SEPH
A new play by Tori Keenan-Zelt
October 5-8, 2017 at the American Theatre of Actors
Do you want to grow things or kill things? As a teenage goddess, Seph lives in her family's in-between. With her mom, she makes grass grow and flowers bloom. With her dad, she shoots things and poses for pictures with them. But when she finds her first real friend and discovers that her broken home might just be breaking the world itself, she must embrace her own power to bridge the breach between life and death. From cozy backseats to tiny tree forts, across rivers, through the underworld and back again, SEPH is an adventure into the heart of what happens when we see the world – and ourselves – through someone else's eyes for the very first time.
SEPH, a new play by Tori Keenan-Zelt is directed by Jessika Malone and features original music by Nashville musician Anna Haas and puppet design by Mindy Leanse. It stars DeAnne Stewart (STARWATER), Ava Eisenson (the giants, After Laughter), Paul Cooper (Yale School of Drama), Lilli Stein (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Blacklist, VEEP). Performances run from October 5-8 at the American Theatre of Actors – John Callum Theatre (314 W 54th St, NYC). Tickets are $18 and can be purchased at http://seph.bpt.me/.
To learn more about or support the show, visit https://www.sephtheplay.com/ and be sure to watch the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uDvSg1Gm_c&feature=youtu.be
SEPH
Playwright: Tori Keenan-Zelt
Director: Jessika Malone
Music Director: Anna Haas
Dramaturg: Nahuel Telleria
Set Design: Jean Kim
Lighting Design: Elli Green
Projection Design: Michael Redman
Puppet Design: Mindy Leanse
Stage Manager: Krystle Henninger*
Assistant Stage Manager: Margaret Gleberman
Producer: Steven Koernig
CAST
Seph: DeAnne Stewart*
Demeter: Ava Eisenson*
Heather: Lilli Stein*
Hades: Paul Cooper*
Puppetry.: Mindy Leanse
*participating courtesy of Actor's Equity Association.
PERFORMANCES
Thu, Oct 5 at 8pm
Fri, Oct 6 at 8pm
Sat, Oct 7 at 2pm
Sat, Oct 7 at 8pm
Sun, Oct 8 at 2pm
Tori Keenan-Zelt writes curiosity-chasing plays that sniff out in-between spaces in big theatre to change the world. Many of them decide to be comedies. Her current and recent work includes [nbd], SEPH, Air Space (Kilroys 5 Most Recommended Plays, Ingram New Works Lab, Princess Grace Finalist), Egypt Play, or The Misses Blake on a Holiday Jihad (InterAct 20/20 Finalist), Truth Dare... (Best Ensemble Pittsburgh Fringe, Kilroys Long List, Princess Grace Finalist), Episode #121: Catfight! (Yale Cabaret), and others. She has developed/presented work around the country, including at The Lark, The O’Neill, Yale Cabaret, Nashville Rep, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, NMSU/High Desert, Fresh Ground Pepper, #serials@theflea, Pittsburgh Fringe, The Actors' Studio Playwrights/Directors Unit, The Drama Book Shop, Cold Basement, and beside unsuspecting Chipotle patrons. Recently, she has been an Ingram New Works Lab Playwright, a Playwrights’ Center Core Apprentice, a Lark Dramaturgy Fellow, and has written for Colonial Williamsburg’s PBS education series. She has been named an Emmy Nominee, Kilroys Lister, Jerome Finalist, Princess Grace Finalist, Playwrights of New York Nominee, and some other things. She is a member of the Ensemble Studio Theatre Playwrights Unit, Fresh Ground Pepper PlayGround PlayGroup, Bastard Playground @ The Drama League, Mission to (dit)Mars Propulsion Lab, The Actors' Studio Playwrights/Directors Unit & the Dramatists Guild. "Tori Keenan-Zelt...is the real deal." - Broadway World Nashville www.torik-z.com
Jessika Malone is a maker of theatre and many forms of well-meaning mischief hailing from her hometown of Nashville, TN. She is the Associate Artistic Director of the Actors Bridge Ensemble and the Co-Founder and Program Director of the Sideshow Fringe Festival [Best Alternative Theatre, Nashville Scene]. She has been named a “serious theatrical talent” by The Nashville Scene and productions under her direction have been hailed as “fascinating and mesmerizing” (Broadway World) and “guaranteed to keep you talking long after the lights come up” (The Tennessean) as well as “guaranteed to provide an experience that will last way beyond the current season. Maybe well on into the century” (The Nashville Scene). She directs, devises, and generally produces the kind of creative happenings that help us all feel a little less lonesome. Often, there are puppets and there is almost always music. Her recent directing projects include the Nashville premieres of Failure: A Love Story by Philip Dawkins [Broadway World Nashville Best Director & Outstanding Ensemble], The Nether by Jennifer Haley [Nashville Scene's Critic's Pick], Gnit by Will Eno [Vanderbilt University Theatre], Hearts Like Fists by Adam Szymkowicz, She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen [in collaboration Nashville Children's Theatre], Blackbird by David Harrower, and Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl [Nashville Scene Best Director]. Her approach to creation embraces emotional authenticity and the power of story to cultivate meaningful community in unexpected spaces and forgotten places. She has produced classic and original works in parks and prisons, shopping malls, and detention centers. She has been named as one of First Night’s “Unsung Heroes of Nashville Theatre” and an emerging leader to watch by the Nashville Scene for introducing “innovative” and “progressive new ideas to Music City’s theatrical culture.” She produced and directed the Nashville workshop of SEPH at Actors Bridge Ensemble in May of 2017 and is thrilled to see this extraordinary play move from Music City to the Big Apple and beyond...
