After 20 years of bringing macabre tales of madness and murder to the East Village, writer Clay McLeod Chapman is driving a stake into the heart of his long-running storytelling staple The Pumpkin Pie Show. Join him and scene-stealer Hanna Cheek along with special guests for one final foray into the abyss with their favorite literary perversions from the last two decades.
FRIGID New York @ Horse Trade will present Clay McLeod Chapman’s DEATH TO THE PUMPKIN PIE SHOW at UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Avenue and Avenue A) October 12-28 with performances Thursday through Saturday at 8pm. Tickets ($20) may be purchased in advance at www.horseTRADE.info. See all Three Shows for the Price of Two when you use the code PIE.
To celebrate the passing of this downtown institution—along with the recent release of the story collection NOTHING UNTOWARD: TALES FROM THE PUMPKIN PIE SHOW (Applause Books)—we have put together a Pumpkin Pie Show retrospective, cherry-picking a few of our favorite productions from the Pie’s past. See one, see them all; no two shows are the same:
COMMENCEMENT
Written by Clay McLeod Chapman
Performances by Hanna Cheek
Thursday, October 12, 19 & 26 at 8pm
Hanna Cheek plays three women drawn together in the grim aftermath of a high school shooting. "Will leave you wringing your hands in helpless empathy." -SEE Magazine
SEASICK
Written by Clay McLeod Chapman with Songs by Kyle Jarrow
Performances by Chapman, Hanna Cheek, Abe Goldfarb, Katie Hartman & Brian Silliman
Friday, October 13, 20 & 27 at 8pm
As an outbreak of norovirus spreads through a luxury cruise-liner, one family must fight for survival onboard this sun-and-blood soaked voyage into insanity. “Thoroughly marvelous, gross and peculiar, not to mention a cause for huge, unbecoming snorts of laughter.” -Time Out NY
(WARNING: Not for the weak-stomached. Paramedics were called during the original run for fainting audience members!)
BEST OF BLITZKRIEG
Written by Clay McLeod Chapman
Performances by Chapman, Hanna Cheek & Special Guests
Saturday, October 14, 21 & 28 at 8pm
20 years. Over 60 stories. Hanna and Clay celebrate their 20th anniversary of the Pumpkin Pie Show with a hand-selected roster of their favorite stories. Every story will be chosen at random each night onstage, guaranteeing each show will be completely different from the last. “Chapman uses the macabre to explore the humanity of his characters and reveal an almost spiritual side to the horrific.” -The New York Times
THE PUMPKIN PIE SHOW Celebrating its second decade of performances, the Pumpkin Pie Show is a literary fist in the face. Part storytelling session, part boxing match, part shamanistic ritual, the Pumpkin Pie Show has established itself as an all-points artistic hodgepodge of theatre and literature. We pick and choose the essentials of both mediums, channeling their rocking properties to create an intimate relationship between performer and audience. We want to see the whites of our audience’s eyes. Certain basic rules that we’ve set up for all our shows are: No sets. No costumes. No nothing beyond the text and the performance itself. Our goal is to strip away those elements that we find extraneous to the tale being told, conjuring up an atmosphere of “creating something out of nothing,” as well as focusing on that ethereal connective tissue between the one telling the story and our audience. Packed with enough emotional intensity to feel like a rock concert rather than just spinning a yarn, the Pumpkin Pie Show is pure bedtime stories for adults.
KYLE is a dark comedy by Hollis James, inspired by his knock-down-drag-out battle with drug addiction. It’s about a guy named Jack, his friend Kyle, and Kyle's friend cocaine. Thanks to his new friends, Jack's life quickly begins to spiral out of control. He loses his job, his girlfriend, his health, and all sense of personal hygiene. Will Jack find the strength to get his life back on track or will Kyle ultimately win?
Hot Tramp Productions will present the World Premiere of KYLE, written by Hollis James and directed by Emily Owens, March 9-25 at UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Avenue and Avenue A) with performances Thursday through Saturday at 7:30pm. Tickets ($25/$20 students/seniors) may be purchased in advance at www.horseTRADE.info.
The cast will feature Tricia Alexandro*(The Unrepeatable Moment with The Barrow Group; The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe at Cape May Stage), Nat Cassidy* (Crystal Skillman’s King Kirby at The Brick; High Maintenance on HBO), Hollis James (Teachers Lounge on YouTube), Christine Renee Miller (Such Nice Shoes at Theaterlab), and Christian Polanco (Host of Knockin’ Boots Comedy) with Lighting Design by Kia Rogers (New York Innovative Theatre Award for Jane the Plain with Flux Theatre Ensemble). The production Stage Manager will be Sarah Lahue (I’ll Say She Is: The Lost Marx Brothers Musical at Connelly Theater). *Actor appears courtesy of the Actors’ Equity Association.
About the Company: Hot Tramp Productions
HOT TRAMP PRODUCTIONS creates pre-apocalyptic theatre for a post-Bowie world. Each darkly comic show is a secret handshake for cool kids--a pop-culture pastiche, presented with punk-rock attitude. We are dedicated to blending the seriously funny and the hysterically serious to provide NYC with the Viking funeral it deserves.
Writer/performer Clay McLeod Chapman believes in America. What it once was. What it can be again. And to make our nation great, everybody’s got to make sacrifices. Ancient sacrifices. In honor of the election year, the 19th season of The Pumpkin Pie Show praises politics with ballot-shredding tales of witch-hunting in the White House, interdimensional orgies in the Lincoln bedroom, draw-and-quartering Occupy protestors, and good ol’ fashioned mudslinging.
The Pumpkin Pie Show: Stump Speeches will be performed by Clay McLeod Chapman (Commencement and Hostage Song; The Boy at SXSW 2015; The Tribe Trilogy with Disney; The Amazing Spider-Man with Marvel Comics), Hanna Cheek (Mac Rogers’ Universal Robots and Sovereign; Waterwell; Time Out NY’s Future Legends of New York Theater), Susan Ferrara (Johnna Adams’ Sans Merci; The Wonder, 2014 United Solo Festival), Abe Goldfarb (Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale of Mystery at DR2 Theater; Kill Shakespeare with Gideon Productions), Katie Hartman (Skinny Bitch Jesus Meeting; Made to Order), Brian Silliman (General Butler in Butler at the Majestic Theater; NYIT Outstanding Actor nominee for Dark Water), and Kristen Vaughan (Mac Rogers’ Advance Man and Blast Radius; NYIT Outstanding Actress Award for Benefactors with Retro Productions).
About the Company: FRIGID New York @ Horse Trade
FRIGID New York @ Horse Trade is a theater development group with a focus on new work that produces a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater every season. FRIGID’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. FRIGID New York grew out of the annual FRIGID Festival, the first and only festival of its kind in New York City to offer artists 100% of their box office proceeds, and Horse Trade Theater Group, a self-sustaining theater development and management group.
Nicole was six when her dad died. But she kept trying to get his attention in hopes he'd come back. WHY SO MUCH SHAME? uses vivid storytelling to explore a child's unspoken grief, a woman's confrontation with the truth, and the powerful things that happen when we stop pretending.WHY SO MUCH SHAME? is making its five-performance debut as part of the 10th Annual FRIGID New York Festival. [60 min.]
Struck by a mystery illness, David receives doctor's orders to relax: something he's incapable of doing. Desperate to conquer his debilitating tension, David dives into a spiraling monologue, a farce that audiences will find familiar, funny, and delightfully weird.
Presented as part of the FRIGID New York festival.
Dandy Darkly is back with an all-new, all-American selection of satiric, horrific, erotic, patriotic tales of sex and death! Join Dandy for his utterly unique take on contentment, guns, hypersensitivity and good ole American sodomy. Stories will include: Silver Dollar - A disgraced American sniper, Otis Moonshine, struggles with PTSD as he hunts his hometown's homosexuals because only he knows the startling truth -- they are werewolves! Final Girl - America's Sweetheart was found dead in her Hollywood mansion, but from low budget slashers to reality TV terrors, America's actual horrors are so much scarier than anything seen on the big screen. American Apparel - Corporate cancer creeps across our safest spaces. Seemingly overnight another gay bar is gentrified. Can a little rat with drag queen dreams save the Imperial Poppycock Saloon from certain doom? The Ghosts of Stonewall - A rallying cry to the next LGBTQ generation to snap the fuck out of it!
Dandy Darkly's Trigger Happy! is written and performed by Dandy Darkly. The show is directed by Ian Bjorklund and features a pre-recorded soundtrack composed and performed by musicians Adam Tendler (piano), Rachel Blumberg (drums) Bryce Edwards (bass) and Jeffrey Underhill (guitar). Dandy Darkly’s Trigger Happy! was produced, in part, with funding from Bindlestiff Family Arts Inc. and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
About the Company: FRIGID New York @ Horse Trade
FRIGID New York @ Horse Trade is a theater development group with a focus on new work that produces a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater every season. FRIGID’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. FRIGID New York grew out of the annual FRIGID Festival, the first and only festival of its kind in New York City to offer artists 100% of their box office proceeds, and Horse Trade Theater Group, a self-sustaining theater development and management group.
True story: Clay’s about to become a daddy. There’s a baby boy on his way. The due-date? No lie… October 31st. A Halloween baby. And Clay is scared. Really scared. There’s nothing more petrifying than one’s own impending parenthood, especially with the clock tick-tick-ticking away—so we here at The Pumpkin Pie Show have decided to explore those fatherhood-fears and bring them to the stage. Every story within this year’s show focuses on the primal paranoia of parenting, whether it be mammoth diaper discharges, flying the friendly skies with screaming kids, or coming up with compelling ways to convince your children to eat their din-din…
…Not to mention sasquatch erotica, ancient mystical runes, and a special homemade recipe for Jesus juice. This year’s Pumpkin Pie Show has it all. You’ve been warned.
Parents can bring their babies to the show for free!*
*WARNING: Due to content, this show is not advised for anyone under the age of 16.
About the Company: FRIGID New York @ Horse Trade
FRIGID New York @ Horse Trade is a theater development group with a focus on new work that produces a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater every season. FRIGID’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. FRIGID New York grew out of the annual FRIGID Festival, the first and only festival of its kind in New York City to offer artists 100% of their box office proceeds, and Horse Trade Theater Group, a self-sustaining theater development and management group.
FRIGID New York @ Horse Trade will present March Forth Productions World Premiere of The Angels of Mons, a historical drama by Eric Webb, directed and conceived by Laura Archer. The production will run March 26-April 4 at UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Avenue and Avenue A) with performances Thursday through Saturday at 7pm with an additional performance on Wednesday, April 1 at 7pm.Tickets ($18; $15 students) may be purchased in advance at www.horseTRADE.info. The show runs approximately two hours, with intermission.
About the Company: Horse Trade Theater Group
HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work that has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York – the first and only festival of its kind in New York City. In 2011 Horse Trade received the New York Innovative Theatre Ellen Stewart Stewardship Award for demonstrating a significant contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership.
Come sail the high seas with The Pumpkin Pie Show! An outbreak of norovirus quickly spreads through the passengers and crew onboard a luxury cruise-liner, including the captain, cutting short this sunny sojourn through the tropics. But before the ship can dock at the nearest port, tensions escalate amongst the frantic passengers. The foundation of civil society quickly deteriorates—dividing everyone onboard into two separate camps: those who are sick and those who aren’t. As the ship veers far off course and the number of ill passengers rises, one family must fight for their survival onboard this sun-and-blood drenched cruise into madness.
