Play Reading: We Keep The Shells
We Keep The Shells
A New Play by Laura Pittinger
Based on the early life of Dorothy Day
Directed by Michelle Cintron
Set in a 1920s Staten Island beach house, this new play by NYC novelist and playwright Laura Pittenger offers an intimate look at the early life of Dorothy Day. Long before co-founding The Catholic Worker and igniting a global movement for labor rights and social justice, Day lived as a radical journalist, bohemian and socialist. When an unexpected pregnancy brings her face-to-face with faith, she faces sharp dissent from those closest to her. A story of contrasts, this piece explores Day’s fierce drive to bridge deep cultural divides, offering a timely reflection on community, justice, and belonging.
BIOS
Michelle Cintron (Producing Artistic Director, OPEN CURRENT THEATRE) is an actor, producer, director, and musician bringing over 25 years of creative energy to stage, screen, and sound. Trained at Franciscan University and Circle in the Square Theatre School, her extensive credits span NYC and regional productions, including leading Theatre on the Road’s touring production of Dracula. Today, she shines as half of the improv comedy duo One Woman Show & David and serves as Music Director for St. Mary’s of the Snow & St. Joseph parish, filling Sunday mornings with live guitar and song.
Jon Lee (FORSTER BATTHERHAM) is a local landscape designer, musician and actor. Recent credits: Prince Topher, in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Mr. Major, in Our Suburb by Darrah Cloud, at Rosendale Theatre, Albert Petersen, in Bye Bye Birdie at the Phoenicia Playhouse, the renowned poet, Frederico Garcia Lorca in an experimental biographical play featuring Flamenco guitar and dance, Tony Rizzo in the comedy, What Would Ester Williams Do In A Situation Like This, written and directed by Ovi Vargas, at the Phoenicia Playhouse, a 13 year old boy, Darius, in the play, What’s
Bugging Greg by Darrah Cloud, Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Woodstock Shakespeare Festival with Bird on a Cliff Theatre, Joseph and Elton John in Amelie: The Musical at Rhinebeck Center for the Performing Arts, Mr. Webb in Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, at the Phoenicia Playhouse.
Kimberley Hellem (FREDA) is a comedian, writer, and producer known for her highly physical style and offbeat point of view—shaped in part by her early days as a musical theater kid and lifelong “weird bird.” She began her comedy career in Chicago, graduating from the Second City Conservatory Program, and went on to write for Pottymouth TV and perform with the award-winning sketch group Adjusted Gratuity. Her performance background spans stand-up and improv, with past appearances at the World Series of Comedy, Finger Lakes Comedy Festival, and North Jersey Comedy Festival. She currently performs with Montclair Improv Comedy, including regular monthly shows at the Montclair Film Center and featured appearances at the Montclair Film Festival. Beyond the stage, Kimberley serves as a producer, working closely with the teams at Cheap Old Houses and The Paul Walker Foundation on creative and production initiatives. She is currently developing the feature film Sunday Gravy
alongside Tara Cannistraci and Mario Candelaria.