Anna Haas, with red-hot moxie to match her crimson tresses, is the exemplar triple threat whose dramatic appeal scintillates on her records and especially through her live performances. Her upcoming EP, PASSION/POISON was recorded in Shreveport, Louisiana at Blade Studios with world renowned producer and drummer, Brady Blade (Dave Matthews, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Jewel, Buddy Miller) and Grammy nominated engineer Chris Bell (Erykah Badu, Destiny’s Child , U2, The Eagles). Haas moves into new territory, melding organic and electronic sounds with her signature powerhouse voice. Her sound is dynamic, with intelligent lyrics that resonate through expressive vocals and complex arrangements. Haas has reached a level of vocal and musical maturity with this sophomore release that is hard pressed to find among the up-and-coming. From orchestral to pop to blues and heart wrenching ballads, Haas’ influences span decades and genres, creating threads that tie together to make her an artist you won’t be able to forget. When not in the studio, Haas has been taking the world by storm, touring regularly and obtaining a loyal following across the country; Her roots in both Nashville and New York are apparent in her eclectic style, “A Thousand Lifetimes” and “Eyes Open” with a Nashville influence, and tracks like “Woman of the Wild” and “Game Over” resounding of New York. Anna's full band live show, complete with horns and fiddle, is nothing short of mesmerizing, drenched with intensity and soul. She leads her band with grace and authority, commanding the stage like Janis Joplin or Freddie Mercury, using her voice, her eyes and her body to tell her stories. Simply put, she puts on a show. No Country for New Nashville says, “Anna’s powerful onstage presence and vocal prowess is undeniable, her energy is contagious." Haas was winner of the Deli Magazine’s 2012 Best Emerging Artist of Nashville Year End Reader’s Poll and sizzled with the release of her debut album, Crazy Is, which critics called “remarkable,” and “timeless and fascinating.” http://annahaas.com/
DeAnne Stewart (Seph) received her BFA in Musical Theatre from Ithaca College. From childhood her passion for music was always evident. From childhood DeAnne has always enjoyed many genres of music and to date has performed traditional and contemporary musical theatre, gospel, r&b, country, rock, and jazz. Her favorite past productions include Legally Blonde (Paulette Bonafonte), Hair (Dionne) and Rent (Maureen Johnson). She was a featured soloist in the Ithaca Voices' "Tribute to Broadway" concert and performed at the famed George Eastman Theatre with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Pops under the direction of Jeff Tyzik. She has won various vocal competitions and been a part of projects for many directors and composers, including two-time Tony Award Nominee and Emmy Winner Andre De Sheilds and former Hollywood producer and songwriter, Steve Gordon. Her first year in NYC was a wild ride from taking 1st Runner-Up in the infamous "Stonewall Sensation" competition to making her debut at the legendary 54 Below, losing her mother to cancer, and making her Off-Broadway debut in Mighty Real: A Fabulous Sylvester Musical! She also performed in the Midtown International Theatre Festival as Lt. Uvula in Warp Speed: A Sci Fi Parody Musical! (Best Actress in a Musical). Since then DeAnne has performed regionally with Mighty Real and internationally with Royal Caribbean. In the last two years she has managed to visit over 27 countries while performing abroad! www.deannestewart.net
Ava Eisenson (Demeter) is a NYC based actor. Recent credits include: the giants by Matthew Jellison, dir. Isaac Klein and Old Love New Love by Laura Brienza, dir. Nancy Robillard. Ava has had the privilege of working on a wide range of projects with: The Lark, SPACE on Ryder Farm, The Public, Attic Theatre Company, Loft 227, Nonsense NYC, The Wild Project, Luna Stage, Sightline Theatre, Atlantic Theatre, Wide-Eyed Productions, Superhero Clubhouse, Pipeline Theatre Company, In The Water Theatre, Dixon Place, St. Anne's, A.R.T., Classic Stage Company, Marvell Repertory, EST, Ars Nova, the AMC Network and The New Ohio. Ava holds her BFA from Boston University. www.avaeisenson.com.
Paul Cooper (Hades) is a recent graduate of the Yale School of Drama. His credits at Yale include (Macbeth, Knives in Hens, The Merchant of Venice, King John, Coriolanus, Riverbank: A Noh Play for Northerly Americans, Paradise Lost, and In Arabia We'd All be Kings). He has also appeared at the Guthrie (Concrete Orange), the Berkshire Theatre Festival in Stockbridge, MA (Design for Living), in his hometown of St. Louis (Good, King Lear, Julius Caesar, The Labute New Theatre Festival: Blood Brothers) and at Brown University (Reckless, The Play About the Baby, Big Love, Family Voices, The Pleasure Dome). www.paulstillmancooper.com
Lilli Stein (Heather) is an actress and otherwise artist from New Hampshire. She's very grateful for the theatrical work she gets to do on the regular at Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Lark, and The Actors Studio. Apart from SEPH, she is currently workshopping Brian O'Neill's Grass Island which will have a staged reading as part of the Emerging Artists Theatre's New Works Series. You can also “catch” her on NBC's The Blacklist, HBO's VEEP, and bopping throughout the upcoming 1950's-era Amazon series The Marvelous Mrs Maisel which will “drop” in December. Oh, and she's also in this badass little film called The Privates which can easily be seen on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/227064694 and a sweetass big film called WEIGHT which ain't out yet. www.lillistein.com
Mindy Leanse (Puppet Design) attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and has been performing as an actor and puppeteer all over the country and parts of Europe. Credits include: Albuquerque (Ash Tree@ Duke City Repertory),vPrague, Amsterdam (Maniacal Works), Paducah, KY; Detroit, MI and Madison, WI (Dinosaur Train Live) amongst other fantastic places. Most recently, Mindy has been the understudy, ASM and puppet wrangler for the Off-Broadway production of The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show. She is a recipient of the 2012 Eugene O'Neill Puppet Pandemic Scholarship and is a three-year participant at the National Puppetry Conference in Connecticut (under Hua Hua Zhang and Martin P. Robinson.) Other awards include the "Share the Spotlight" scholarship for performance arts from the University of Texas, El Paso. www.mindyleanse.com
About American Theatre of Actors, ATA
The American Theatre of Actors was founded in 1976 by James Jennings, who continues as its President and Artistic Director. It is a repertory theatre company consisting of 50 actors, 20 playwrights and 10 directors. Its purpose is to promote the development of new playwrights, directors and actors and provide them a creative atmosphere in which to work without the pressures of commercial theatre. The plays are dramas and comedies dealing with the social and ethical problems of contemporary society. Over 800 new works have been presented and more than 8000 actors have worked at ATA, including Dennis Quaid, Bruce Willis, Danny Aiello, Dan Lauria, Chazz Palminteri, Kevin O'Connor, Kevin Spacey, William Fichtner and Edie Falco. If you are interested in helping support the further growth of ATA, please visit http://www.americantheatreofactors.com/.
Ajax tells the story of the great Greek general during the Trojan War, who, deprived of the recognition due to him, goes insane and commits suicide.
Prior to the beginning of the play, Ajax is enraged because his cousin Achilles' armor was awarded to Odysseus, rather than to him. He vows to kill the Greek leaders who disgraced him. Before he can enact his extraordinary revenge, though, he is tricked by the goddess Athena into believing that the sheep and cattle that were taken by the Achaeans as spoil are the Greek leaders. He slaughters some of them, and takes the others back to his home to torture, including a ram which he believes to be his main rival, Odysseus.
Ajax realizes what he has done and is in agony over his actions. Ajax’s pain is not because of his wish to kill Agamemnon and Odysseus. He is extremely upset that Athena fooled him and is sure that the other Greek warriors are laughing at him. Ajax contemplates ending his life due to his shame. His concubine, Tecmessa, pleads for him not to leave her and her child unprotected. Ajax then gives his son, Eurysakes, his shield. Ajax leaves the house saying that he is going out to purify himself and bury the sword given to him by Hector. Teucer, Ajax’s brother, arrives in the Greek camp to taunting from his fellow soldiers. Kalchas warns that Ajax should not be allowed to leave his tent until the end of the day or he will die. Teucer sends a messenger to Ajax’s campsite with word of Kalchas’ prophecy. Tecmessa and soldiers try to track him down, but are too late. Ajax had indeed buried the sword, but has left the blade sticking out of the ground and has impaled himself upon it.