Join writer/performer Clay McLeod Chapman (Hostage Song with Kyle Jarrow; SCKBSTD with Bruce Hornsby), performers Hanna Cheek (Mac Rogers’ Sovereign with Gideon Productions; GOODBAR with Waterwell; named one of Time Out NY’s ‘Future Legends of NYC Theatre’ in 2013), Abe Goldfarb (I Hope They Serve Beer on Broadway), Brian Silliman (2014 NYIT Award Nominee for Outstanding Lead Actor in Dark Water with MTWorks; Kill Shakespeare with Gideon Productions), and Katie Hartman (Skinny Bitch Jesus Meeting) with musician Kyle Jarrow (frontman for Sky Pony; Obie Award winning playwright) as they celebrate Halloween with the 17th annual Pumpkin Pie Show! The show will play at UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Avenue and Avenue A) October 16-November 1, Thursday through Saturday at 8pm. Tickets ($18/$15 students & seniors) are available online at www.horseTRADE.info or by calling 1-888-596-1027.
About the Company: Horse Trade Theater Group
HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work that has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York – the first and only festival of its kind in New York City. In 2011 Horse Trade received the New York Innovative Theatre Ellen Stewart Stewardship Award for demonstrating a significant contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership.
Horse Trade Theater Group in association with Moonlight Theatre Productions (Kelley Girod, producer) will present Get Me a Guy (Best Play at the New York International Midtown Theater Festival as a 30-minute one-act; scene 16 won Outstanding Play Honorary Mention at the New York Short Play Festival as a 10-minute play), an award-winning new comedy by Israela Margalit (Gold Medal NY Film and TV Festival, Emmy Nomination) directed by John Clancy (2005 Obie Award for Sustained Excellence of Direction). The production will feature Elizabeth Galalis, Brennan Lowery, Wei-Yi Lin*, and Paul Romano with an ensemble cast of Abigail Rose Solomon*, Andrew Chaffee, Celestine Rae, and Zack Friedman. The creative team will include Set Design by You-Shin Chen, Lighting Design by Alex Fabozzi, Costume Design and Hair & Makeup by Ariel Pellman, and Choreography by Keila Fontanez-LaSalle. The production will be Stage Managed by Rachel D. April with Assistant Stage Manager Kevin Clutz, and Technical Director Jules Chaveco. Marketing will be provided by Rosalind Productions. *Actor appears courtesy of the Actors’ Equity Association.
About the Company: Horse Trade Theater Group
HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work that has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York – the first and only festival of its kind in New York City. In 2011 Horse Trade received the New York Innovative Theatre Ellen Stewart Stewardship Award for demonstrating a significant contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership.
Four screwed-up fairy-tales: The Big Bad Wolf wears a short, short skirt, Rumpelstiltskin is tenured in the Ivy league, and Rapunzel is bleeding heavily from the scalp. Plus, Prince Charming seems to be developing a drinking problem. Hot off a nearly sold-out run at Luna Stage in New Jersey, the nomadic bi-state StrangeDog Theatre Company is coming across the Hudson with their evening of new plays that grab four age-old fairy-tales and throw them into a modern dilapidated apartment building. Featuring new works from four New Jersey powerhouse playwrights – John Wooten, Stacie Lents, Joseph Palestina, and Ben Clawson.
Horse Trade Theater Group and StrangeDog Theatre will present the New York Premiere of ENCHANTED ARMS written by Ben Clawson, Stacie Lents, Joseph Palestina, and John Wooten, May 15-31 at UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Avenue and Avenue A). This evening of new plays is conceived by Ben Clawson (The High Water Mark, Luna Stage) and directed by Artem Yatsuov (Basic Help, Sell Out Award Winner, FRIGID NYC 2014) with choreography by Annalisa Ledson (NACHMO 4 NYC). Featuring: Tony K Knotts (Master Harold…and the Boys!, Luna Stage), Michelle, Tracy Shar, Annalisa Ledson, Gary Martins, Shannon Sullivan, Seth Michael, Lee Ann Hoover, and David Hoffman. The creative team will include Lighting and Sound Design by Harrison J Adams, Original Art Work by Sara Sciarrabbarasi, and Press Photography by Anthony Gusevich. The production will be Stage Managed by Rachael Tucker.
About the Company: StrangeDog Theatre Company
STRANGE DOG THEATRE COMPANY has performed in cramped cafes, noisy bars, abandoned warehouses, crowded restaurants and some well-known regional playhouses. They have developed a large repertoire of work over these past couple years – from a slew of carefully constructed evenings of short comedies to premieres of full-length plays. StrangeDog has been striving to bring its stories to established theaters with their experienced theatergoers. Yet we also endeavor to expose new audiences to our particular brand of outlandish comedy and biting drama in venues where they would expect it least. Essentially, StrangeDog is creating plays for people who mistakenly think they don’t like plays.
A Date for the Evening written and performed by Celestial Zenith, directed and choreographed by Shannon Stowe. One woman in the course of an evening takes on speed dating, struggling to connect with anyone to mend her broken past.
LIKE US on facebook.com/adatefortheevening
Dumbfounded by a call from a political pollster, David begins a hilarious investigation into human rationality, searching for a reason to believe the nation could possibly be on the right track. His journey takes him through self-inflicted dental woes, stupefying architectural mysteries, and his own unhealthy fixation on the Subway sandwich franchise. The further he goes, the less plausible it seems that democracy could work out.
Jo March really thinks she could be the voice of her generation....or at least, a voice of a generation.
WOMEN, the record-breaking hit from #Serials @ The Flea Theater, is back for a limited engagement. This fast paced comedy introduces Louisa May Alcott's classic, 'Little Women', to HBO's critically acclaimed 'Girls', delivering a smartly crafted and hilarious 50 minute show.
Written by Chiara Atik
Directed by Stephanie Ward
With performances by Layla Khoshnoudi, Abby Rosebrock, Rachel Michelle Lin, Lydian Blossom, Vicki Rodriguez, Zac Moon, Bradley Anderson, Brett Epstein
Produced by Madeline Post
www.womentheshow.com
Comedy.Other
Featuring work and performances by:
Summer Bills
Pascal Boulet-Gercourt
Justin Danforth
Taylor Frey
Michael Galligan
Paige Goodloe
Shelby Leshine
Jordan Reiff
director...................Mike Wesolowski
choreographer.........Summer Bills
sounds...................Jack Bishop
lights.....................Sam Ogilvie
costumes/props......Gigi Hernandez
costumes/props......Arsalan Akhavan
marketing...............Jake Beckhard
graphic design........Mike Cheslik
box office................Maya Evans
I've been 6 foot one since the 6th grade. I am female. Using basketball as a metaphor for life, (I played pro in France), I tell a true story and share that all of us have vulnerabilities. No matter how strong we look or who we are, we must coach each other. We must be kind to each other.
WHO: Written and performed by Terri Mateer*.
(*Appearing Courtesy of Actors Equity Association)
*Running Time - 55 Minutes
REVIEWS:
"As we told you we see a lot of stuff in small theaters, basements, garages etc. Your performance, we felt, was the reason we keep going. As they say "you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find the prince".
Last night we found a prince."
"It's nearly perfect."
"There was something for everyone."
Arts.Performance
Arts.Dance
Theater.Solo Performance
Horse Trade Theater Group proudly presents their annual Halloween tradition, THE PUMPKIN PIE SHOW: BOOGEDY BOO! with brand new spine tingling stories by Clay McLeod Chapman (Hostage Song at The Kraine; The Penalty at Dixon Place) and performances by Chapman, Hanna Cheek (Mac Rogers’ Sovereign; Goodbar with Waterwell), and Pumpkin Pie newcomer Ana Asensio (Medea ́s Get Some Issues at the 2012 United Solo Festival) with noir-infused musical interludes by Shayfer James. The show will play at UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Avenue and Avenue A) October 10-26, Thursday through Saturday at 8pm. Tickets ($18; $15 students and seniors) are available by calling Smarttix at 212-868-4444 or online at www.horseTRADE.info.
Clay McLeod Chapman’s The Pumpkin Pie Show returns with a fresh slice of brand new campfire tale telling. In true Halloween spirit(s), this year’s show tackles a whole bevy of everyday horrors, including a case of post-partum depression that quickly descends into Edgar Allan Poe-style madness, possessed hair extensions, haunted vinyl, masturbating in the middle of a Broadway matinee of Phantom of the Opera, and much, much more literary depravity.
About the Company: Horse Trade Theater Group
HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work that has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York – the first and only festival of its kind in New York City. In 2011 Horse Trade received the New York Innovative Theatre Ellen Stewart Stewardship Award for demonstrating a significant contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership.
Horse Trade Theater Group will present Assurbanipal Babilla’s play SOMETHING SOMETHING ÜBER ALLES (DAS JACKPOT) directed by David Cote (Otherland; The Scarlet Ibis) and performed by Robert Honeywell (Every Play Ever Written; The Lathe of Heaven), September 19-October 5 at UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Avenue and Avenue A).
A man who bears an uncanny resemblance to Adolf Hitler finds himself idolized by an orgiastic, underground, Führer-worshipping cult. In a monologue that’s alternately hilarious and terrifying, we glimpse the true nature of worship, authority and humanity’s tragic urge to obey. His heartbroken friend, our narrator, leads us down a twisted path to uncover the mystery of what really happened. Written and originally performed by Assurbanipal Babilla, this tour-de-force monologue features a cast of grotesque characters, passages of intense lyrical power and bawdy comedy. Downtown stage veteran Robert Honeywell performs this 90-minute thrill ride that goes straight to the dark heart of religion and politics.
The play originally premiered at the Emerging Collector in March 1998. David Cote directed Assurbanipal Babilla. It ran for three months. The same year, it took part in the New York International Fringe Festival at the Kraine Theater. Something Something was then invited for an extended run at The Red Room and the Kraine, January-February 1999. Something Something was one of Horse Trade Theater Group’s first main stage productions, and we are very proud to bring it back to kick off our 15th season.
About the Company: Horse Trade Theater Group
HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work that has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York – the first and only festival of its kind in New York City. In 2011 Horse Trade received the New York Innovative Theatre Ellen Stewart Stewardship Award for demonstrating a significant contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership.
Horse Trade Theater Group in association with Moonlight Productions (produced by Kelley Girod of The Fire This Time Festival) will present Emmy-nominated playwright Israela Margalit’s NIGHT BLOOMING JASMINE, August 29-September 15 at UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place).The production will be directed by Artem Yatsunov (Claire Went to France; The Virilogy with StrangeDog Theatre Company) and feature Joe Barbarino, Paul Guskin, Mariam Habib, Anthony Knotts, Ben Morrow, Nuah Ozryel, Alissa Razzano, and Shannon Sullivan. The Creative Team will include Lighting Design by Rebecca Bickley, Set, Props, and Costume Design by Jamie Larson, and Sound Design by Mark Van Hare. The production will be Stage Managed by Keila Fontanez-LaSalle.
When Night Blooming Jasmine was first presented in New York in 2000, it sold out its limited run at The Tribeca Playhouse. The press concurred, calling it “fast moving and engaging,” (The New York Times); “a gem... a novel and humane picture of the relationship between Israeli Jews and Arabs,” (The Jewish Post); “inventive plotting... gut-wrenching... profoundly right” (Backstage); and “an extraordinary theatrical experience” (Yediot America).
Now, thirteen years later, the revised and updated Night Blooming Jasmine is timelier than ever. The desperate love story of a young Israeli war hero and a Palestinian woman, juxtaposed against the cultural clash between their families, the suspicion, prejudice and violence that permeates every corner of their lives, and a seemingly never-ending war, is as current and relevant as it has ever been. This is a play that keeps the audience at the edge of their seats and provokes discussion.
