The Church of Why Not
February 20 - March 15, 2015
West End Theater at the Church of St. Paul & St. Andrew
263 W. 86th Street, 2nd Floor
February-March 2015
The Church of Why Not
Reviewed in TheaterMania:
"As with many of Theatre 167's shows, you'll walk away with a fresh perspective and a renewed faith in the goodness of humanity."
—TheaterMania
Featured in West Side Spirit
The Church of Why Not
by Camilo Almonacid, Jenny Lyn Bader, and J.Stephen Brantley
Conceived and Directed by Ari Laura Kreith
Featuring Elizabeth Bell, J.Stephen Brantley, Brandi Bravo, Mariana Cardenas, Erin Cherry, Nick Fehlinger, Virginia Franks, Nathaniel Gotbaum, Daniel K. Isaac, Azhar Khan, Jon Krupp, Elodie Morss, Emma Orelove, Heather Lee Rogers, Derick Sherrier, Marshall Spann, Trevor St. John-Gilbert, Millie Torchetti, and Lisann Valentin
Assistant Director: Bo Frazier
Production Stage Manager: Abbey Bay
Lighting Design: John Salutz
Conceived and Directed by Ari Laura Kreith
Assistant Director: Bo Frazier
Production Stage Manager: Abbey Bay
Age advisory: Adult language is used in this production.
by Camilo Almonacid, Jenny Lyn Bader, and J.Stephen Brantley
Conceived and Directed by Ari Laura Kreith
Featuring Elizabeth Bell, J.Stephen Brantley, Brandi Bravo, Mariana Cardenas, Erin Cherry, Nick Fehlinger, Virginia Franks, Nathaniel Gotbaum, Daniel K. Isaac, Azhar Khan, Jon Krupp, Elodie Morss, Emma Orelove, Heather Lee Rogers, Derick Sherrier, Marshall Spann, Trevor St. John-Gilbert, Millie Torchetti, and Lisann Valentin
Assistant Director: Bo Frazier
Production Stage Manager: Abbey Bay
Lighting Design: John Salutz
Conceived and Directed by Ari Laura Kreith
Assistant Director: Bo Frazier
Production Stage Manager: Abbey Bay
Age advisory: Adult language is used in this production.

The Church of Why Not is a new play exploring a remarkable institution on the Upper West Side, The Church of St. Paul & St. Andrew, where Methodists, Ethiopian Evangelicals, Conservative Jews, and LGBT Christian Latinos share space with recovery programs, tutoring, activist organizations, a homeless shelter, and a youth band, Pilates classes and a food pantry that feeds thousands.
Created through Theatre 167’s unique deeply collaborative system of collective authorship, the play is staged the very place that inspired it. Featuring an ensemble cast of 19 performers, The Church of Why Not tells the stories of believers and skeptics, the well-heeled and the homeless, activists and addicts. Some need food, some crave connection, and others need help — with math, guitar chords, a Bar Mitzvah. At times funny, at times heartbreaking, The Church of Why Not celebrates both our spiritual diversity and our common humanity.

Created through Theatre 167's unique deeply collaborative system of collective authorship, the play is staged in the very place that inspired it. Featuring an ensemble cast of 19 performers, The Church of Why Not tells the stories of believers and skeptics, the well-heeled and the homeless, activists and addicts. Some need food, some crave connection, and others need help -- with taxes, guitar chords, a Bar Mitzvah. At times funny, at times heartbreaking, The Church of Why Not celebrates both our spiritual diversity and our common humanity.