Sophocles lets us hear the speech Ajax gives immediately before his suicide (which, unlike in most Greek tragedies, where action and death are reported, is called for to take place onstage), in which he calls for vengeance against the sons of Atreus (Menelaus and Agamemnon) and the whole Greek army. Ajax also wishes for the first to find his body to be Teucer, so that he is not found by an enemy and his body left without a proper burial. Tecmessa is the first to discover Ajax impaled on his sword, with Teucer arriving shortly after. He orders that Eurysakes be brought to him so that he will be safe from Ajax’s foes. Menelaus appears on the scene and orders the body not to be moved.
The last part of the play revolves around the dispute over what to do with Ajax's body. Ajax's half brother Teucer intends on burying him despite the demands of Menelaus and Agamemnon that the corpse is not to be buried. Odysseus, although previously Ajax's enemy, steps in and persuades them to allow Ajax a proper funeral by pointing out that even one's enemies deserve respect in death, if they were noble. The play ends with Teucer making arrangements for the burial (which is to take place without Odysseus, out of respect for Ajax).
THE BLACK BOOK, a mystery thriller that challenges you to “read between the minds,†will have its Off-Broadway premiere beginning Saturday, September 5th and open Sunday, September 13th at the American Theatre of Actors (314 W 54th St). The play is written and directed by Phil Blechman. Previews will run September 5th through September 12th and the show will play a limited engagement through November 22. Tickets are $35 and are available at by visiting www.theblackbook.nyc.THE BLACK BOOK tells the story of a college student, who disguises his suicide note in a poem and leaves it in his poetry professor's classroom. The apprehensive professor, is compelled to delve into his student’s past and unravel the clues within his poem in attempt to save him. THE BLACK BOOK propels you through a psychological chess game; challenging you to always stay one move ahead.
Lady lives a simple life. She eats refined sugar, walks her lonely halls, and kills young girls. But her lifestyle is crumbling now that the public has uncovered what’s really going on inside her castle walls. Loosely based on the end days of Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who allegedly killed over 600 young girls making her the worst serial killer in recorded history, LADY examines the lengths we’ll go to for beauty and power. The cast will feature Sasha Diamond*(The Wong Kids and the Secret of the Space Chupacabra Go! with Ma-Yi Theatre Company), Eli Gelb* (The Thickness of Skin at The Barrow Group), and Lola Kelly (Saint Mel at the Hollywood Fringe Festival) with Lighting Design by Oona Curley (2015 Princess Grace Award nominee), Set Design by Kimie Nishikawa (Before You Get Too Far Afield at JACK), Sound Design by Kevin Novinsky (The Witches with New Collectives), Costume Design by Spencer Olson, and Art Direction by Hayes Thornton. *Actor appears courtesy of the Actors’ Equity Association
The 2015 Araca Project (Sofya Weitz, Will Arbery, and Katie Cochran, Producers) will present the World Premiere of Sofya Weitz’s provocative horror drama, LADY. The production will be directed by Will Arbery (We Were Nothing!) and play for a limited engagement at the American Theatre of Actors (314 West 54th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues), October 28-November 1. Performances will be Wednesday through Saturday at 8pm, and Saturday and Sunday at 2pm. Tickets ($18; $15 students) are available online at www.artful.ly/lady. The show runs approximately 75 minutes, with no intermission.
"Mozart and Salieri," conceived the year after Salieri's death in 1836, dramatizes the theory that the older composer poisoned Mozart out of jealousy.
"The Stone Guest" is Pushkin's re-telling of the plot of Mozart's Don Giovanni, with a number of changes.
Following a sold out first run, Out of My Comfort Zone, a new rock musical about self-identity, gender, love, expectations, stereotypes, cyber-bullying, and friendship, is back by popular demand for a limited two-week engagement.
Middle school, New York City. Everyone’s got a secret. Josh and Rachel have been best friends since second grade, but their relationship is about to change. The Viper has an online blog dedicated to exposing people’s innermost secrets and he’s just found out the whopper of them all. Performed by a cast of 15 young teens, Out of My Comfort Zone is about self-identity, gender, love, expectations, stereotypes, cyber-bullying, and friendship. It’s more uncomfortable to be something you’re not than to be who you are. Out of My Comfort Zone pokes holes in school stereotypes and suggests that finding your comfort zone sometimes comes at a price.
“We were driven to write Out of My Comfort Zone as a way of making a strong statement against bullying, specifically bullying that targets any child or teen who may be perceived as gay or identify as LGBTQ,” states Ivy Vale, writer and co-director. “There is a clear need for reality-based material for young teens who want to see shows that reflect their own lives and deliver characters they can relate to. The songs, influenced by everything from The Who’s “Tommy” to ‘60’s girl groups to The Beastie Boys, really resonate with our 12-14 year old cast.”
Artistic Director Mimi Stuart and Ivy Vale direct two casts of 15, including 22 performers (some double-cast), including Will Ehren, Violet Vale, Savannah Leroy, Michael Flynn, Reuben Levine, Elliot Lipman,Kailie Strutin, Lily Santangelo, Zoey Mae Dillon-Levine, Chloe Hecter, Wiley Kimelman, Kiara Coleman, Irena Kogarova, Jaclyn Olsen, Ness Krell, Michael Ning, Jerrell Jones, Alana Deller, Kirah Murray, Helena Milburn, Ariana Rosario and Ashley Salazar.
Six characters cross paths in a Park. Are they living out the same situation over and over? Will they always talk this way?Claude is sweeping the leaves; James, is chasing his mother; Sarah is chasing James; and Bill is stalking Sarah... All the while a supernatural MAN is passing from past to present and offering new life choices. Will anyone break their cycle?
15 Young Teens Perform in New Rock Musical with Anti-Bullying & LGBTQ Themes.
Middle school, New York City. Everyone’s got a secret. Josh and Rachel have been best friends since second grade, but their relationship is about to change. The Viper has an online blog dedicated to exposing people’s innermost secrets and he’s just found out the whopper of them all. Performed by a cast of 15 young teens, Out of My Comfort Zone is about self-identity, gender, love, expectations, stereotypes, cyber-bullying, and friendship. It’s more uncomfortable to be something you’re not than to be who you are. Out of My Comfort Zone pokes holes in school stereotypes and suggests that finding your comfort zone sometimes comes at a price.