About the Company: Horse Trade Theater Group
HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work that has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York – the first and only festival of its kind in New York City. In 2011 Horse Trade received the New York Innovative Theatre Ellen Stewart Stewardship Award for demonstrating a significant contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership
Only days away from opening downtown in Samuel Beckett’s Endgame, a beleaguered theatre troupe gets sucked into the furor of the debate over the US of A’s occupation of the Middle East. As their director whimsically shifts gears on the whole production, they are forced to confront big issues, political and personal, and ask big questions: Where does imperialism fit into the 21st century? How do we distinguish between sacred traditions and antiquated infringements of human rights? And when do we break for lunch? An irreverent satire of ideological, metaphysical, and theatrocological stagnation.
The mini-festival will play at UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Ave and Ave A) June 27-July 4. Tickets ($15/$12 students & seniors) are available online at www.horseTRADE.info or by calling 212-868-4444.
An Evening with Gregor of Berlin
Written by Gregory Levine, Directed by Bricken Sparacino
In a hilariously mad cocktail of absinthe, Dadaist philosophy and knock-knock jokes, egomaniacal storyteller Gregor of Berlin clears himself of Trixie's murder. But will he kill booking agent Herr Rosenthal? 18+ Only.
Thu 76/27 @ 7pm & Mon 7/1 @ 7pm
Sexy and Sassy and Bold and Brassy
Written & Performed by D’yan Forest
D'yan Forest -- To meet her is to love to her, to hear her sing and joke is to adore her. With her ukuleles and sexy temperament, nothing stops her rambunctious mind from having fun with the world.
Thu 6/27 @ 9pm & Sun 6/30 @ 9pm
The Ultimate Stimulus
Written & Conceived by Filipe Ossa
Performed by Tanya O’Debra
The Ultimate Stimulusis a satirical multi-media argument by avant-garde economist Amanda McCloud. This renegade academic believes she can bridge the growing income gap in America between the rich and the rest of us. Her big idea? Concubinage.
Thu 6/27 @ 11pm, Fri 6/28 @ 7pm & Sun 6/30 @ 7pm
Stand Up Comic, Jillian Thomas
Written & Performed by Jillian Thomas
Meet Canada's Queen of Pot Comedy as she tells you tales from her 12-year comedy career. Help her celebrate past, present and future material as she tapes a DVD to get more gigs at bigger festivals. This former Christian Rocker turned Queen of Pot Comedy will make you laugh with her tales from a British/Canadian Upbringing, attending a Mennonite Junior High School to dating a cocaine addict.
"Who needs dick jokes, this woman has balls" Dave Morris, Eye Weekly.
Fri 6/28 @ 9pm
Petunia & Chicken
Presented by Animal Engine
Created & Performed by Carrie Brown and Karim Muasher
Inspired by the writings of Willa Cather, two daring performers create an epic story of love and loss as big as the prairie itself. Sprawling fields of wheat, bustling train stations and rain-soaked kisses are brought to life with imagination, movement, and song.
Fri 6/28 @ 11pm
Sideshow Goshko Storytelling Series
Written & Perfomred by Leslie Goshko
Hailed as "a well-programmed night" by The New York Times, award-winning storyteller Leslie Goshko (Huffington Post) invites some of NY’s top writers, comedians, and storytellers to share true, bizarre tales about their lives. There’s live accordion music, a challenging trivia game, and a free wine giveaway where one lucky audience member will walk away with their very own bottle of Sideshow Sauce!
Sat 6/29 @ 7pm
Daddy Issues
Written & Performed by Peter Aguero
"One day, you're going to want to beat me up" - my dad to me when I was 8 years old. He was right. “You're nothing to me" - me to my dad when I was 19 years old. I was wrong.
Sat 6/29 @ 9pm
Revolt! Death and Taxes! Sam Adams and the Boston Revolution
Written & Performed by Zero Boy
The Boston Revolt sparked the American Revolution and Independence. The man that all the founding fathers thought of as ‘the founder’ was Sam Adams. Zero Boy takes you on sonic comic journey to rediscover Sam Adams and the American Revolution
Sat 6/29 @ 11pm & Wed 7/3 @ 9pm
Hard Travelin’ With Woody
Written & Performed by Randy Noojin, based on the life and songs of Woody Guthrie
Hop a fast-rattler through the Dustbowl with Woody Guthrie and commune with the spirit, stories and songs of America's greatest saint-of-the-workingman and poet-of-the-people in Randy Noojin's critically acclaimed solo play with music. Woody uses his wit and greatest songs to rally a union meeting of mineworkers striking for a living wage.
Mon 7/1 @ 9pm & Wed 7/3 @ 7pm
The Women of Tu-na House
Written & Perfomred by Nancy Eng
Directed by Ernest Abuba
What matters most... the size of the boat or the motion of the ocean? Find out as you're whisked on a wild visit to an Asian massage parlor in NYC and offered a rare glimpse into a surprising, comical and sometimes sad world generally seen through almond-shaped eyes through a succession of disparate, distinct characters.
Tue 7/2 @ 7pm
About the Company: Horse Trade Theater Group
HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work that has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York – the first and only festival of its kind in New York City. In 2011 Horse Trade received the New York Innovative Theatre Ellen Stewart Stewardship Award for demonstrating a significant contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership.
ONE NIGHT ONLY EVENTStep back in time with the RSP Ensemble for some roaring 20s style fun! Enter the world of Charlie's speak-easy & casino, where booze flows freely, card players are fast, the girls are floozy, and the Jazz is Red Hot.. Set in an immersive environment, audience members can dance, mingle and play with the sordid characters of the 1920s underworld.
An Interactive Theatrical Event to benefit Rising Sun’s 2013 Season!
Monday June 24th
Doors Open at 7PM
"Ante Up" at 7:30PM
@ UNDER St. Marks
94 St. Marks Place
(No wheelchair access)
Between 1st Avenue and Avenue A
L train to 1st avenue or F to 2nd Ave
Tickets: $20 In Advance
$25 at Door (Cash Only)
To purchase tickets call SmartTix:
212-868-4444
or online: www.risingsunnyc.com
Press Reservations pr@risingsunnyc.com
Beer flowing until it runs out...
Free Unlimited Beer & Water
$3 Glasses of Wine
Casino Style Games & Amazing Prizes!
Live entertainment! Dancing Girls!
Dress to Impress, 20s style encouraged but not required
This event is 21 yrs and older for entry
Featuring the talents of the critically acclaimed RSP Ensemble: Akia, Andrea Cordaro, Ashleigh Herndon, Carl Fengler, Christina Germaine, Derek W. S. Shore, Elizabeth Burke, Jak Prince, Kervin Peralta, Margaret Kissinger, Michael Aguirre, Ryan Dusek, Samantha DeSimone, Stephon Pettway, Tim Butterfield & Tiffini Minatel
And the Musical Styling’s of Queer Folk Duo Anna/Kate
It's midnight in the forlorn warehouses of the Branch Hill Industrial Supply Company. A band of low-rung employees have been called in late on special assignment, coincidentally on the same night the promotion to the mythic position of Corporate Representative might finally be available...but only for tonight. This odd little comedy investigates if there’s anything they won't compromise, sacrifice or betray to get ahead, and where the hell "ahead" even is.
About the Company: Horse Trade Theater Group
HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work that has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York – the first and only festival of its kind in New York City. In 2011 Horse Trade received the New York Innovative Theatre Ellen Stewart Stewardship Award for demonstrating a significant contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership.
There's a Light on Yonder Mountain follows the journey of an unlikely group of misfits on a mysterious mission to change the world. This new play, created by four emerging playwrights and a literary director, is inspired by Joseph Campbell's work on the Hero's Journey.
You may be asking yourself: how did five people co-author a play? Literary Director Kate MacCluggage started by giving the writers exploratory assignments based on the tried and true storytelling arc of the Hero's Journey. Then over countless hours (in person, over skype, text message, telephone, and hundreds of emails), Kate and the writers discovered patterns in the disparate scenes. In the next step of the process, the two directors will unite the voices of the writers, actors and designers into a single vision.
About the Company: Horse Trade Theater Group
HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work that has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York – the first and only festival of its kind in New York City. In 2011 Horse Trade received the New York Innovative Theatre Ellen Stewart Stewardship Award for demonstrating a significant contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership.
Now in its 9th Season,RadioTheatrehas been nominated for a 2010 Drama Desk Award, 13 New York Innovative Theater Awards; Winner of 2 NYIT Awards; Nominated 5 times for Outstanding Performance Group. For more information visit www.radiotheatrenyc.com
March 9& 16: The Birds/Shadow of a Doubt, March 23 & 30: Rebecca/ The Lodger, April 6, 13, & 20: Strangers on a Train, April 27 & May 4: Suspicion/The 39 Steps.
About the Company: RadioTheatre
Radiotheatre is a PERFORMANCE GROUP that creates AUDIO THEATRE live on stage inspired by old time radio dramas, yet, does not seek to re create period shows, nor traditional plays. By combining 21st Century sound technology, uniquely written scripts, a cast of story tellers, original orchestral scores and a plethora of sound effects, Radiotheatre produces a new hybrid, environmental art form. Its content is also unique in that it draws its inspiration from pulp genres usually ignored by live theatre; ie, adventure, science fiction, horror, crime.
Chris Harcum (American Badass, Rabbit Island, and Some Kind of Pink Breakfast) returns to the FRIGID New York Festival with a stand-up and storytelling fueled solo performance on feuds, gunslinging and what you get when you go up against the impossible. Two Lovely Black Eyes questions what we assume to be true and how much we should allow ourselves to operate on trust. In an era of heightened gun violence, is it safe to go to the theater? How do we deal with day-to-day events that may escalate out of control? What do you do when someone close to you violates what you deeply believe?
About the Company: Elephant Run District
Elephant Run District is a collective devoted to challenging expectations, inspiring dialogue in our community and creating long-lasting memories. Elephant Run seeks to entertain its audience at the same time it addresses social justice issues. The District is a place where traditions collide and new possibilities are explored in the hunt to create stories that are ultimately human. Like any community, The District is in a constant state of evolution, becoming more diverse and exciting as collaborators move in, set up shop and offer their creative wares to the world. Established in 2010, we have produced 2 full-length plays and various smaller projects. Our first production was hailed “a highlight of the theatrical season” by Martin Denton in 2011. elephantrundistrict. org.
Bathtub Jen and the Henchmen is a steampunk collaboration of prohibitionistic proportions! Sneak into a world of slapstick, stand-up, and vaudeville with Jersey's finest speakeasy entrepreneur and her curmudgeonly ex-con husband as they embark on poorly judged money-making schemes, erotic escapades gone awry, run-ins with a keystone cop, and vignettes that include accordion, ukulele, clarinet, spoons, and trumpet.
Lulled by nursery rhymes, a man’s thoughts are haunted by what separates his identity from his addiction. Life's beauty entangles with the heavy security of his addiction's lifeblood when what is real is only perceived through touch. Flashbacks fade between dreamlike and authentic, familiar and outlandish; but can his skin’s memory be trusted within the “big empty space” of his drug use? Dance, multi-media, and text give a chilling look into the world of an addict.THE SANDMAN’S COMING is conceived and directed by Molly Ballerstein. The cast includes Anya Gibian, Nelson Patino Jr., and Lantie Tom. The production team includes choreographer Dana Boll, stage manager Joel Rudzinski, associate producers Kristin Dwyer and Rachel Kerry, with original music and sound design by Dede Booth.
About the Company: Brain Melt Consortium
Since its inception, BMC has produced multiple staged readings, interactive concept parties, and a semi-regular series of “Pop Culture Fondues.”
In August 2011, Brain Melt Consortium produced its first fully staged full-length work, THE FLOWERS OF FANTASTICO, at the Ellen Stewart Theatre at La Mama as part of The New York International Fringe Festival.
