Photo Flash: First Look at LabRats Theater's RISE AND FALL OF A TEENAGE CYBERQUEEN

In the Rise and Fall of a Teenage Cyberqueen, a new play by Lindsay Joy Murphy, everyone in a small town is searching for something online. Love. Sex. Popularity. What they don't realize is the internet is a masquerade. Video cams play tricks with your eyes. Online chat rooms strip away anonymity. Self-deception is disguised as the truth. Inevitably, cyberspace exacts a price when people are no longer able to hide.

Challenging and thought-provoking, Rise and Fall of a Teenage Cyberqueen takes a provocative, unflinching look at the internet and the impact of the image we project online. Exploring the dangers of cyberspace, this compelling play unravels the intertwining lives of a family, exposing their lies and tracking their downward spiral while shedding a light of compassion and wisdom.

Rise and Fall of a Teenage Cyberqueen is produced by LabRats Theater Company and directed by Padraic Lillis. It is comprised of multidisciplinary artists committed to facilitating one another's artistic growth by sharing and developing original work through their weekly development series as well as their Experiment Sessions program, a twice year, full day free showing of our works in process.

Rise and Fall of a Teenage Cyberqueen opened officially on Thursday, February 28^th, 2013 at the Access Theater (380 Broadway at White Street). This is a strictly limited run through March 17^th, 2013.

Tickets for Rise and Fall of a Teenage Cyberqueen are available by visiting http://riseandfall.brownpapertickets.com, calling (800) 838-3006 and at the box office of the Access Theater (on the day of the performance). Ticket price is $18.00.

Rise and Fall of a Teenage Cyberqueen will play Wednesday through Saturday evenings at 8:00PM and Sundays at 7:00PM (there is no performance on Wednesday, February 27^th). Access Theater is located at 380 Broadway at White Street, NYC (2 blocks South of Canal) on the 4th Floor; N/R train or 1/6/A/C/E to Canal St.

CAST

Kathryn Wilson (Lyla)recently made her NYC debut in Abyssine, one of four plays included in Sparrowtree Theatre Company's Tales from the Tree: Four Original Fairy Tales. Since then she has assistant directed and acted in Roots&Branches inter-generational theater company's production of Let's Eat! She has been a student of theater for many years and currently attends NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study.

Jacob Perkins (Micah) New York: The Austerity of Hope (June Havoc & Fresh Fruit Festival), Regional: Shakespeare Theatre of DC: Two Gentlemen of Verona, Much Ado About Nothing, The Heir Apparent, Guthrie Theater: Macbeth, Reverb. U of M/Guthrie: Undiscovered Country, The Seagull, The Gamester, Henry VI Pts. 1-3 (Shakespeare's Globe), As You Like It, Book of Days. Training: University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater BFA Actor Training Program, South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities.

Daniela Mastropietro* (Darla), founding member of the LabRats, is an actress and writer currently studying at Columbia University for her MFA in acting. With the support of the LabRats, Daniela has written and produced her first play, Harry & Pep. She has appeared in many plays in NYC and regionally including: Time of Your Life (Storm Theatre), Valparaiso (HB Playwrights), Turandot: Rumble for the Ring (Bay Street Theater), Elevation Project (Vineyard Arts Project), The Three Sisters (CU Shapiro Theater) & most recently in the role of Annette in God of Carnage at The Blue Room Theater in Chico, California.

Perry Lewis (Jed) is a recent transplant from Colorado and thrilled to have the love, support and talent of the Labrats to welcome him to New York. While raising a family in the snowy village of Crested Butte he continued to pursue his artistic endeavors as a writer, producer, director, and actor with notable roles as Larry in Closer, Jaques in As You Like It, Howie in Rabbit Hole, Father Flynn in DOUBT and numerous others. He was the winner of the 2009 Rocky Mountain Theatre Association Acting award. He holds a B.A. in Acting from the University of Colorado, attended The National Theatre Conservatory summer session, LAByrinth Theatre Company's summer intensive, and is currently continuing his studies at the Maggie Flanagan Studio.