“We were driven to write Out of My Comfort Zone as a way of making a strong statement against bullying, specifically bullying that targets any child or teen who may be perceived as gay or identify as LGBTQ,” states Ivy Vale, writer and co-director. “There is a clear need for reality-based material for young teens who want to see shows that reflect their own lives and deliver characters they can relate to. The songs, influenced by everything from The Who’s “Tommy” to ‘60’s girl groups to The Beastie Boys, really resonate with our 12-14 year old cast.”
Inspired by the playwrights own personal experiences while walking the full length of the Appalachian Trail, North To Maine is the first play ever written about this treasure of the American landscape and the thru-hikers who attempt to walk every one of its estimated 2,180 miles within a single season. The story follows five such thru-hikers as they travel north. Adam, a recent college graduate searching for purpose is joined by Kevin, a sagely former marine and Vietnam veteran; “Creature Man,” a young and judgmental entrepreneur who has lost his business (and maybe some of his mind); “Juice-Box,” a young schoolteacher who is one of the few women on the trail; and “Rock-Stabber,” a former marine/gear tester/jazz singer who has the unfortunate (and annoying) habit of constantly singing, especially late into the evenings when everyone else is trying to go to sleep. Note: North To Maine contains brief nudity.
Eric Parness directs a cast of five including Samantha Rivers Cole, Tim Dowd, Michael Raymond Fox, Adam La Faci, and Winston Shaw.
About the Company: American Theatre of Actors
The American Theatre of Actors was founded in 1976 by James Jennings, who continues as its President and Artistic Director. It is a repertory theatre company consisting of 50 actors, 20 playwrights and 10 directors. Its purpose is to promote the development of new playwrights, directors and actors and provide them a creative atmosphere in which to work without the pressures of commerical theatre. The plays are dramas and comedies dealing with the social and ethical problems of contemporary society. Over 800 new works have been presented and more than 8000 actors have worked at ATA, including Dennis Quaid, Bruce Willis, Danny Aiello, Dan Lauria, Chazz Palminteri, Kevin O'Connor, Kevin Spacey, William Fichtner and Edie Falco.
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Nat King Cole, the pianist and singer, broke color lines pushing through barriers of injustice. A determined, yet humble and truly gifted individual, Nat had a unique drive and passion for stardom that arose directly from his need to please people to the nth degree. Always catering to the needs of an ever-demanding audience, Nat publicly strove to become the world's most beloved entertainer. Behind closed doors, Nat's life was vastly different from what he showed to the public. Privately, Nat battled mainstream prejudice, addiction and heartache. Join Verlon Brown, as he brings us back to 1965, allowing audiences to have a sneak peek into the inner life of an iconic, leading jazz performer.
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A New York theatre reviewer spends his life savings in order to give a former actress, now porn star, the greatest gift anyone could ever give her: A beautiful role on Broadway...
www.thestarbroadway.com
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CB is in High School when his dog dies. He soon begins to question the existence of an afterlife. He finds solace in an unlikely friendship that will push teen angst to its very limits. Drug use, bullying, sexual identity, rebellion, and teen violence all collide to an ending that is both haunting and hopeful. Old Fashioned Boy Productions is proud to present: Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead.
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From Love Creek Productions, in its 27th year of Off-Off Broadway theatre, and producer of the acclaimed January 2012 production of Williams' "Period of Adjustment."
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Featuring RJ Batlle, Daniel Hainsworth, Phoebe Halkowich, John Paul Harkins and Sarah e. Jacobs
Directed by Richard Hymes-Esposito
Set Design by Robert Lee Simmons
Lighting and Sound Design by Roy T. Chang
Stage Manager Charles C. Casano
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This show will be presented to those in the local community in addition to school groups. We are committed to creating a dialogue amongst teenagers to address how they can show the utmost compassion to their classmates and what hatred, ridicule, and mob mentality can do. In addition, a portion of the box office proceeds will be benefitting the Trevor Project: an organization for preventing teen suicide amongst LGBT youth.
Lesbian/Gay/Bi/Trans Issues"
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Unable to confess her true identity, as a woman, disguised as a man, she struggles to fend off Olivia’s advances while falling in love herself with Orsino. The play is full of zany, impossible characters, each with an agenda of their own. Sebastian, her brother, meanwhile roams the land, followed by Antonio and then, when they finally re-unite at the end of the story, the twins each have found true love and happiness.
Our play is being presented completely in ORIGINAL PRONUNCIATION, which is the way Shakespeare’s actors spoke on stage in the 1600‘s. This seldom heard pronunciation is wonderfully alive and brings a refreshing sparkle to the rhymes and puns so important to the meaning of Shakespeare’s wonderful story.
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"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark"
Prompted by the spirit of the recently deceased King of Denmark, Prince Hamlet begins a deadly game of cat and mouse to expose his uncle and current ruler, Claudius, as the King's killer. 
Tempted by the prophecies of three mysterious witches, Macbeth’s ambition to be King of Scotland leads him into a nightmarish world of evil, deceit, and murder. Monstrous actions run rampant as he and Lady Macbeth lose themselves to unstoppable drives of savagery and political atrocity.
Produced and Directed by Tony White
Assistant Directed by Ryan Victor Pierce
Stage Managed by Sharon Murphy
Design by David Nash
Featuring: Ian Richard Barnes, Jacqueline Chambers, Jennifer Desmarais, Lawrence Frank, John Freeman, Laura Grayson, Will Harmon, Yan Kirichenko, Sam Lopresti, Ashley Marinaccio, David Nash, Bradley J Sumner, Tony Travostino, Dylan Digel
To make reservations by telephone call: (646) 430-8978 ex. 101
Odysseus dreams of the dawn of a new era, in which mortals have control over their own destinies. But when the evil lord Poseidon turns Odysseus’ dream into a nightmare, it will take every last ounce of a hero’s strength, courage, and wisdom to restore order to Ithaca. Based on the classic poem by Homer, Odyssey is a thrilling musical adventure that follows Odysseus’ epic journey home after the Trojan War. Join Odysseus as he encounters the lotus-eaters, outwits the Cyclops, resists the Sirens and battles the gods in a quest to return home to his wife and son. With an exciting original score and dazzling visual design, including an array of aerialists, this breakthrough production presents “the best story ever written” as it has never been told before.
“Pluck the Day”, a new searing comedy by Steven Walters, is set on a sun-drenched, emotionally challenged parcel of the West Texas landscape. Here, three friends are held captive by apathy, fear, and addiction awaiting a savior. Enter April.
This production is an official selection of the Araca Group's Inaugural Araca Project.
“Pluck the Day” is directed by Michael O’Donnell and stars Chris Dall’au, Jake Keefe, Lucy Sheftall, & Danny Skinner. The design team includes Sean McIntosh, Mo Geiger, and Evan Gannon. The running time for the show is 85 minutes with no intermission.