Inspired by irretrievable hours sucked into Angry Birds, YouTube, and deciphering privacy settings. Each “app” opens a window into the bizarre, addictive, and sometimes surprisingly human things we follow, share and become with our gadgets. iMime tells the stories of our lives, both real and virtual, through stylized, poetic and hilarious movement.
Horse Trade Theater Group (Heidi Grumelot, Artistic Director, Erez Ziv, Managing Director) will present Less Than Rent’s production of Desire! [A Varsouviana], by Rachel Buethe, Patrick Fleury, and James Presson adapted from the plays and journals of Tennesssee Williams. The production will be directed by Jenna Grossano and will feature Cory Asinofsky, Rachel Buethe, Bianca Crudo, Patrick Fleury, Natalie Kropf, James Presson, Tom Sanchez, and Nicole Ventura with Choreography by Jennifer Delac, Scenic Design by Marissa Parkes, Costume Design by Amanda Brooklyn, Lighting Design by Megan Lang, Sound Design by Emily Auciello. Assistant Directed by Jacob Presson. The evening will be hosted by DJ Dan Geggatt.
Liquored-up and down-to-f*ck: it’s Stanley, Blanche, and STELL-AAAAA. They’ve traded in fried-green melodrama for red-hot dubstep, and when the beat drops the French Quarter will never be the same. A heart-stopping, pill-popping remix of Tennessee Williams’ sexiest play.
DESIRE! [A VARSOUVIANA] continues in Less Than Rent’s signature “no-rules” approach to classic material. The production integrates found text with original material while also deconstructing preconceived notions about the play itself. LTR first experimented with this style on Richard 3, which premiered in a sold-out run at the New York International Fringe Festival. It also received Fringe Excellence Awards for Outstanding Actor (Jake Ahlquist) and Director (James Presson). It was next used in the Crucible-inspired Witches of Salem, which premiered at Fordham University in the spring of 2012. This will be the third in the series.
About the Company: Horse Trade Theater Group
HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work that has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York – the first and only festival of its kind in New York City. In 2011 Horse Trade received the New York Innovative Theatre Ellen Stewart Stewardship Award for demonstrating a significant contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership.
The only live-feed musical variety show with a retro twist showcasing NYC's finest performers, musicians and comedians. Tune in monthly to hear incredible songs from one of NY's best big bands fronted by the incredible Jason Trachtenberg!
About the Company: Horse Trade Theater Group
HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work that has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York – the first and only festival of its kind in New York City. In 2011 Horse Trade received the New York Innovative Theatre Ellen Stewart Stewardship Award for demonstrating a significant contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership.
TOLD is a monthly storytelling show hosted by Seth Lind. Each month New York's best performers take the stage to tell true stories related to a central theme. A special guest provides interludes to glue the evening together into a collective experience.
About the Company: Horse Trade Theater Group
HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work that has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York – the first and only festival of its kind in New York City. In 2011 Horse Trade received the New York Innovative Theatre Ellen Stewart Stewardship Award for demonstrating a significant contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership.
A showcase for independent and established improv teams. For each show, two teams join Thank You, Robot to perform sets of unscripted comedy, never seen before and never to be seen again.
About the Company: Horse Trade Theater Group
HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work that has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York – the first and only festival of its kind in New York City. In 2011 Horse Trade received the New York Innovative Theatre Ellen Stewart Stewardship Award for demonstrating a significant contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership.
Sketch Comedy meets Block Party. This monthly show features a guest host comedian, three guest sketch troupes and drinking. Come meet, mingle, and perform!
About the Company: Horse Trade Theater Group
HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work that has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York – the first and only festival of its kind in New York City. In 2011 Horse Trade received the New York Innovative Theatre Ellen Stewart Stewardship Award for demonstrating a significant contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership.
Moth storytelling favorite, Adam Wade, has put together many of his winning heartfelt and humorous stories for a special show. He’ll also sing a few songs, and play video shorts. No two shows will be the same. A different featured guest will start the evening off.
About the Company: Horse Trade Theater Group
HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work that has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York – the first and only festival of its kind in New York City. In 2011 Horse Trade received the New York Innovative Theatre Ellen Stewart Stewardship Award for demonstrating a significant contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership.
Raconteurs regale the audience with true stories from their lives while The BTK Band, NYC’s hardest-drinking improvised storytelling rock band, improvises music and lyrics to turn their stories into songs. As if Tom Waits and The Moth delivered a baby from the gaping maw of Chaos.
About the Company: Horse Trade Theater Group
HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work that has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York – the first and only festival of its kind in New York City. In 2011 Horse Trade received the New York Innovative Theatre Ellen Stewart Stewardship Award for demonstrating a significant contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership.
Do you have what it takes to be a cabaret champion? Contestants compete for the chance to star in their own show or cabaret. Come out and join the fun! Whether you are a contestant or in the audience you are guaranteed to have a blast.
About the Company: Horse Trade Theater Group
HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work that has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York – the first and only festival of its kind in New York City. In 2011 Horse Trade received the New York Innovative Theatre Ellen Stewart Stewardship Award for demonstrating a significant contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership.
We're cock rocking the NPR crowd with the best underground comedy, storytelling, burlesque and sideshow acts. This whole thing (and all of everything) is about getting together and getting EXCITED – just turn your phones off and shout it out loud.
About the Company: Horse Trade Theater Group
HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work that has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York – the first and only festival of its kind in New York City. In 2011 Horse Trade received the New York Innovative Theatre Ellen Stewart Stewardship Award for demonstrating a significant contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership.
Slash Wednesday is a wonderfully riveting and irresistibly weird lunch time talk show for artists hosted by award-winning PBS writer/storyteller Slash Coleman. Infusing NYC’s hip east village stage with a distinct blend of southern charm, the show features live music, multi-media, comedy, inspirational interviews with cutting-edge artists and profound stories of success by cultural change makers.
About the Company: Horse Trade Theater Group
HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work that has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York – the first and only festival of its kind in New York City. In 2011 Horse Trade received the New York Innovative Theatre Ellen Stewart Stewardship Award for demonstrating a significant contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership.
Six playwrights and directors get a week and a half to write and rehearse a short play based around three conditions, a theme, and a pre-selected cast, and then its go time. Different playwrights and directors featured every month.
About the Company: Horse Trade Theater Group
HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work that has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York – the first and only festival of its kind in New York City. In 2011 Horse Trade received the New York Innovative Theatre Ellen Stewart Stewardship Award for demonstrating a significant contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership.
Direct from his award winning performance at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival Horse Trade Theater Group (Heidi Grumelot, Artistic Director, Erez Ziv, Managing Director) in association with Bowery Arts and Science will present a new multimedia solo show written and performed by Darian Dauchan (Death Boogie).
Darian Dauchanis the winner of the 2012 Stakeholder's Choice Award funded by The Jerome Foundation and presented by Bowery Arts and Science. This multi-media one-man feat consists of live looped songs, beat boxing and a collage of satirical poems and presidential sound bites chronicling candidacy to presidency, to present day. A virtual rhetorical conversation on the subject of America between a Poet and our President.
About the Company: Horse Trade Theater Group
HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work that has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York – the first and only festival of its kind in New York City. In 2011 Horse Trade received the New York Innovative Theatre Ellen Stewart Stewardship Award for demonstrating a significant contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership.
The Liar Show
Created & Hosted by Andy Christie
Thursday, November 1 @ 7pm
Call it an unreality show. Since the summer of 2006, The Liar Show has taken the art of deception to theaters, cabarets and cultural centers around the U.S. and Canada and was called “A Winner” (The Scotsman) and received 4 Stars during a month-long run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Liar has featured New Yorker Magazine contributor Andy Borowitz, Mike Daisey, called "The master storyteller" by the NY Times, and former Bill Clinton speechwriter, Mark Katz in addition to Comedy Central personalities, film directors, lapsed Mormons with a bone to pick with the Almighty, and even an NYPD gang squad detective. At each show, four performers tell short personal stories, but listen carefully, because one of these people is making it all up. Interrogate the cast and expose the Liar to win our unbelievable T-shirt. But as The Washington Post wrote of our show: “Prizes mean nothing compared with the sweet victory of being recognized as the savviest people in the room.”
The Adam Wade Originally From New Hampshire Show
Starring Moth StorySLAM winner Adam Wade
Thursday, November 1 @ 9pm
A GREATEST HITS ‘SHOW OF SHOWS’ from the monthly The Adam Wade From New Hampshire Show, which is headed into its fourth year at the UNDER St. Marks. The show stars 18 time Moth StorySLAM winner, Adam Wade. Adam tells several stories that range from his youth growing up in NH to his post college years in New York City. Adam’s stories are accompanied by home movies and music. This show has received rave reviews from the New York Times and Time Out New York Magazine where it’s a ‘Critic’s Pick’.
The Soundtrack Series – Sleepover!
Created & Hosted by Dana Rossi
Thursday, November 1 @ 11pm
The Soundtrack Series is a monthly dose of stories fueled by songs that has been featured in the New York Times, BUST, NY1, "Above and Beyond" in the New Yorker, a Critic’s Pick in Time Out New York, listed by Gothamist as a Gothamlist Event of the week, and included among the “Best Events and Things to Do in NYC” by CBS News New York. Five guest storytellers, Nat Cassidy (Songs of Love: A Theatrical Mixtape), Amanda Duarte (No Denying Love), David Crabb (Bad Kid, Ask Me Stories), and Bridget O'Neill (The Moth) get on the mic to tell the hilarious or heart wrenching stories and memories they forever associate with a song from their past. There’s the song, the story behind the song, and the story inspired by the song. We’re the third one.
Real Characters
Friday, November 2 @ 7pm
Andy Ross’s humor series Real Characters mixes together New York’s best storytellers, comedy writers, and memoirists. Past performers have appeared on The Moth, This American Life, 30 Rock, and Saturday Night Live. Past writers have contributed to The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, The Onion, The Simpsons, and The Colbert Report.
How I Learned
Friday, November 2 @ 9pm
Blaise Allysen Kearsley's How I Learned series features writers, storytellers, comedians, bloggers, and other raconteurs holding forth on lessons learned, unlearned, relearned, or in progress. Called "hip" and "energetic," and named one of the best shows of its kind by Time Out New York,
Bare.
Created & Hosted by Peter Aguero
Friday, November 2 @ 11pm
Raw stories paired with raw burlesque. Curated and hosted by Peter Aguero (The Moth, The BTK Band), Bare. will rip the heart out of your chest, place it lovingly back in, and proceed to do it all over again.
Workshop: Picking Apart Adam’s Story
Saturday, November 3 @ 1pm $25
In this workshop, learn the basic elements of first person storytelling from New York’s Adam Wade, an 18-time Moth StorySlam winner and two-time Moth Grand Slam champion. The workshop will follow a class format in which each attendee will have the opportunity to share a brief story and receive feedback from Adam, discovering how to take a crowd by surprise and make them care, how to be sincere and vulnerable on stage, and how to communicate the real meaning behind your experience.
Workshop: Discovering ‘The Moment’
Saturday, November 3 @ 3pm $25
Learn to discover 'the moment' that is your story and build around it. Peter Aguero, multi- grand slam winning storytelling artist will work with you in a small group on storytelling techniques.
Story Collider
Created & Hosted by Erin Barker and Ben Lillie
Saturday, November 3 @ 7pm
From finding awe in Hubble images to visiting the doctor, science is everywhere in our lives. Whether we wear a white lab coat or haven't seen a test tube since eighth grade, science affects and changes us. We all have a story about science, and at The Story Collider, we want to hear those stories.
