HERE Arts Center Sublet Series Proudly Presents the World Premiere of TRANSGRESSION

Written by TERRY CURTIS FOX

Directed by AVRA FOX-LERNER

LIMITED ENGAGEMENT

JULY 10 – AUGUST 2, 2025 AT HERE MAINSTAGE THEATER

OPENING NIGHT IS FRIDAY, JULY 18 AT 8:30 P.M.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW AT HERE.ORG

New York, NY – June 26, 2025: HERE Arts Center’s Sublet Series presents the world premiere production of TRANSGRESSION, a bold new drama by acclaimed playwright and screenwriter Terry Curtis Fox, directed by filmmaker Avra Fox‑Lerner. Previews begin Thursday, July 10 at 8:30 PM, with the official opening on Friday, July 18 at 8:30 PM. Performances run through Saturday, August 2, 2025, at HERE Mainstage Theater (145 Sixth Avenue, NYC). Tickets are $10-$50 and available at https://here.org/shows/transgression/.

After her husband dies in 2010, a great photographer’s widow goes through his studio in preparation for a major bequest/retrospective of his work. While doing so, she comes across a portfolio she has never seen – containing what she and the museum think may be the best work he ever did. These photos, taken in 1970, also happen to be nudes of an underaged woman that are very sexual. When the subject, now grown, becomes aware of them, she demands that they be destroyed. Forced to wrestle with the question of what you do with art that is both important and itself a violation, the widow must reconsider both her life and marriage.

“This play poses a real (and deeply in the zeitgeist) dilemma for which there is no simple answer and yet one in which different people are quite convinced that they have the only answer,” says playwright Fox. “It's a play that makes couples argue. It's a play of deep character. It does not let the audience off the hook or provide easy answers.”

"It's been a challenge and a joy to work with my father on this piece while coming home to my high school aged daughter in the evenings,” remarks director Fox-Lerner. “I am so grateful for the opportunity to anchor these two perspectives in this play."

CONTENT ADVISORY: TRANSGRESSION contains themes of sexual exploitation, trauma, and the moral complexities of art-making. Viewer discretion is advised. ​ 

The production stars Susan Bennett* as Adult Robin/Robin’s Mom,Yuval Boim* as Martin, Jane Ives* as Gina, James Jelkin* as Norman, and ​ Ivy Rose* as Young Robin.

Co-produced by Lisa M. Konoplisky, the production features scenic design by Kate Rance, costume design by Annie Simon, and lighting design by Lauren Parrish. Ander Agudo is the sound designer, SJ Reynolds is the props designer, Judi Lewis Ockler is the intimacy director and Huai Huang is the stage manager with Jacob Russell* assisting. Casting by Jason Styres. Publicity by Katie Rosin/Kampfire. *Performing courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association.

Tickets are $10 (10 for $10 program), $25 (standard), $50 (pay‑it‑forward), and $100 (true‑cost) available at https://here.org/shows/transgression/. Tickets may also be purchased in-person at the theater’s box office a half hour prior to the performance.

Running Time: 120 minutes (with intermission)

Website: https://here.org/shows/transgression/

Media Kit with Photos

BIOGRAPHIES

TERRY CURTIS FOX (Playwright), is a Brooklyn-based playwright, screenwriter, and educator whose work spans theater, film, and television. He served two terms as Chair of the Dramatic Writing Department at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, where he continues to teach as an Arts Professor.

Fox’s first play, Cops, was commissioned by Chicago’s Organic Theater and later staged by New York’s Performance Group, featuring artists like Willem Dafoe and Spalding Gray. His play Justice was produced at Playwrights Horizons, and his recent work, Transgression, received a reading at New York Stage and Film before its current Off-Broadway debut. Other stage credits include The Future (Monday Reading Series at New York Theatre Workshop) and The Pornographer’s Daughter.

In television, he began as a story editor on Hill Street Blues and went on to write and produce for series including Stargate SG-1, The Marshal, Sweet Justice, and Diagnosis Murder. He was showrunner for Showtime’s The Hunger and has written for numerous other network dramas. His film work includes Perfect Witness (HBO) and Fortress (Miramax), both co-written and featuring prominent collaborators like Stuart Gordon and Brian Dennehy.

Fox is also a former theater critic for The Village Voice and Chicago Reader, with essays and criticism appearing in Film Comment, New York Magazine, and other publications. He served nine years on the Board of Directors of the Writers Guild of America, West, and remains an active voice in both creative and academic circles.

AVRA FOX-LERNER (Director), is a writer/director living in Brooklyn NY. Avra became a cinefile at an early age but decided not to pursue film studies. Instead she learned filmmaking as a lighting technician where she learned to problem solve on her feet, how to communicate with crew both above and below the line and honed her craft as a genre creator with a female focus. She is an alum of the New York Stage and Film Screenwriting Lab and the IRIS Writers Lab. She co-wrote Bloodline with Henry Jacobson for Blumhouse Pictures. She has written and directed four short films - The Lovers, Such A Shitty Time, Research and most recently Eat Your Heart Out, a silent 16mm horror tone poem. Transgression is Avra’s theatrical directorial debut, though her love of and involvement in theater began when she was 3 years old.

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