The Hearth, a new theatre company dedicated to telling the stories of women and supporting the work of female-identifying artists, is set to stage its inaugural production Off-Broadway: the New York premiere of Beth Hyland’s For Annie. The play, which debuted in Chicago, weaves Greek chorus, pop music, dance, and “a lot of glitter“ to explore grief, guilt, and what it means to be a woman.

In For Annie, a young woman is murdered in the middle of her senior year. In the wake of her shocking death, her sisters of the Beta Tau Alpha sorority at SUNY Onondaga are memorializing her in the best way they know how: They're putting on a play.

Directed by Emma Miller at the Lucid Body House, performances are scheduled to run December 9-January 15, 2017. The cast will feature Bartley Booz, Liz Colwell, Shelby Green, Julia Greer, Sammi Katz, Alex Najarian, Andrea Negrete, Aliza Sotsky, Leila Teitelman, Jonah Weinstein, and Laura Winters.

The staging will feature costume design by Dara Affholter, lighting design by Amy Elliot, set design by Emmie Finckel, choreography by Lucia Knell, and sound design by Lauren Zoppo. The production stage manager will be Rachel Shaw with assistant stage manager Mia Carey.

The Hearth is a New York-based theatre company whose primary goal is to tell the stories of women. “We nurture and celebrate female-identifying artists (playwrights, directors, actors, and designers) and develop plays that represent the complex and vast spectrum of womanhood,“ states an online mission statement. “The Hearth produces plays that explore female characters who pulse with emotional, intellectual, and psychological complexity. We seek to challenge stereotypes, advance and complicate the conversation about feminism, and expand perceptions of what it means to be a woman.“

The Lucid Body House is located at 230 Lexington Avenue, New York. Tickets, priced from $15, are available online at TheHearthTheater.com or by calling (929) 269-4784.