TOLD 4th Anniversary Show
Hosted by Seth Lind
Saturday, November 3 @ 9pm
TOLD is a monthly storytelling show hosted by Seth Lind (This American Life). Each month New York's best performers take the stage to tell true stories related to a central theme. A special guest provides interludes to glue the evening together into a collective experience.
And I Am Not Lying
With Jeff Simmermon, Brad Lawrence, & Cyndi Freeman
Saturday, November 2 @ 11pm
We're cock-rocking the NPR crowd with the best underground comedy, storytelling, burlesque and sideshow acts. This whole thing (and all of everything) is about getting together and getting EXCITED – just turn your phones off and shout it out loud.
Storytelling Panel Discussion
Hosted by Seth Lind
Sunday, November 4 @ 3pm
Top NYC storytellers breakdown their craft in a discussion of storytelling forms, hosted by Seth Lind from TOLD and This American Life.
Long Form Storytelling – Martin Dockery & Ophira Eisenberg Double Bill
Sunday, November 4 @ 5pm
The Maize Maze of Ozura Performed by Martin Dockery
Setting off to Europe for his family’s first-ever large-scale reunion, Dockery instead finds himself mistakenly lost and alone on a farm in Hungary at the largest psy-trance festival in the world. In this brand new comedy about family, thoroughly thwarted expectations, and having no tent in the rain, Dockery takes us on an absurd odyssey as he soberly searches for his cousin amidst 10,000 inebriated revelers.
Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way To Monogomy Performed by Ophira Eisenberg
Storyteller and comic Ophira Eisenberg performs 30 minutes of the best stories from her upcoming book, conveniently by the same title
Oh, Hey Guys! Storytelling Open Mic
Hosted by John Flynn
Sunday, November 4 @ 7pm
Did you ever have a story, but not have anyone to tell it to? Well, suffer no more because John Flynn is hosting an open mic storytelling show! John will pick four names from a bucket. If you are chosen, you get eight minutes to tell any story you want. No theme, just a time limit. (Seriously, guys, we love you, but we will cut you off!) It is going to be a lot of fun, probably revealing, and free of judgment. (Unless you want John to comment on your outfit, which he will do free of charge.)
The BTK Band
Sunday, November 4 @ 9pm
The BTK Band is NYC's hardest-drinking improvised storytelling rock band. Raconteurs regale the audience with true stories from their lives while music and lyrics are improvised to turn their stories into songs. As if Tom Waits and The Moth delivered a baby from the gaping maw of Chaos.
About the Company: Horse Trade Theater Group
HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work that has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York – the first and only festival of its kind in New York City. In 2011 Horse Trade received the New York Innovative Theatre Ellen Stewart Stewardship Award for demonstrating a significant contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership.
Naked Girls Reading NYC is the perfect intimate live event: a monthly nude literary salon featuring in-the-buff readings by local burlesque luminaries, professional librarians, authors and other Naked Girls. Past themes have included Banned Books, Science Fiction and Tween Lit, as well as their annual holiday presentation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Guests to the salon are invited to sip a drink and listen with their eyes wide open as full-frontal literature meets fine art in this intimate theatrical setting.
About the Company: Horse Trade Theater Group
HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work that has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York – the first and only festival of its kind in New York City. In 2011 Horse Trade received the New York Innovative Theatre Ellen Stewart Stewardship Award for demonstrating a significant contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership.
L'illusion Comique is the story of Pridamant, a wealthy southern gentleman who has been estranged from his son for ten years. Frustrated and desperate to reconnect with his lost son, Pridamant seeks the counsel of Alcandre, a voodoo priestess living in the bayou. Alcandre then conjures visions of Pridamant's son, who now calls himself "Clindor". What then ensues is a rollercoaster of intrigue, love and comedy involving a beautiful young woman named Isabelle, her jealous suitor Adraste, Lyse the sly maid, Matamore a clownish braggart, love triangles, murder, magic and dead bunnies all climaxing in an amazing twist which leaves us asking "what is illusion and what is reality?". Where is the line between what is real and what is artifice?
Arts.Theatre
Spoken word artists, musicians, comedians, and other creative folks are invited to put their two cents in at this weekly gathering hosted by Penny Pollak.
About the Company: Horse Trade Theater Group
HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work that has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York – the first and only festival of its kind in New York City. In 2011 Horse Trade received the New York Innovative Theatre Ellen Stewart Stewardship Award for demonstrating a significant contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership.
Step one: Come see the show. Step two: Pick a character. Step three: When the character drinks, so do you! Can you make it through the night? The Virilogy is three one-act comedies (or one three-act tragedy), spanning a decade in the lives of the world’s worst best friends. Throughout the night the boys will attempt to discover how to be heart-broken, how to be a man, how to be a friend, and how to fail miserably at all of the above.
About the Company: StrangeDog Theatre Company
STRANGE DOG THEATRE COMPANY has performed in cramped cafes, noisy bars, abandoned warehouses, crowded restaurants and some well-known regional playhouses. They have developed a large repertoire of work over these past couple years – from a slew of carefully constructed evenings of short comedies to premieres of full-length plays. StrangeDog has been striving to bring its stories to established theaters with their experienced theatergoers. Yet we also endeavor to expose new audiences to our particular brand of outlandish comedy and biting drama in venues where they would expect it least. Essentially, StrangeDog is creating plays for people who mistakenly think they don’t like plays.
Directed by Michole Biancosino
Featuring: Aaliyah Habeeb, Roland Lane, Teresa Stephenson*, Keona Welch* and Shannon Michael Wamser*.
Alex is a photographer known for taking her subjects back through the tragedies they lived in their past. Prisons and war are her subject's secrets and her style is one of re-living. When she meets a former child soldier now living in Maryland her ethics and safety are brought into question as her artistic style is met with a trauma she may not be ready for.
*Appearing Courtesy of Actors' Equity Association
Arts.Theatre
Dejected, discouraged and depressed, Jonathon arrives home from work to his miserable little apartment where he lives all alone. Well, he lives all alone with his roommates: his dead dog on the couch, his dead grandpa at the table, and his ex-girlfriend locked in the closet.
About the Company: StrangeDog Theatre Company
STRANGE DOG THEATRE COMPANY has performed in cramped cafes, noisy bars, abandoned warehouses, crowded restaurants and some well-known regional playhouses. They have developed a large repertoire of work over these past couple years – from a slew of carefully constructed evenings of short comedies to premieres of full-length plays. StrangeDog has been striving to bring its stories to established theaters with their experienced theatergoers. Yet we also endeavor to expose new audiences to our particular brand of outlandish comedy and biting drama in venues where they would expect it least. Essentially, StrangeDog is creating plays for people who mistakenly think they don’t like plays.
Horse Trade Theater Group will present aMios Theatre Company’s World Premiere of David L. Williams’ (nominated for a Kevin Kline award for best new play for The Winners; book writer for The Bully with Vital Theatre Company) IN THE MEANTIME, May 3-19 at UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Avenue and Avenue A). The production will be directed by Rachel Dart (Broadway! Broadway! Broadway! with Culture Project; Live from Pod 305 with the EstroGenius Festival) and will feature Lauren Berst* (St Crispin's Day at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater), Eddie Boroevich* (Marathon Festival of One-Act Plays with EST; Five By Tenn with Manhattan Theatre Club) and Jillian LaVinka* (Kimberly Akimbo with Hudson Stage). *Appearing courtesy of the Actors’ Equity Association.
Sitting in a bar watching a game are a couple and a woman sitting by herself. Before the game ends, time stops, and the three of them have the ability to play out new reality after new reality. As the variations play on, the three begin to learn too much about each other, and are forced to make a decision whether to be free of the past or to hold on to what is theirs.
About the Company: aMios Theatre Company
AMIOS THEATRE COMPANY (Art and Music in Our Souls) was founded by alumni of the National Theatre Conservatory with the goal to constantly create new work; work that engages both artist and audience in a process that is immediate, inspired, personal, organic, and which injects vitality into this scene we call theatre.
It’s a busy, happening Saturday night in the Big City, and everyone we know is having a party in their apartment. Apartments! Parties! People! Music! Dancing! Cell phones! Flashbulbs! Making Out! Longing. Your Boyfriend May Be Imaginary is a stylish and romantic party play about a group of 30-somethings negotiating their way through the pitfalls of coupledom.
*Appearing courtesy of the Actors' Equity Association
About the Company: Horse Trade Theater Group
HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work that has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York – the first and only festival of its kind in New York City. In 2011 Horse Trade received the New York Innovative Theatre Ellen Stewart Stewardship Award for demonstrating a significant contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership.
What happens when you try to be your idol? Award-winning PBS special storyteller, Slash Coleman, and The Second City alum auGi, share the answer in their comical and painfully true double feature, Big Plastic Heroes. The New York premiere is being presented by Frigid New York and pokes fun at what happens when hyperactive teenagers try to emulate their action hero idols, specifically Evel Knievel and Rambo.
"The graveyard. Two funerals. Two strangers. A wedding. An escape. A coffin. A curious young girl. A birth. Oddities of darkness and light come alive through intense emotion and intimacy. 'Til Love Do Us Part follows a seventy-year relationship. Through Life. Sex. Death. And most sickening of all, Love ."
Following years of performing theatrical monologues all across The U.S., Canada, & Australia (Wanderlust, The Bike Trip, The Surprise, and The Holy Land Experience), Martin Dockery brings his award-winning two-person play home to New York City, the last stop on an eight-city tour across North America. As the story of a man trying to get a woman into his flying bed, Oh, That Wily Snake! appears, at first, to be a surreal comedy. But as the fantastical adventure unfolds, the battle between temptation and fidelity turns ever more serious, climaxing in a moment that resonates from the very beginning of time.
“Terrific performances and crazily Inventive.” The Vancouver Courier, Vancouver
“Superb performers.” The Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
“Standout performances that perfectly straddle the comedic, quirky and menacing parts of the script.” The Star Phoenix, Saskatoon
“Great performances & a script that has everything – hilarity, wit and philosophy.”
Vue Weekly, Edmonton
“The dialogue is so clever & witty you wish you had the gift to be so inventive yourself.” Edmonton Sun, Edmonton
“Funny & intense.” Plank Magazine, Vancouver
“éééé You become entranced.” London Free Press
***2011 BEST ACTRESS AWARD, London Fringe Festival: Vanessa Quesnelle***
About the Company: Horse Trade Theater Group
Horse Trade is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work, it has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent Theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York – the first and only festival of its kind in New York City.
ARRIVALS
December 2, 8, 10, 16 & 17 at 8pm
One Step Beyond
By Imogene Bird
Directed by John Pieza
Featuring Lauren Berst, Joshua Coomer & Kristy Powers
Love is a realization that someone else exists.
Little China
Written by Justin Yorio
Directed by Khris Lewin
Featuring Rob Hille, Melissa Ortiz & Mandi Masden
A stray cat provokes a New York City couple and leads to a surprising visit.
The Very True Chronicles of Aloysius the Traveller, in the Great Land of New York City
Written by P. Seth Bauer
Directed by Megan Hildebrand
Featuring Christian Haines, Genesis Oliver & Sean Lyons
When a man with a noble heart and an epic sense of adventure arrives in New York City, it is inevitable that he should make his mark. Aloysius the Traveller arrives on the shores of New Jersey and befriends a fisherman named Benjamin who agrees to ferry him across the Hudson in search of great adventures and noble endeavors in the remarkable island of Manhattan.
DEPARTURES
December 1, 3, 9 & 15 at 8pm and Saturday December 17 at 3pm
Rosary
Written by Pat Shand
Directed by Rob Hille
Featuring Zach Evenson, Jennifer LeBlanc & Alanna Wilson
When an old friend makes a drastic decision, Kyla watches her past collide with her present and is left to pick up the pieces.