Jinn S. Kim a.k.a. Talym (Owen) is a member of LAByrinth Theater Company and Board member of Developing Artists Theater Company (a theater school/company for 8 to 19 year olds). On stage, he appeared in Queen Latina & The Power Posse Vs The Evils Of Society (by David Anzuelo), Race, Religion & Politics (by Stephen Adly Guirgis), Dreaming In Tongues (by cast), A Winter Party (by John Patrick Shanley), The Fairy Tale Project (by Webb Wilcoxen and directed by Jill DeArmon at The Public Theatre), Small Potatoes (by Bob Rogers) and most recently in disOriented (by Kyung Park for Theater C at Peter Jay Sharp Theater). He is revisiting the role of Yu in the production of Shoe Story (by Ben Snyder), this time at Intar in late March 2013. Film and TV credits include: Gravesend, Hurricane Streets, Oz, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Hate, Mattie Fresno & The Holoflux Universe, Undying and How To Make It In America.

Casey Greig* (Bill) is a recent transplant from Minneapolis. Off-Broadway: Pure Confidence (59E59) Regional: Fissures (Humana Festival/ATL), The Tempest (Actors Theater of Louisville), The Deception (La Jolla Playhouse/ Theater de la Jeune Lune), Figaro (Berkeley Rep/ Jeune Lune), Good Boys, Romeo and Juliet (Guthrie Theater) Minneapolis: Thom Pain (based on nothing), Pillowman, Beauty Queen of Leenane, Bash: Latterday Plays, Skylight, Molly's Delicious, Torch Song Trilogy, Iphigenia Film: Stuck Between Stations, NoNames.

CREATIVE TEAM

Padraic Lillis: (Director) has worked on Broadway, National Tours, Off-Broadway, Tony Award winning Regional Theaters. His Off-Broadway directing credits include: Scott Hudson's SWEET STORM with Alchemy Theatre in Association with LAByrinth Theater Company, L. Pontius' UMBRELLA for Alchemy Theatre, Michael Puzzo's THE DIRTY TALK for Spare Change Productions at Center Stage, New York,(Nominated for NY IT Outstanding Director), Matt Hoverman's IN TRANSIT, for the New York International Fringe Festival, (Awarded Best Play), A LINE IN THE SAND Adina Taubman's docudrama based on the school shootings at Columbine for the Midtown International Theater Festival, (Awarded Best Production). Padraic also directed the National Tour of SHE LOVES ME. Regionally he has directed UNDERNEATH THE LINTEL at Geva Theater, where his play LAKE EFFECT was also part of the Festival of New Works, and The McCarter Theater, Dallas Theater Center, Two Rivers Theater, Portland Stage Company, and W.H.A.T. Padraic is also a playwright. He is currently adapting the best selling novel STRANGERS ON A BRIDGE for Palermo Productions. His play LIGHTS UP ON THE FADE OUT was awarded top ten plays of 2011 in Los Angeles. His other plays, TWO THIRDS HOME was produced in New York by the Broken Watch Theater and is published by Dramatist Play Services, Inc.; and RONNIE'S MASKwas producedin Chicago at the Steppenwolf Performance Garage. He was awarded the Dayton Hudson Distinguished Artist Fellowship to be in residence at Carlton College. Padraic is an adjunct professor with the Department of Dramatic Writing at NYU, a company member of the LAByrinth Theater Company, an alumnus of The Drama League Director's Project, and a lifelong Yankee fan.

Lindsay Joy Murphy (Author) is a Brooklyn based playwright. She is the Co-Artistic Director of the LabRats Theater Company in New York City. Her play "The Unearthing" was a part of the newTACTics festival in the summer of 2012 and will be presented in the Ground Up New Works Festival. She frequently works with aMios Theater company for their monthly short play bonanza, SHOTZ , at the Theatre Under St. Marks. Her short pieces have been seen all over the country- from the Bowery Poetry Club to the Boston Playwright's Theater. Her full length play, "Severance" was produced by the Barracudas in the spring of 2010. Her collaborative piece "The Apartment: a Play with Four Sides" was featured in the 2011 NY International Fringe Festival. In 2001, Lindsay won the award for best short play at the Kennedy Center's American College Theater Festival for her piece "Life, Love and a 7-11." She is a crazy Red Sox fan.

LabRats Theater Company (Producers) are a theatre company made up of multidisciplinary artists committed to facilitating one another's artistic growth by sharing and developing original work through our weekly Tuesday development series as well as our Experiment Sessions program, a twice year, full day free showing of our works in process. We are dedicated to developing a personal relationship with the audience and community by breaking the boundary of the stage and viewer. We will listen to feedback, share food, display our work in stages of development and create a collaborative conversation with our community. Current Co-Artistic Directors are James Fauvell, Lindsay Joy Murphy and Ana Maria Jomolca. thelabratsnyc.com

For more information, visit www.thelabratsnyc.com.