Inspired by the 1934 Taxi Strike, this powerfully moving classic has become one of the most important plays of the modern American theater. Set in the Depression era and dealing with the cynical exploitation of the working classes, Lefty Costello leads a group of disgruntled cabbies to fight for the rights they deserve. WAITING FOR LEFTY is every bit as significant now as it was 75 years ago as new generations are confronted with the same fears and the same problems--and yet are still waiting on the world to change.
Featuring Margret Avery, David Arthur Bachrach*, Thomas Beaudoin, Steven Beckingham*, Christoper Bischoff, Jon Dalin, John Gazzale, John Greenleaf*, Joshua Everett Johnson, Norah Elise Johnson, Ned Lynch, Tyler Moss*, Dothan Negrin, Adam Reich*, Anna Marie Sell*, Bonnie Singer, Nick Velkov*, Brandon Walker*, Jamie Watson*, and Joseph Mancuso as LEFTY COSTELLO.
*Member, AEA
“SPEND A NIGHT IN JAIL”
WITH A DOUBLE BILL INCLUDING
HELLO OUT THERE
by William Saroyan, directed by Robert Haufrecht
and
DEATHWATCH
by Jean Genet, directed by Richard Hymes-Esposito
Beginning May 1; Opening on May 5
at American Theatre for Actors
New York: Beginning May 1, 2010 Genet and Saroyan will be on display in a double-bill at the American Theatre for Actors (314 W. 54th Street). Nutshell Productions will present “ Spend a Night in Jail” including the playsHELLOOUT THERE by William Saroyan, directed by Robert Haufrecht and DEATHWATCH by Jean Genet, directed by Richard Hymes-Esposito. Opening night is Wednesday, May 5 and run through May 23. Tickets are $20 and can be purchasedwww.SmartTix.comor call (212) 868-4444.
HELLO OUT THERE by William Saroyan, directed by Robert Haufrecht
Falsely jailed for an alleged rape of a married women, a young man awaits certain death is a small town jail cell. There he meets young woman; both outcasts, they decide to run off together with the hopes of finding happiness elsewhere. Hello Out There is a play about the human need to connect and be loved despite circumstances.
Cast includes: Kerry Fitzgibbons (Film: Dandelion Fall, Polycarp. Stage:GI Joe Jared), Richard Hymes-Esposito (This Isn't Paradise,Film: Last Days of Simon).
DEATHWATCH by Jean Genet, directed by Richard Hymes-Esposito.
One of Genet’s earliest plays, Deathwatch is set cramped cell as three inmates struggle for status and acceptance of their ring leader. It examinescriminal behavior, survival, masculinity and the universal need for belonging despite the abject and hopeless social standing of its hierarchy.
Cast includes:Raul Sigmund Julia (The Great Recession),Greg Engbrecht (The Tragedy of John
Mountain Jews), John Paul Harkins(IT Award forTaming of the Shrew) andKevin McGraw (Film: September 12th).
Creative team for both shows include: Craig Napoliello (Sets), Eric Nightengale (Light and Sound).
And Set Design for both shows will be done by Craig Napoliello
HELLO OUT THERE by William Saroyan, directed by Robert Haufrecht
DEATHWATCH by Jean Genet, directed by Richard Hymes-Esposito
Begins performances May 1, opens May 5 through May 23, 2010.
Performance schedule: Monday at 8PM; Thursday - Saturday at 8PM; Sunday at 5PM
(Added show on Wednesday, May 5 at 8PM; NO show on Sunday, May 16 at 5PM)
American Theatre for Actors is located at 314 W. 54th Street4th floor.
Tickets are $20 and can be purchased by calling (212) 868-4444 or visiting www.smarttix.com
For more information please visit www.spendthenightinjail.com
Running time: 2 hours with intermission
Press Performances: Sunday, May 2 at 5PM; Monday, May 3 at 8PM;
Wednesday, May 5 at 8PM (opening)
In THE TAMING OF THE SHREW Kate, the witty waspish shrew must be married off before her younger tamer sister. Petruchio who comes in search of a wife, must woo the wildcat Kate. A touching battle-of-the-sexes ensues, in which an unwilling bride has it out with her husband-to-be while he starves her out of her sulks! This slapstick, misogynistic, controversial tale will leave you laughing all the way home!
Gina Gionfriddo (Playwright) was a Pulitzer Prize Finalist for her most recent play, Becky Shaw. The play was commissioned and first produced by Actors Theatre of Louisville, and received its New York premiere Off-Broadway at Second Stage. Other plays include After Ashley (Humana Festival 2004, The Vineyard Theatre in New York, regional theatres throughout the country, and abroad in Poland); U.S. Drag (Off-Broadway by the stageFARM, Clubbed Thumb at HERE, and several regional productions); Guinevere (O’Neill Playwrights’ Conference); and the one-acts Squalor and America’s Got Tragedy (commissioned and presented by the stageFARM). Gina has received an Obie Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize (for U.S. Drag), The Helen Merrill Award for Emerging Playwrights, and an American Theatre Critics Association/Steinberg citation. She has written for the television programs Law and Order, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, Cold Case, and The Borgias (forthcoming). She has contributed essays on rock music to the literary journal, The Believer, and short fiction to Canteen. A graduate of the MFA Playwriting Program at Brown University, she has taught writing at Brown, Providence College, and Rhode Island College. She is currently at work on a new play commissioned by Playwrights Horizons.
Michole Biancosino (Director) is the Artistic Director of Project Y Theatre Company, where she has directed shows in Washington, D.C. and New York City over the past 10 years. With Project Y, she has led various professional productions, as producer, director, and performer. As a writer, her own play, The After Party, was given a reading at the Roy Arias Center, and her one woman show, Thérèse Raquin Desire, was produced at Stage Left Studio for an extended run in 2008. As a founder of the New Orleans Theatre Experiment, she produced and directed The Trashbag Tourist at the Fine Arts Center in New Orleans, as well as Thérèse Raquin Desire and Baby Boom both at the New Orleans Fringe Festival. She is interested in supporting and exploring new work, and has produced or directed readings/workshops of new plays for Crossroads Theatre, Charter Theatre, Milesquare Theatre, the Lark, Woolly Mammoth, Luna Stage, and the Kennedy Center New Play Festival. Michole received the 2008 SDCF Sir John Gielgud Fellowship for directors and traveled to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival to serve as assistant director to Laird Williamson on Coriolanus. Michole is also a classically trained saxophonist and jazz vocalist, having performed throughout her entire life under the direction of her father, through their joint venture, The American Heritage Wind Ensemble. An instructor of acting at the New York Film Academy, she holds a M.F.A. in Directing from Rutgers University.