The Counter Offer
Written by David L Wilson
Directed by Rachel Dart
Featuring Justin Yorio, Kelli Crump & Jenna Panther
Negotiation is the name of the game when a representative of the 1% tries to peel one leader away from the Occupy Wall Street protest.
Whatever Happened to Baby Ngozi?
Written by Kate MacCluggage
Directed by Jessica Chayes
Featuring Michael Fulvio & Rob Robinson
A family drama about a truly unique family.
About the Company: Horse Trade Theater Group
Horse Trade is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work, it has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent Theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York – the first and only festival of its kind in New York City.
In 2008, Dysfunctional Theatre Company asked, ‘When the Apocalypse comes, will there be beer?’ There was. Unfortunately there wasn't enough. Continuing to lovingly rip off Dawn of the Dead, The Evil Dead and Shaun of the Dead, Brew of the Dead 2: Oktoberflesh asks an even more important question, ‘Can the dead get high?’
The production will feature Nicole Lee Aiossa, Rob Brown*, Eric Chase*, Tom O’Connor, Amy Overman, and Amy Beth Sherman* with Special Effects/Gore by Stephanie Cox-Williams (named “New York’s Queen of Gore” by New York Press). *Appears courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association.
“The Breakfast Club as directed by George Romero.” Byrne Harrison, StageBuzz
“There hasn't been a group this talented at high-octane punning since Evil Dead: The Musical… goes far beyond the simple "drinkability" of Bud Lite commercials and ends up like more of a Guinness: dark, frothy, and practically a meal in a can.” Aaron Riccio, That Sounds Cool
About the Company: Dysfunctional Theatre Company
The Dysfunctional Theatre Company: The Dysfunctional Guide to Home Perfection, Marital Bliss & Hot Passionate Romance is Dysfunctional Theatre's 31st production. Other recent productions include: Brew of the Dead (by Patrick Storck) Chosen (written & directed by Rick Vorndran; winner of the 2008 FRIGID New York Festival ‘Sold Out Show’ Award), The 8: Reindeer Monologues (by Jeff Goode), Bite (by Suzanne Bachner) and Hoover: A Love Story (by Paul Wells). Founded in 1997 Dysfunctional is dedicated to challenging the status quo without taking itself too seriously.
Horse Trade Theater Group will once again present their annual October tradition, the critical acclaimed, New York Innovative Theatre Award nominated, Pumpkin Pie Show! Featuring all new stories written by Clay McLeod Chapman (Hostage Song at The Kraine; Fear Mongers at Dixon Place), performed by Clay and Hanna Cheek (Hostage Song; Goodbar with Waterwell) with original music by Kyle Jarrow (Obie Award for A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant; music & lyrics for Hostage Song) performed by new husband and wife duo, Sky-Pony!
This year, The Pumpkin Pie Show is all about the love. We will be sharing tales of romance—some true, others ripped from the hearts (and headlines) of others.
ASCENDING THE STAIRWAY: Attention, 7th graders: Learn how to make out to Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" through this step-by-step tale of tonguing.
Drawing upon Ms. Stein’s reputation for repetition, Now Repeat in Steinese is actually four back-to-back productions of her early enigmatic one-act “White Wines” paired with four different white wines. Fruity? Dry? Acidic? Sweet?Now Repeat in Steinese has you covered both as a play and a beverage.
Participating Artistes
Ryan Bronz, founding member of the National Theater of the United States of America, has created original works for Symphony Space, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, and Galapagos Arts Space.
Kurt Braunohler has taken his act to SXSW and the Edinburgh Fringe (where he was an IF.Comedy Award nominee). His troupe also won Improv Ensemble of the Year Award at Chicago Improv Festival.
Heidi Carlsen, a Fullbright scholar, brought her movement-theater experiments to Poland then returned to NYC where she’s staged works at H.E.R.E., the Ontological and through the Women’s Project.
Andrew Frank, aside from writing & directing, is cofounder of Manhattan Theater Source which recently celebrated 10 years. His off-Broadway musical Sidd was recently revived at a Midwestern college.
Mark Grenier is the Training Center Director and an instructor at Magnet Theater. He is also the Artistic Director of Shoot from the Hip, an improvisational filmmaking program based in the Catskills.
Drew Pisarra, a Steinese veteran, has staged her one-acts Curtain Raiser , Ladies Voices, and Three Sisters Who Are Not Sisters plus the longer Yes is for a very young man.
Laura Sheedy has been a directorial advisor to such international acts as Circus Oz, La La Parlour and Suitcase Royale. Her solo show Undercover premiered at the Melbourne Fringe Festival.
The Outer Puppets is back! This time our theme is HORROR! This is the second episode of our puppet storytelling hour. Three bizarre stories are told in one night of live Puppet Theater with live music. The first story, I Saw Your Monster Naked, finds two boys running for their lives from a parade of B Movie monsters. They find many bizarre hiding places but in the end will they lose their innocence? The next story, A Shadow’s Puppet, tells of a man’s descent into darkness after he discovers he has the ability to make things happen with his mind. But who will be the one pulling the strings after he realizes that his shadow wants control of him and his ability. The final story, Whistling Jack, gives us four teenage girls telling ghost stories at a slumber party who get more than the expected when they summon an insane murderer from beyond the grave.
About the Company: SickLittle Productions
The Outer Puppets is brought to you by Sick Little Productions whose mission is to tell uncommon stories in unusual ways.
Horse Trade Theater Group presents Red Bastard and CACTUS: The Seduction
A DOUBLE BILL!
RED BASTARD
Written by: Eric Davis with Sue Morrison
Red Bastard is a Dangerous Seductive Comedy Monster! After 5-star reviews and sold out shows across North America and Europe, America’s premiere bouffon unleashes a pompous theatrical master class in this critically-acclaimed Bouffon show. His mission: to charm, disarm, shock and seduce. His target: you.
Red Bastard is not clown. He is not here to please you. He has come to make you surrender- to play the audience like a devil does a fiddle. Experience this exquisite monstrosity as he delicately leads you through a no-holds-barred theatrical master class- demanding to know nothing less than the existential query, “Who the hell do you think you are?” Lines will be crossed and laughs will be had in this interactive feast of biting wit, improvisation, and physical prowess. Audiences should be prepared for anything to happen in this interactive show, in which Red Bastard engages the audience in raw conversation, uncovering ridiculous and disturbing truths.
CACTUS: The Seduction
a solo show by Jonno Katz
Directed by Mark Chavez
CACTUS is a unique physically devised solo show that is both irresistible love story and carnival of boundless imaginings, a hilarious search for love in the most unlikely of places. Phil slips between reality (walking through a desert with 2 weird characters) and fantasy (talking directly to the audience spinning yarns and leaving them in hysterics). It is a multi-layered, theatrical, stand-up, explosion of imagination.
Join Ozam the Barbarian and her friends as they sing and rap their way to glory. Behold wild combats, contemplate outrageous lyrics, and immerse yourself in a fantasy realm. Come see the show, and have a horde of fun!
One room. Eight original short plays.
FEATURING: Maggie Alexander, Lawrence Crimlis, Loren Dunn, Emily Robin Fink, Andy Hassell, Meghan Jones, Jordan Kenneth Kamp, Michael Kingsbaker, Dave Lankford, Kitty Lindsay, Geeta Pereira, James Rich, Emily Turonis, Eugene Turonis, and Maiken Wiese
Clones, robots and teenage time travelers search for connection at a dance party aboard a satellite. So what if its purpose is to celebrate an exploding star? For the kids in this "sci-fi dance party spectacle" this is going to be the BEST NIGHT EVER.
Length: 1 hr 15 mins
Intermission: None
About the Company: Horse Trade Theater Group
Horse Trade is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work, it has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent Theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York – the first and only festival of its kind in New York City.
Poppycock is a contemporary farce about the various ways we lie to people in order to prevent them from discovering how much we've been lying to ourselves. At a remote bed & breakfast in the northeast, the owner, Fred, is frantically trying to avoid losing the house to his rival and former friend, Barney. When an eccentric family accidentally ends up stranded at the house for the night, Fred finds an unlikely ally in Poppy, a troubled but confident 25-year-old who has never left home and is eager to escape her controlling sister Hailey, and Hailey's suspicious boyfriend Howard, both of whom seem to suddenly want a piece of the bed & breakfast for themselves. As Fred and Poppy form a sketchy partnership to assist each other, the house comes under constant threat from Barney, Hailey, Howard, an uncompromising building inspector, and Fred's mute assistant Claudia (who speaks only in a sign-language of her own invention), culminating in one hilarious night full of nonsense and poppycock.
Length: 1 hr 15 mins
Intermission: None
In a polarized world of pink versus blue, everyone deserves Technicolor.
In this intimately outrageous cabaret, eight gender stereotypes are plucked straight from pop culture: a Girly Girl, a Manly Man, a Nice Guy, a Gay Best Friend, a Slut, a Feminist Lesbian, and a Tomboy. Guided by an androgynous, omnipotent MC intent on their redemption, they embark on eight sexy, hilarious journeys from stereotypes to Human Beings. Along the way, hearts are broken, Pomeranians are purchased, the Pussies of America make their stand, and everyone does the “Single Ladies” dance.
Biting yet compassionate, this epic ensemble piece skewers everything from feminism to sexting; from acquaintance rape to infidelity; from homophobia and assault, to loneliness and the bass-ackwards ways we seek affection--just to name a few. The sharp edges of caricature soften; connection replaces spectacle; and men, women, and none-of-the-aboves discover that in a polarized world of pink versus blue, everyone deserves Technicolor.
Featuring: Becca Blackwell, John Graham, Brendan Hunt, Tess Paras*, Timothy Ryan, Sofia Urista, Steve White, Yolanda K. Wilkinson*, Miranda Noelle Wilson*
Director: Krystal Banzon
Asst. Director: Jesse Geguzis
Lighting Design: Mike Gugliotti
Costume Design: Nina Vartanian
Set Design: Ashley Pridmore-Abrego
Sound Design: Karla Calderon
Movement: Sarena Kennedy
Visuals: Vidkidz (Melanie Clemmons and Zak Loyd)
*These actors are appearing courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association. Equity Approved Showcase.
CONFESSIONS OF A LEATHER BAR CHANTEUSE | Open: 02/24/10 Close: 03/07/10
With delightful and poignant tales of a Southern Songstress and her gay family, Alex Bond and David Carson read selections from Ms. Bond’s novel and transport you to Dallas 1977, a magical time before HIV/AIDS, but not before ignorance and prejudice. A favorite at the 2008 San Francisco Fringe and the 2009 Fresh Fruit Festival.---
A reclusive former Southern debutante/cabaret performer in her sixties, Anna Zander hires Craig Bauer to help her write about the best years of her life. She recounts the tales of singing in the gay leather bars of Dallas (when she looked like a drag queen and sang coloratura!). As she reveals memories, lessons, and losses… the collaboration on the book grows, and so does the friendship between Anna and Craig.
ADVISORY: adult language and content.
The selections will be read by Alex Bond (Flamingo Court), and David Carson (Nixon’s Nixon).
With delightful and poignant tales of a Southern Songstress and her gay family, Alex Bond and David Carson read selections from Ms. Bond’s novel and transport you to Dallas 1977, a magical time before HIV/AIDS, but not before ignorance and prejudice. A favorite at the 2008 San Francisco Fringe and the 2009 Fresh Fruit Festival.
A reclusive former Southern debutante/cabaret performer in her sixties, Anna Zander hires Craig Bauer to help her write about the best years of her life. She recounts the tales of singing in the gay leather bars of Dallas (when she looked like a drag queen and sang coloratura!). As she reveals memories, lessons, and losses… the collaboration on the book grows, and so does the friendship between Anna and Craig.
