STR8-N-UP PRODUCTIONS, Inc.

“We Market Hope…”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Merci and Grace: Real Stories of HIV Survivors

Washington, D.C. – September 15, 2010 -- STR8-N-UP Productions, Inc. announces an encore presentation of its new production Merci and Grace. The venue is THEARC Theater in the District of Columbia at 1901 Mississippi Ave. SE on October 10, 2010, at 4:00 p.m. Tickets are available for a $20 donation: contact Str8-N-Up Productions at 202-550-3863.

The play Merci and Grace is a stirring compilation of true stories about women living with HIV/AIDS. The purpose for this offering is to focus awareness on the challenges and courage of women coping with their HIV positive status. Many of the women are performing their own stories.

The women’s stories reveal their struggles to survive domestic abuse and substance abuse, their search for love and acceptance, their battles to overcome street life, the challenges of family and how they balance it all with the realities of living with… not dying from HIV-AIDS. The goal is for the audience and the community to become more sensitive toward others like themselves, more conscientious about knowing their own status and to become committed to maintaining and promoting lifestyles and behaviors that will slow the momentum of this epidemic.

Playwright, producer and director Kathy Creek-Vann is intimately acquainted with the challenges of these women through her service as a substance abuse counselor and Healthy Relationships Trainer.

Str8-N-Up Productions, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) therapeutic/entertainment production company which creates spiritual and therapeutic interventions through theatrical performances, concerts, movies, and educational videos with themes vitally relevant to the challenges of life and the pursuit of fulfillment.

As the women share their stories the audience will be treated to shocking honesty, heart-warming sincerity, humor and life-affirming courage. Merci and Grace is the triumphant result of these women’s willingness to share their experience and hope in the effort to make an impact on and effect change in our community.

NOTE TO THE EDITOR: Members of the media will be admitted at no cost with valid press credentials.

2627 Jasper Street SE, Suite 5

Washington, DC 20020

Telephone 202-550-3863