From the creators of the Broadway-bound White Noise, which was a hit at NYMF in 2006, Street Lights features a groundbreaking score that uses modern hip hop, R&B and pop to tell a timeless story in the musical language of today's youth, while creating a bridge to earlier generations by incorporating samples of old civil rights anthems within the modern songs and beats.
A group of inner city teenagers who fight to save their high school music program from being shut down; in the process, they discover the power of music to unite their community and bring new hope to the residents of their troubled housing projects. The talented singer and songwriter Monique, her academically gifted brother Rocky and their beat-making DJ friend X-Ray all use organizing techniques pioneered during the civil rights movement to help rally the people around them to protect the neighborhood music that has helped sustain the community through thick and thin. When Monique begins to fall in love with Damon, a local drug dealer with a Robin Hood streak, she must choose between accepting the hard realities of the world she lives in or trying to change her neighborhood for the better.
Orestes and his friend Pylades have just arrived on shore; Apollo has sent him here to steal Artemis' statue and bring it to Attica. The captives are brought to Iphigenia and a tense exchange ensues -- neither sibling knows the identity of the other at first. During their conversation it emerges that she indeed is Iphigenia and Orestes reveals his identity.
Iphigenia want to help Orestes and to leave this place. She proposes a way to trick the King of Tauris, so they can all escape. Iphigenia, Orestes, and Pylades make their escape to sea. The other maidens delay the soldier's ability to report the news to the King. When he does, the goddess Athena appears, and explain that it is her will that the captives return to Greece. King Thoas accepts the changes, unwilling to defy a god.
You are cordially invited to witness the nuptials in this hip & hilarious comedy!!! What happens when a maid pretends to be rich and meets a fast talking hustler pretending to be rich? THEY GET MARRIED! Only to find out they're both broke!
Dante Puleio of Lifetime TV's Your Mama Don't Dance along with Royal Family Productions brings you Puleio Dance Festival. An evening of contemporary dance featuring the works of Puleio with guest choreographers Phoebe Kelly and Jonathan Fredrickson. Puleio is dedicated to being the vehicle for making modern dance accessible to everyone. The goal of Puleio is to strip away the walls of mystery that sometimes shroud modern dance and keep it from becoming a stale artform. Puleio is a company soon to be forced into the spotlight, being recognized for its clarity and viewpoint, and the dancers for their elegance, beauty, fierce athleticism, and their boundless energy. 
Off-Broadway Premiere
SCHOOLING GIACOMO is a bittersweet comedy that travels back and forth in time between the summer of 1970 and today: set in The Bronx, the play captures the rich and flavorful history of an ethnically mixed child who was raised by three know-it-all Italian uncles, a neighborhood wise guy and a drunken Irish/German mother. Now a single father and school teacher, he realizes the true value of his education in the school of hard knocks for both him and his daughter.
The entire SCHOOLING GIACOMO cast from the acclaimed Philipstown Depot Theatre production will resume their roles for the Off-Broadway production. The cast includes Jordan Adelson, Dominique Alvarado, Rick Apicella, Alanna Heraghty, Andrew Lionetti, Kevin Nagle, Robin Peck, George Petkanas, Hugh Scully, and Kevin Trotta. Design team for SCHOOLING GIACOMO is Dana Kenn (set design), and Donald Kimmel (lighting design).
Jim Wren directs a cast that features an ensemble of 20 actors backed by a 5 piece rock band. Casting will be announced shortly. Opening night is slated for Saturday, March 14.
Directed by Karen M. Dabney and produced by Sara Towber.Onward, Forward is a comic look at the ongoing relationship between Joe, a disgruntled folk singer dying to rock out and his songwriter/manager, Ryan who searches for a cure to life in the offices of whichever doctor his insurance will allow. Their frustrating friendship is put to the test in suburbia where what starts as a typical gig leads to encounters with a sharp-witted single mother, a sorority girl looking for a way to entertain herself for the summer, and parents that seem harmless on the outside. As their musical pit stop gets extended, Joe and Ryan find themselves in a situation that threatens to make them lose who they are and who they want to be.
With a stellar cast, (Bill Bria, Rachel Dorfman, Whit Elliott, Gregory Taft Gerard, Alixx Schottland, Michael Weems, Theodore White, and Shuo Zhang), Onward, Forward provides a humorous and moving telling of a story about staying in touch with reality, valuing friends and family, and knowing when to let go.
This character comedy/mystery by Robert Crafford uses the bar play genre to introduce some raucous and raunchy patrons who use wit like a round-house punch. But the bar is a former chapel and its mystical manifestations begin to unnerve even these jaded deadbeats. Is the drip in the bathroom holy water or a leaky sewer pipe? Is the blood that leaks from a patron's ears stigmata or a symptom of disease? To stir the pot even more, Crafford introduces cultural icons (heroic cowboy, stern mother superior, Superman), explodes them, and leaves us to decide if we have seen a miracle or a hoax. Co-produced by Ken Bush and Matthew Gregory and directed by Ken Bush. 
Stan and Doug are best friends and jewel thieves who share everything - including Stan's fiance. But Stan doesn't know that his best man is also his worst enemy. Stars Brian Gianci, Rob Norton and Gina Rodriguez. 
Brian, a young, aspiring writer, and the resident poster boy for Romantics 'R Us, struggles with post collegiate life as his ex-girlfriend suddenly reinserts herself in his life when his roommate and best friend, Nicole, bursts into their living room and unceremoniously delivers the news that she "saw Debbie." Brian immediately becomes consumed by the thought of Debbie being in the same state, the same city, possibly even the same neighborhood as him again, and peppers Nicole with every question that comes to mind: "How'd she look?...What was she wearing?...A jacket?...What type of jacket?...A hat?...What color?...Does she still drink hazelnut butterscotch coffee?"Like all tortured writers, Brian decides to brew in his anxiety for several days while Nicole dutifully plays the role of a good friend who is there to catch you when you hit bottom - a friend who is also willing to use your fall down to rock bottom as her own personal entertainment. After waffling over his options, Brian decides to face his inner demon, which just so happens to be an aging hipster named Spencer who is engaged to his ex-girlfriend. Spencer, who insists everyone calls him "Spence," wears a leather fedora, lives his life by a gold-leafed book of clichéd Chinese proverbs, and staunchly conforms to non-conformity while writing lyrical non fiction essays about things like poison ivy. Spencer is the anti-Brian, and like anyone who has ever met an ex's new crush, Brian can't believe that they are in the same league.
Debbie's resurfacing forces Brian to ask a question that has been plaguing him since the end of their relationship; a question that could potentially end the angst that has been fueling his career if he asks, but risks losing who he has always been if he does not; a question that anyone who has had a relationship go South has asked themselves hundreds of thousands of times: "Can people change?"
