Apathy the Target in "The Witnesses of Kitty Genovese"

Dear Reader,

Rochester, like many cities throughout the world, is struggling against a prevailing attitude of indifference. Just the other day I was told the story of a mother of four being attacked in broad day light by a group of 5 or so people while others looked on and did nothing. We in our city have rallies and other such events to help draw attention to these issues, but I don't know if these types of things are having an effect on our community at large. Below is a press release for a new play we have been working on for the last year. We ask that you promote this play and pass along the information of the release so that we can help to sustain a dialogue of apathy on our streets. In many ways we have Kitty Genoveses being murdered every day.

J.R. Teeter
Artistic Director/CEO
Bread & Water Theatre

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 2, 2007
Contact: J.R. Teeter
Artistic Director
585.271.5523
JR@BreadandWaterTheatre.org

Apathy the Target in
The Witnesses of Kitty Genovese

Catherine "Kitty" Genovese was raped and murdered outside her apartment building in the early morning hours of March 13th, 1964. Thirty-eight of her friends and neighbors witness the crime occurring, but no one calls police or in any way tries to save her life. Psychologists would later coin the terms "urban apathy" and "bystander effect" in an attempt to describe the circumstances surrounding Kitty's death and explain the actions of the many witnesses. With the ultimate goal of starting a public dialogue on the issues surrounding Kitty Genovese's murder, Bread & Water Theatre is launching a workshop production devoted to the crime that made the name Kitty Genovese famous. Originally featured in a series of staged reading at the "No Frills" Film and Arts Festival and at the Henrietta Public Library, Bread & Water Theatre is proud to produce the play The Witnesses of Kitty Genovese by J.R. Teeter.

Little about Kitty Genovese is known as it was her death that made her famous. She lived in Kew Garden, Queens with her partner Mary Anne Zielonko and was murdered on the anniversary of the day they first met. Kitty's brother William was only 16 when she died, but the circumstances surrounding her death led him to join the Marines and enter the conflict in Vietnam. He would become wheelchair bound when a landmine he was disarming exploded on March 13th, 1967, the third anniversary of Kitty's murder.

"Although some of the circumstances of the play appear to be coincidental, tragedy as a whole rarely has anything to do with luck. To anyone that has ever lost a loved one you understand that your life from that point on will be forever changed. When that loss is due to violence, the pain is all the more egregious. Our goal in this production is not to point the figure or to lay blame. I want the audience to revisit this crime and say 'what could we have done differently?' because despite technological innovations like cell phones, 911 system, and anonymous tip lines people like Kitty Genovese are being killed everyday and no one is taking that step forward. No one is challenging the pattern of indifference." Said Artistic Director and playwright J.R. Teeter.

Fascinated by historical events, J.R. Teeter first constructed the play The Witnesses of Kitty Genovese in the spring of 2004 under the guidance of Maria Mazziotti Gillan a poet and head of the Creative Writing Department at Binghamton University. “Constructed is the appropriate term as the entire play is taken from first hand accounts of what happened that night, says J.R. Teeter, “I compiled over 500 pages of parole hearing minutes, trial transcripts, television interviews, and newspaper articles on the crime. Through this information, the story of the last night of Kitty Genovese is told. I think it’s important for people to experience as much of the whole story as possible as the media has the tendency to focus just on the salaciousness of her murder and little else. I am also eternally in debt to Professor Gillan who helped me elevate the sometimes mundane material to the realm of poetry. Her steady hand really helped to guide my work.”

Winston Moseley, Kitty’s murderer, is often the focal point of any new media coverage and even today more is known about his life than anyone else involved in the case. In Witnesses… his entire life pre and post murder are examined. “There was a lot I did not know about Moseley at the time I began writing the play and still a great deal more that I want to know about him afterwards.” Moseley is currently serving a life sentence in Comstock Prison.

The cast include: Nicholas Russo (Frank Cacciatore, Esq., Frank Genovese), Marisa Krupa (Irene Frost, Joan Larrinaga), Cynthia Andresen (Sophie Farrar), Amanda Wannike (Catherine "Kitty" Genovese, Susan Wakeman), Carl Girard (Winston Moseley), Brianna Kaminskas (Andree Picq, Mary Anne Zielonko, Ruth Beasley), Adrian Ellis (Elizabeth Moseley, Virginia Lynn), Tony Curtis Wilborn (Alphonso Moseley, Edward Fiesler, Det. Jacobs, Robert Mozer, Dr. Diamond), Michael Gidici (Samuel Koshkin, Det. Carroll, Dr. Benenson, William Genovese), and Shaleen Bailey (Fannie Moseley, Pauline Moseley, Atla Morrell).

Founded in 2000, Bread & Water Theatre is committed to making the arts accessible and affordable to a broad-based audience and acting as a positive agent of change in its community. Under the artistic direction of J.R. Teeter, BWT develops theatre that speaks to our living, evolving, and dramatically changing world through new and rare works of drama, and aspires to be a major force in American theatre, providing audiences with challenging contemporary drama and innovative community outreach programs.

The Witnesses of Kitty Genovese will be presented at 243 Rosedale St. (New Life Presbyterian Church) beginning October 26th and running through November 4th, 2007. Performances are on Friday and Saturday at 8:00pm and Sunday at 2:00pm. Single tickets range from $5-$10 and may be purchased in person at the Bread & Water Theatre box office or through www.BreadandWaterTheatre.org starting October 3rd. For more information, call (585) 271-5523.

###
DIRECTOR AND CAST AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS AS THEIR SCHEDULES PERMIT
PHOTOS ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

The Witnesses of Kitty Genovese is funded by a grant from the Arts & Cultural Council for Greater Rochester, The New York State Council on the Arts, and the New York State Legislature.