'What I Know Now' by Julia Motyka Will Premiere at Bay Street

The world premiere of “What I Know Now,” a one-woman play written by and starring Julia Motyka, will run Monday, July 15, to Saturday, July 20, at Bay Street Theater as a bonus show of the summer season.

In “What I Know Now,” life isn’t lived by the numbers. As she awaits the answer to one of life’s big questions, a woman explores the nature of faith and her own complicated family. The hit of the 2023 New Works Festival, this premiere from Bay Street favorite Julia Motyka wrestles with the seen and unseen forces that shape our lives.

Over her 20 year varied career, Motyka has become an internationally recognized writer, performer, producer and teacher. As a writer, she has a recent piece in DPA and “The Manifest Station” and was one of the winners of the Fish Anthology Prize for Short Memoir 2020. She’s received writing residencies at SPACE on Ryder Farm (where she is also now an advisory board member) and ARTErra, Portugal. As an actress, she’s appeared Off-Broadway in the World Premieres of “We Got Issues,” “Obama 44,” “The Last Starfighter: The Musical” and “The Golden Ladder.” Some other notable New York reading and workshop credits include Second Stage, Roundabout, Primary Stages, Ensemble Studio Theatre, ART. Regional: The Folger Theatre, The Alley, The Denver Theatre Center, The Pioneer Theatre, The Rubicon, TheatreWorks (Palo Alto), San Francisco, Colorado and Marin Shakespeare Festivals. She has won performance awards in San Francisco and Denver and has been nominated for awards in Los Angeles.

Motyka has voiced scores of audiobooks. As an educator, she’s built programming for educational institutions nationwide, with courses ranging from kindergarten through undergraduate level, and was the acting director of education for Bay Street Theater during its 2014-15 season. She served as co-executive producer on “ROOMS: A Rock Romance,” which was nominated in 2009 for three Outer Critics Circle Awards. She’s a member of The Actor’s Center and an associate member of The Pacific Resident Theatre Company.

Tickets range from $50 to $70 at baystreet.org or at Bay Street Theater’s box office on Long Wharf in Sag Harbor.