A globe-spanning adventure, exploring the moral limitations of incredible power. The superheroes of the Protectorate (Legend, Umbra, Stagger, Prodigy, Quake, Roach, and Future-Knight) fight bravely to protect the earth from a series of seemingly unrelated disasters. But when the unthinkable occurs the team begins to splinter. In their desperate search for the cause of the threat, compromises are made. So are mistakes. With their incredible powers and their human failings, the heroes risk becoming threats themselves to the good they've sworn to uphold. A story of sin, sacrifice, and salvation. 
Strife's Way Productions presents...LYRICAL ARTS! An intense live action martial arts hip hop stage comedy! Featuring LIVE RAP BATTLES where the audience determines the winner!
STORY: Two best friends born and raised in the same city gifted with the art of the freestyle. They have the reputation as being the best lyricists throughout their city. One day, a representative from a major record label announced their First "Battle or Die" Freestyle Contest. The winner will receive a trophy, a cash prize and possibly a recording contract. One of the two friends is in favor to win. However, there are people out there who will do whatever it takes for the friends to be unable to compete even if it means murder.
Dead Cat by Ry Herman Directed by Vallen Pilgrim
The Raft by Kristyn Lee Robinson directed by Brooklyn Scalzo
1-900-SEX-DATE by Julian Olf directed by David Pleva
The Locker Room by Judy Klass directed by Ari Jacobson
I Have It by Bekah Brunstetter directed by Karen Dabney
The Wake by Ed Vela Directed by Roland Uruci 
A searingly honest and often brutal portrayal of modern love, CLOSER is a comedy-drama about four young Brits whose intermittent couplings lead to deceit and tragedy. Through means both fair and foul, the characters try desperately to reach what Yeats called "the foul rag-and-bone shop of the heart".CLOSER is the recipient of both the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Play and the Olivier Award for Best New Play. In 2004, Closer was adapted into an Academy Award-nominated film starring Julia Roberts, Clive Owen, Jude Law, and Natalie Portman, and directed by Mike Nichols.
DIRECTOR: Kymm Zuckert*
CAST:
John Borras* (Larry)
Chris Gilmer (Dan)
Rachel Lande (Anna)
Maria Psomas (Alice)
Thanksgiving Dinner by Colette R. Johnsonfeaturing Aaron Black & Jake Lipman
directed by Heather Guthrie
Synopsis: An unlikely proposition in a gas station unites two lapsed idealists
Guitar by Colette R. Johnson
featuring Erin Evers & Brian W. Seibert
directed by Heather Guthrie
Synopsis: Gary pursues Kate, but she has a running start
Sisters by Cherie Vogelstein
featuring Heather Guthrie & Jake Lipman
directed by Samantha Tella
Synopsis: Judy and Rita debate the nitty-gritty aspects of love
The American Theatre of Actors presents in its outdoor theater As You Like It, Shakespeare's popular, light-hearted comedy, which contrasts civilized court life with pastoral innocence and skewers many conventions of love and society. Banished from the "envious" court and seeking refuge in the idyllic Forest of Arden, Rosalind (Jessica Lynn Jennings), disguised as a boy, woos and eventually marries her love, Orlando (Raul Julia, Jr.), also banished there. Along the way she is reunited with her banished father, the duke, and manages to arrange the marriages of three other couples frolicking in the forest. The company, directed by James Jennings, includes Jane Bacon (Phoebe, a disdainful shepherdess), Charles Baker (Corin, a shepherd), Michael Bordwell (William, a country youth in love with Audrey, Dennis, and a Lord), Ned Cray (Duke Senior, the exiled duke), Marie Darden (Audrey, a goat keeper), Tim Dudek (Touchstone, a court Fool), Bill Growney (Silvius, a young shepherd in love), William Greville (Duke Frederick, the usurping duke, and Hymen, god of marriage), Paul Hansen (Le Beau, a courtier at Duke Fredrick's court, and Amiens, a lord attending Duke Senior in exile), Jessica Lynn Jennings (Rosalind, daughter to Duke Senior), Raul Julia, Jr. (Orlando, youngest son of Sir Rowland de Boys), Katherine Poklemba (Celia, Rosalind's cousin, daughter to Duke Frederick), Stephan Scheck (Charles, wrestler at Duke Frederick's court, and Jaques, a lord attending Duke Senior in exile), Marvin Schwartz (Adam, servant to Oliver and friend to Orlando), and James Wirt (Oliver, Orlando's elder brother).
For reservations call 212-581-3044
For its twenty-sixth Shakespeare production, American Theatre of Actors presents in its Outdoor Theater "Measure for Measure," Shakespeare's comedy about the law, in which a judge falls in love with the sister of a man he has sentenced to die and apparently finds himself guilty of the same offense as the condemed brother. The scene between brother and sister is "one of the dramatic pinnacles of Shakespeare" (Goddard). Directed by James Jennings. Michael Henry Harris, The Duke; David Demato, Angelo, the Deputy; Lauren Waisbren, Isabella, sister to Claudio; Chad Mills, Claudio, a young gentleman; Gregory O'Conner, Lucio, a worldly gentleman; Dustin Smallheer, Pompey, tapster to Mistress Overdone; Erin Maya Darke, Mistress Overdone/Francisca, the Nun; Kevin C. Woods, Elbow, the Constable; Charles Baker, Escalus, an ancient Lord; Christopher Thornton, Provost; Paul Hansen, Justice/Executioner/Friar Thomas and Friar Peter; Brett Fleischer, Froth, a gentleman /Barnadine, a prisoner; Cara Maltz, Mariana, betrothed to Angelo; Katherine Poklema, Juliet, beloved of Claudio/Gentleman; Marie Darden, Gentleman
From the writer of 9Hours to Fallujah and Che Guevara Would Never go to Starbucks comes a black comedy about five friends involved in debauchery, delusions, drink, drugs, dealing, deception, and death on a hot Brooklyn night... spent 10 years in Butirka, one of Russia's most infamous prison camps, for being wealthy Jewish intellectuals and for hiring retarded Jews in the factory they once owned.
revealing the painful truth about the human desire for both love and independence, and the explosive, impossible combination of the two.
For more information please visit www.fromisraeltosexinthesity.com
In Aeschylus' Oresteia, Father sacrifices Daughter to win the Trojan War – Mother avenges Daughter by killing Father – Son avenges Father by killing Mother – Son stands Trial before the High Court of Athens – The Question is: Does he Live or Die for his Crime? What Breaks the Cycle of Death?
Created and directed by Andrea Arden, Wrecked explodes the story of the Oresteia into elliptical, fragmented episodes to create a kaleidoscopic journey of memories and images, confessions and confrontations, colliding and slamming this familiar tragedy on its head. Wrecked fuses elements of Greek mythology, German Expressionism, and burlesque, ricocheting between linguistic acrobatics and visual poetry. Set in a barren wasteland monitored by omnipresent yet always hidden cameras, Wrecked explores just how much we must suffer and bear the consequences of unrelenting cycles of violence before the world collapses upon itself. In Arden's production, private is public; truth is mysterious; and the Law is split wide open.
