank work on Liberty City at the NYTW Summer Residency at Dartmouth College.

October 2007
Thompson and Blank do an exploratory reading of the play at NYTW to hear the words performed by a different actress, and continue to develop the writing.

January 2008
Rehearsals begin for the production of Liberty City at NYTW.

February 2008
Liberty City opens at NYTW

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