What defines us: our love or our art? Olivia Lilley’s new play Amateurs mixes love and art together until they are impossible to separate. Directed by Benjamin Ehrenreich, Amateurs follow the life of three roommates and an ex-boyfriend as they struggle to find themselves in a world rife with entanglement, loneliness, and personal failure. With biting humor, Lilley crafts a tale of identity and its ever-shifting nature, resonating profoundly with anyone who has wondered what makes a person who they are.
The show features Alexandra Grossi as Angela, Joy Shatz as Masha, Lee Chrisman as Brick, and Jon Burklund as Dorian.
It's the Master Of The Macabre's Bicentennial and RADIOTHEATRE is celebrating with an unprecedented year-long theatrical tribute to EDGAR ALLAN POE (1809-1849.) Did you know that our first great literary giant wrote some of his most famous works right here in NYC? He may have died penniless in the gutter, but, his stories have gone on to influence generations of international artists, writers and filmmakers to this day. So, RADIOTHEATRE will be presenting its own unique versions of over 20 of his scariest stories and poems including "The Pit and The Pendulum," "The Tell Tale Heart," "Murders In The Rue Morgue," "The Raven," "The Black Cat," "The Oval Portrait," "The Masque of Red Death," "The Cask Of Amontillado," "Ligeia," "The Premature Burial," and more! EVERY MONTH A DIFFERENT PROGRAM OF TERRIFYING TALES...EXPERIENCE IT AGAIN AND AGAIN! Adapted and Directed by Dan Bianchi and the Award Winning, Critically Acclaimed Performance Group RADIOTHEATRE...IN CONCERT, LIVE ON STAGE Complete With A Great Cast Of Storytellers (and Special GUESTS) An Original Orchestral Score and a Plethora Of Sound Effects!
JUST BRING YOUR IMAGINATION!
5 Short Plays that explore the perversity of our most basic (and sometimes base) relationships, in situations that will make you scratch your head in disbelief...
Founding Artistic Director, Akia has selected the work of 5 up and coming playwrights as part of their “Aspire to Inspire” Series, one of RSP’s many programs created to support the work of emerging and established NYC theatre artists. All of the pieces feature the critically acclaimed Rising Sun Ensemble & Guest Artists.
Plays contain some Adult Situations, Language and Partial Nudity
8PM Thursday, Friday, Saturday 2PM Sunday
July 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 23rd, 24th & 25th
@ UNDER St. Marks 94 St. Marks Place Between 1st Avenue and Avenue A (No wheelchair access) L train to 1st avenue or F to 2nd Ave
Tickets: Adults $15 / Students & Seniors $12 Pay what you can Thursdays (Cash only at door)
To purchase tickets call SmartTix: 212-868-4444
online: http://www.horseTRADE.info or http://www.risingsunnyc.com
Press Reservations 212-946-1242 or risingsunpr@gmail.com
Production Stage Manager Howard Tilkin
Costume Design Katherine Stults
Properties & Special Effects Elaine Jones
Photography & Video By David Anthony
Party Girl
Written by Kitt Lavoie
Directed by Ian Quinlan
Assistant Director Derrick DeMaria
Featuring Becky Sterling, Lindsay Beecher
& Billy Fenderson
A young lawyer arrives at his cousin’s bachelor party to find his girlfriend, an Ivy League PhD student, working the party as an exotic dancer—two days before he was to introduce her to his family. They must work out how—and if—they can possibly go on together.
Teddy Knows Too Much
Written by Matt Hanf
Directed by Joseph McLaughlin
Assistant Director Cara Liander
Featuring Alexia Tate, Nicole Howard, Chris Enright & Peter Aguero
When a young boy befriends a teddy bear and tells him all of his secrets, he is left with only one option…
Nurturing Bond
Written By Tom Kiesche
Directed By Matthew Kreiner
Featuring: Michael McManus & Melissa Ciesla
A mother and son never separated at birth, at the end of their rope.
Head Games
Written By Justin Warner
Directed By Jason Tyne-Zimmerman
Featuring Nicole Howard, Chris Enright & Lindsay Beecher
In ancient Judea, Salome's uncle Herod returns with the head of John the Baptist, as promised. But the gift doesn't elicit the reaction he anticipated – for a devastating reason.
The Kiss
Written By Mark Harvey Levine
Directed by Melissa Farinelli
Featuring Flor Bromley & Jonathan Wexler
Dennis asks his best friend Allison to judge his kissing skills. Can he help it if she has to kiss him to do it?
With the popularity of confessional websites, blog culture, and the advent of the technology age, Counting Squares Theatre examines the cause and effect of our increasingly stark interpersonal relationships. Counting Squares asks the question; why can’t we deal with each other and really be ourselves out in the open, through a variety of fast paced scenes that include many different forms of performance? Through the use of scene work, song, dance, and multimedia we expose how our inner secrets cause our outward fears.
The creation of Counting Squares Theatre’s Second Annual Devised Project, BIGGER THAN I, came from a study of the cultural phenomenon that is anonymous online confessionals. As an arts collective we began exploring these various websites and the array of secrets people divulge therein. Many of the topics anonymously expressed inspired discussions of our society as a whole, as well as ourselves as individuals. Why do we keep secrets? Why is it that we feel the need to divulge our secrets? What are the effects of such actions? Is it to selfish ends that these feelings are borne into? Or is there more to the story? We slowly began writing pieces that we felt encapsulated the feelings of these confessions, while continuously discussing the ramifications of keeping secrets from those we love. We have created, from the ground up, a piece which examines secrets, confessions and interpersonal relationships.
BIGGER THAN I will feature Mikey Barringer, Edward Davis, Matthew Greenbaum*, Dena Kology Ryan Nicholoff, and Chris Worley. *Appearing courtesy of The Actors’ Equity Association
In a violent and corrupt neighborhood, the ruffian, Johnny Bad chases his dream of becoming a renowned poet. In Jackie True, he finds the muse he's looking for. The romance is complicated by the potential of a family, and the couple must choose between their aspirations and reality.Ryan Colwell's one-person show Johnny Bad vs. Jackie True provides social exploration of the structure, importance and development of family. Centered around the poet/ruffian Johnny Bad and his enamoring muse Jackie True, the play traces the couple and their friends born into and raised in a neighborhood accursed with violence, impulse and fear. When the potential of a child arises, Johnny Bad and Jackie True must cut through the passion and daydreams and approach their future with forced maturity.
The format of the show is influenced primarily by the early solo performance styles of Lily Tomlin, Beatrice Herford and Ruth Draper in which the intimate point of view, reaction-based delivery allows the monologue to explain itself in time.
Enjoy this SOLD-OUT hit from the 2008 Toronto Fringe Festival, a two woman multi-character comedy about an inept waitress, a feisty senior and their nursing home break-out.
Swing to and from a present day Jamaican diner and 1940s wartime Britain. This funny and poignant story explores feeling alive and needed at any age through the relationship between 85 year old Sybil, and 40-something Kate. Experience colorful locals including Sybil’s son, WWII vet Fred, a tough biker, the Jamaican Diner’s owner, Peg, and many others as we flashback to events that shaped Sybil’s life.
See the show that was called “funny, sad, quirky and sweet all at once” by Canada’s Toronto Star.
An absurdly slow day on the Jersey Turnpike takes a sudden turn when two toll booth attendants face impending doom barreling towards them...
in the form of a truck filled with chickens.
Milo waits for his dream woman. Jane waits for tomorrow. And neither seems to be coming. With their reality twisted like a bad, bad bottle of peppermint schnapps they struggle to salvage their broken dreams when suddenly they hear a-cluckin'…
But what does it mean?
Fried/O’Neil Productions presents
The Matt Fried Hour
It’s the live talk show you need to see. Matt Fried and Chris O’Neil welcome to the stage a mix of New York celebrities, up and coming comedians, and emerging musical guests. And then, there’s Matt and Chris’s famous chemistry. The Matt Fried Hour with Chris O’Neil – they make genius look easy.
Friday, February 27, 11:30pm@UNDER St. Marks
Seth Lind, Heidi Grumelot, and Horse Trade Theater Group present
Told/Cold
Told is a monthly themed storytelling performance hosted by Seth Lind. Stories range from comedic autobiographical monologues to wild performance pieces to dramatized fiction. Past performers include celebrated playwrights, contributors to This American Life and The Moth, and comedians from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. Friday’s show will feature Dan Bianchi and the folks from Radiotheatre’s Sundays With Poe.
Sunday, March 1, 10pm@The Kraine Theater
FRIGID Party
Party it up after the festival ends for the day! Free beer, snacks, cash bar in the KGB, and rock ‘n roll tunes by DJ Joey Nova (Monday Night Burlesque, Shazam!). Open to all FRIGID participants, staff, volunteers, and 3 show pass holders.
Thursday, March 5
God Tastes Like Chicken
God Tastes Like Chicken is a mock religious service with faith healing, communion, passion plays and improv. We take on the excesses of organized religion through blasphemy and comedy. God Tastes Like Chicken is a very interactive show and among other things audience members are encouraged to attend in religious costumes. The show will include wild variety acts from up and coming downtown artists, musicians, performance artists, edgy comedians with something to say and experimental theatrics.
Friday, March 6, 12am@UNDER St. Marks
The Centrifuge presents
Fresh Ground Pepper: Midnight CLASH!
Fresh Ground Pepper is a monthly development series where artists of all shapes, sizes, and medias can bring new work into a space for experimentation and growth. On Friday, March 6 we will assemble individual artists for a one-night only, improvisational evening of live original music, dance, and design.
Saturday, March 7, 12am@UNDER St. Marks
Theatre Reverb presents
Watch Out, It’s Go Time!
Fresh off the plane from Mexico for one night in New York City secret agents Olga and Björn are back with revengeance for this action packed night of Big Buckhunter™, tin-flute, song, dance, video, and low-grade virtual pyrotechnics set against a backdrop of sampled media and stream-of-consciousness comedy. You better Watch Out! Winner of “Audience Choice” and “Sold Out” awards at FRIGID 2008
December’s show is a collection of songs and clips from sci-fi musicals, from Phantom of the Paradise to Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog. The evening will celebrate the most mind-boggling numbers from campy favorites such as Forbidden Zone (1980) and Xanadu (1980), to lesser-know films like the Alan Arkin superhero parody The Return of Captain Invincible (1983) and Grease-meets-Swamp Thing oddity Voyage of the Rock Aliens (1987).
The two-hour video variety show will also include trivia, sing-alongs and TV clips from the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special and the obscure Star Wars-themed episode of The Donnie and Marie Show.
Kevin Maher (American Movie Classics’ The Sci Fi Department) and Raven Snook (Time Out New York) co-host the evening that promises to please geeks, gays and glitter hounds in equal measure.
PLUCKING FAILURES LIKE RIPE FRUIT features Alicia Barnatchez, Brooke Eddey, Sabrina Farhi, Richard Lovejoy, Jeremy Mather, and Jeff Sproul.
VICE GIRL CONFIDENTIAL originally premiered in the 10th Annual FringeNYC at the Cherry Lane Theatre Annex. It not only earned a FringeNYC Award for Outstanding Acting Ensemble, but sold-out its run and received rave reviews. NYTheatre.com described the production as "smart, laugh-inducing, and perfect," while Talkin' Broadway called Michael's "crackling way with words… a true pleasure."