THEATRE LÎLA burst onto the New York theater scene in 2005 with co-Artistic directors Jessica Lanius' The Waltz of Elementary Particles and Andrea Arden's Julie. Bryn Manion of OffOffOnline raved: "This is one of the best pieces of theater I have seen in five years." 
Theater Arts Japan, in association with Signife and Woken'Glacier theatre company
present
JAPANESE and WAR
New York, NY-- Theatre Arts Japan is proud to announce the New York premiere of four staged readings by four leading Japanese playwrights of today.
Sixty years after the close of the 2nd World War, Japan's memory of it grows dim, yet the shadow of World War II still hangs over the country, leaving a fear unfounded against other races.
Japanese and War brings us back to a place in history whose effect persists though we try to forget.
Theatre Arts Japan was founded to introduce modern Japanese theatre, culture and points of view to American audiences by translating and producing Japanese plays in the United States. Our goal is for these modern Japanese plays to break into the culture of America, hopefully not only to be seen as Japanese theatre, but as theatre in itself.
Schedule Details
September 12th (8pm) and 13th* (8pm)
"The Uniform"
Written by Kobo Abe
Directed by Jun Kim
September 19th (8pm) and 20th* (8pm)
"Happy Lads"
Written by Hideo Tsuchida
Directed by Michael Billingsley
*There will be TALK BACK & DISCUSSION
after the readings on 13th, 20th, 24th, & 25th.
September 24th* (5pm)
"Citizen of Seoul"
Written by Oriza Hirata
Directed by Catherine Miller
September 24th* (8pm) and 25th* (3pm)
"Dust Strom"
Written by Rick Foster
Directed by Yukako Yamazoe
Sixty years after the close of the 2nd World War, Japan's memory of it grows dim, yet the shadow of World War II still hangs over the country, leaving a fear unfounded against other races. Japanese and War brings us back to a place in history whose effect persists though we try to forget.
Schedule Details:
September 12th (8pm) and 13th* (8pm)
"The Uniform"
Written by Kobo Abe
Directed by Jun Kim
September 19th (8pm) and 20th* (8pm)
"Happy Lads"
Written by Hideo Tsuchida
Directed by Michael Billingsley
September 24th* (5pm)
"Citizen of Seoul"
Written by Oriza Hirata
Directed by Catherine Miller
September 24th* (8pm) and 25th* (3pm)
"Dust Strom"
Written by Rick Foster
Directed by Yukako Yamazoe
*There will be TALK BACK & DISCUSSION
after the readings on 13th, 20th, 24th, & 25th.
2001 Dean Goodman Choice Award for "Solo Performance" and "Original Script". Upstage/ Downstage Award for "Best Reincarnations", 2000 Garland Award for "Solo Performance". 2004,"Vivien" was produced both at "The Players Club" and "Episcopal Actor' Guild" in New York City. Receiving glowing response, "This needs to be brought to Off-Broadway"!!!( Fredda Slavin)"Vivien", brings to the forefront the life of one of the most renowned actresses of our time, Vivien Leigh. Though best known on screen as, Scarlett O'Hara and Blanche DuBois she had on the British stage a position of absolute ascendancy on the British stage as the co-star and wife of Laurence Olivier. Yet she pursued her life on a self-destructive course. A victim of manic depression, her hold on sanity seemed to only come from the roles she played. And at a time when the illness was little understood, her only recourse was to endure years of electroshock therapy. And at the age of 53 died of tuberculosis.
Award Winning playwright, Rick Foster, creates such a compelling and profound journey of this extraordinary woman's life. His artful and perceptive writing "dodges many of the clichés of the form and eloquently dramatizes Leigh's passion, intelligence, and acuity, as well as the destructive tragedy of her mental illness. Foster is particularly strong when charting the glittery but corrosive love between Leigh and Laurence Olivier and the role that relationship played in her eventual loss of balance." (San Francisco Bay Guardian).
Actress Janis Stevens' performance is passionate and flawless. She captures not only Leigh's beauty but also many of her mannerisms and qualities. "The term ‘tour de force' is an under statement! Stevens brings an incredible range of Leigh's personal and professional battles and triumph to life" (The Union Democrat).
Together, Foster and Stevens offer an evocative and masterful piece of theatre. Surely an event not to be missed!
Love, Hate, Triumph and defeat. These are the dramatic elements we might come to see in the theater. So, when we observe these elements as truth and reality from ones own life, we are struck profoundly.
From the chosen collection of the Critics Choice one-acts, Samuel French will honor several playwrights with publication in the annual Off Off Broadway Festival Play series.
In modern performance, Shakespeare's plays are often cut, and further adapted somehow. While such productions may be excellent, too often they end up losing—first by cutting, then by dressing up—the heart of the play. This show does the opposite, favoring the style of Shakespeare's original productions: It lays bare the drama, with a nearly empty stage and simple costumes letting the focus fall on a play that deserves it.
At the opening of HAMLET, the title character is mourning the recent death of his father, the king of Denmark, as well as his mother's swift marriage to his uncle Claudius, who has now ascended to the throne. Even as Hamlet bemoans these events, he is visited by his father's ghost, who tells how he was in fact murdered by the scheming Claudius. This sets in motion a plot that eventually consumes the whole of the monarchy. The powerful ensemble performance by this talented cast allows the audience to fully understand and appreciate this great play.
The play is a celebration of gay life in the 1920's and 30's. Jeb and Dash are reuinted when they coincidentally rent rooms at the YMCA in Washington D.C. Their mutual attraction develops into love and their relationship is tested by their ambitions and dreams. The play also introduces the "family" that Jeb cherished. They include Isador (a cross-dresser who is kicked out of the YMCA for dressing as a herioine from La Traviata), Max (a visual artist), Hans and Nicky (Max's handsome subjects) and Randall (the playboy knows for his sexual conquests and his ability to "play straight").
Info: www.jebanddash.net
In Julie, Andrea Arden explodes the classic Strindberg play about the dangerous affair between a Count's daughter and her father's valet into a treacherous game of survival of the fittest. Fusing digital video and live action, Julie confronts two people â€" fueled by lust and vulnerability â€" trapped inside a corrupted world and fighting for their lives. This fall, you've seen Nora, you've seen Hedda â€" don't miss this Julie! 
In The Waltz of Elementary Particles, Jessica Lanius directs and choreographs a cast of actors into a devastating and fragmented world consumed with video screens, instant gratification, and personal space. Lanius' physical interplay is a multi-media collage that combines the work of videographers Alexander Bruehl and Kristofer Updike, with the improvised music compositions of John LaSala. Playing in repertory with Theatre Lila's JULIE.