HYSTERICAL DEMENTIAA Character-Driven Variety Show
For the Way-Off Broadway Crowd
Featuring the Cream of the Crop of the Bottom of the Barrel:
Shecky Beagleman
David Leopold
John Murdock
Mike Raphone
Steph Sabelli
Bruce Smolanoff
Jennifer Blowdryer
Rosie Rebel
Don Eng
Hosted by Steve Bird
Writer/performer/comedian Steve Bird resumes his haunting of the peripheries of Off-Off-Broadway .......... past credits include appearances in the New York International Fringe Festival, Avant-Garde-Arama at P.S. 122, the variety shows Superfluous Disgruntlement at Bowery Poetry Club and Hysterical Dementia at Mo Pitkins. During a five-year tenure at Collective Unconscious on Ludlow Street he produced and starred in a series of one-man shows and variety shows, including Smirk, Jealous Competitive Bastard, Outside the Comfort Zone, Sarcastic Passion and Ass of Satan.
A contemporary jester takes us back to the past to learn about the present. Political and social satire abound as we see the world still needs it's fools to show us how to stand up to the giants, demons, and kings that surround us! The Dark ages never had so much light!!
What if Hillary talked to angels? Well, then she'd be Bernie. Growing up average in looks and above average in brains in middle America, Bernie always knew she was meant for something. Then one day, an angel told her what it was. As she struggles to fulfill her God given destiny, Bernie goes on a journey which may sound very familiar. College radical. First Lady. Senator. President. And then? She's going to be the leader of the world, free or otherwise.
Why?
Because it's what God wants.
Chosen continues Dysfunctional Theatre's rich tradition of political & social satire (Hoover: A Love Story, Mr. Rogers' Y2K, Il Duce: The Rudy Giuliani Story). An irreverent take on the life of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Chosen careens through 50 years of history in less than 60 minutes. And there's music!
We all live in structures, some we see, some we don't. Some we create, some are created for us. Glass Houses follows the relationships of a gay couple and a straight couple whose sexual identities break down in a tangled web of love and lies. This explosive new drama explores the intricacy of our structured lives and the delicacy of our relationships. 
In the seedy and seditious demimonde of Weimar Berlin, five lost souls find each other (and sold-out audiences) when they create a scandalous club where adults play like children... and customers pay to watch. KINDERSPIEL tells the story of how a burnt-out expressionistic dancer, a jaded Jew, a trendsetting lesbian journalist, a conservative widow and a utopian communist turn a curious fetish into a revolutionary theater movement. 
A little girl from America's Heartland is commanded by God to rule the world. Well, not God exactly, an angel. Well, maybe not an angel, more of a ghost. But a famous ghost! Struggling to fulfill her destiny she goes to a radical college, has a career, a husband & a baby, toys with a wide variety of hairstyles (and headbands!), becomes a Democrat, a First Lady and a Senator. She's going to be leader of the world free or otherwise.Why?
Because it's what God wants.
Chosen continues Dysfunctional Theatre's rich tradition of political & social satire (Hoover: A Love Story, Mr. Rogers' Y2K, Il Duce: The Rudy Giuliani Story). Inspired by the lives of Hillary Rodham Clinton & St. Bernadette of Lourdes, Chosen explores & satirizes politicians and their creation of modern myth in America.
DeCADEnceBy P. William Pinto
Directed by Akia
Assistant Director Matthew Kreiner
Stage Manager Jenna Dempesy
Featuring Adam Purvis, Crystal Franceshini, Elizabeth Burke ,Julie Bain, Kathleen Schlemmer, Lindsey Smith, Michelle Robinson, Mimi Jefferson, Nicolette Callaway, Paige Patterson, Patrick J. Egan, Reginald Ferguson , Rey Oliver Bune, Rob Richardson, & Thomas Farrell
What the Critics Have to Say about Rising Sun
"Intense and out-there, and just never lets up" .. NYtheatre.com
"Well worth the audience's time and money" & "Deeply Honest" ...Oobr.com
"A little gem hidden in the dark Under St. Mark's".. L Magazine
"if the unusual is what you crave head down to UNDER St. Mark's for the ride of your life!" .. NYcool.com
"A number of excellent performances" Deborah Greenhut
The Online Entertainment Guide calls Rising Sun the most popular Off-Off-Broadway performance company!!
Playwright P. William Pinto, Director Akia and the immensely talented ensemble of Rising Sun have spent the last 6 months developing the world premiere production of DeCADEnce. An Original work drawing from our eclectic Americana history, told thru 10 vignettes each representing a decade from the 20th Century. DeCADEnces explores both the frightening injustices and the triumphant advances of our human history; from Coney Island sideshows, Minstrelsy & Blackface, Old Time Radio to "Monicagate", DeCADEnce leaves no stone unturned. The rotating 16 member ensemble portrays these stories through an array of performance and media styles, inspired by TV Sitcoms, Musicals, Radio Plays, Civil Rights Protests, Live Music, Vaudeville, Carnival & Circus styles and more.
DeCADEnce flies from 1903 to 1998 in examination of the lies, truths, and in-betweens which have plagued this country in the last century. Meet Topsy the Elephant that helped build Coney Island, and witness her gruesome public execution, Follow the conflict of an African American Actor who has to decide between keeping his job and lowering himself to Minstrelsy, Peek inside the interrogation room of Roswell, NM and see what may or may not have really happened, Listen in on a studio recording a Radio play, and watch the outside during the Depression, dance along to disco music at Studio 54 and re-live the blinding media circus of the Clinton Sex Scandal.
What can be said about the 20th Century? Find out in DeCADEnce.....
In "Dangers of Tobacco," a man struggles to give a lecture thrust upon him by his overpowering wife, until her mental hold on him leads him to the point of mental breakdown in the middle of his presentation. "Reluctant Tragic Hero" follows a similar journey, as office life, a train, and mosquitoes turn an ordinary man into a near-homicidal monster, while "Marriage Proposal" pits romance against land disputes, disfigured dogs, and a heart murmur. 
Inside of The Most Beautiful Lullaby You've Ever Heard, a Man and a Woman breathe in the possibility of a blank piece of paper. The paper becomes a sailboat, their breath becomes a journey that busts the world open, spilling out a truth so big that it could only fit inside of a human heart in love with another equally and beautifully broken person.The play was selected from nearly two hundred scripts as the winner of CAT Tales, a playwriting competition hosted by City Attic Theatre last May. The script has been previously developed in Texas and in New York with the Boomerang Theatre Company, New Dramatists and Kitchen Dog.
The Most Beautiful Lullaby You've Ever Heard runs May 24-26, May 28, and May 31-June 1 at 8:00 p.m., May 27 at 3 p.m., and June 2 at 7 p.m. in the Under St. Marks Theatre, located at 94 St. Marks Place. Tickets are $15 and are available at the door (cash only). For reservations, please call 212-330-7045 or e-mail cityattic@gmail.com.
The show is directed by Andrew Merkel, designed by Amanda Embry and Joshua Rose, and features John Conor Brooke, Dianna Marino, and Lucy Walters.
City Attic Theatre provides a home for theatrical artists, creating new opportunities to nurture their craft in a collaborative setting while developing powerful theatrical masterpieces. The goal is to remove the boundaries that dictate the traditional roles of artists, to release and unify the collaborative imagination. For more information, please visit www.myspace.com/cityattic. This production was made possible through the support of The Field.
One man comedy show exploring the trials and tribulations of overcoming a broken heart. Playing multiple character and using mime, clowning, and masks, David learns that what doesn't kill you makes you bitter...I mean poorer... I mean, well come see the show. You'll be glad you did! 
The Butterfield Tones expected their first tour to bring them fame and fortune. What it brought them was thin crowds, Ike's aggressive womanizing and Tina's insistence that when she sings she is visited by the ghost of a masked professional wrestler, who, she's convinced, has come to save her. 
From the group who brought you Bite & The Eight: Reindeer Monologues... Justice is not only blind, she's dead wrong. The worst happens and one mother pronounces her own fatal judgment on a murderer. In this tightly wound, brutal drama her journey unfolds in reverse. Orange Murder Suit begins as she faces the repercussions of taking the law into her own hands. And then leaps back to reveal the final, chilling moments before she pulled the trigger. Not every killer ends up in an Orange Murder Suit.
"it's gripping theatre; definitely a must-see at this first FRIGID New York Festival"
Martin Denton, NYTheatre.com
THE LIGHT INSIDE, a show written, directed, and performed by NYU/TSOA alum Lindsay Wolf, is a story that explores the journey of a little girl fighting a terrible secret, a young woman fighting to trust herself, and an old woman fighting not to lose her mind. THE LIGHT INSIDE will be presented in March as a special five night engagement through the 2007 FRIGID NEW YORK Festival. With Molly O'Neal and Steven Smith
Produced by Brian M. Smallwood
Co-directed by Corey Ann Haydu
* member of AEA. AEA-approved Showcase.
FRIGID New York represents the first ever CAFF-sanctioned festival in New York City. As a celebration of downtown indie theater tailored to support the artist, the artistic freedom of the FRIGID New York participating artists is entirely uncensored.
Laughing Wild is an acerbic comedy about a woman and a man struggling to come to grips with the world around them. Premiered nearly 20 years ago, the play is a visceral response to period ideas and figures from Ronald Reagan to Diana Ross. While the piece is hard hitting and uncompromising in its politics, it is also an intense character study of ego and vulnerability. 
ghostcrab presents "Beckett Below", four short plays by Samuel Beckett. Audiences will descend into a netherworld to commune with the beauty, humor, and power of Beckett. The four short plays in "Beckett Below" are portraits of souls fighting against space and time to find enlightenment, salvation, and peace.Act Without Words II, directed by Ariane Anthony
Footfalls, directed by Eve Hartmann
Play, directed by Peter A. Campbell
That Time, directed by Tim Lee
In PLAY, lovers are imprisoned in urns and forced into confession by a beam of light. Two men are prodded into a brief consciousness by a stick in ACT WITHOUT WORDS II. THAT TIME relates a man's desperate quest for truth before he must accept oblivion. Finally, in FOOTFALLS, a woman, stuck in the ceaseless cycles of her mind, paces against encroaching doom.
ghostcrab's production of "Waiting for Godot" was hailed by The New Haven Advocate as "a terrific, ideally exasperated and expressively animated rendition." Now, with "Beckett Below", ghostcrab brings four exciting interpretations by four young directors of Samuel Beckett's short plays to the East Village. As the close of his centennial approaches, "Beckett Below" celebrates the spirit of Samuel Beckett through his indelible work.
In the basement of one of the hottest clubs in the city, broken-hearted Andrew is bitten by Fran, a vampire whose thirst for love exceeds her thirst for blood. The stakes are raised as Andrew's friend Stan and his sister Helen go to the club to search for him. Their journey puts them in the middle of an ancient war. Tonight in one of New York's hottest night clubs Vampire will fight man. Will the prophecy be fulfilled?
Inspired by the Twilight Zone, the writing of H.P. Lovecraft and 1950's horror comics, the show is an anthology of three fully-improvised vignettes, inspired by the audience's suggestions and hosted by Dr. Oddbody.And what can be said of mysterious Dr. Oddbody's eerie, sepulchral box? Found in a ruined pyramid in the jungles of Peru, the Strange Box contains dark, evil powers and mysteries beyond imagination. A brilliant, if flawed professor from Miskatonic University, Dr. Oddbody is the sole wielder of the Box's terrible power. With it, he has summoned up a cadre of undead performers to enact bizarre and frightening nightmares for the delight and disgust of discerning audiences this fall.
Will Oddbody's experiment in the Occult succeed in making people pee themselves with laughter and/or terror? Is theater dead...or undead? See this wild and funny show to find out!
Horse Trade PresentsA Rising Sun Performance Company Production
"Growing Up Is Hard To Do"
A Musical Revue
The all too familiar children of our past grow up through song, dance, and the occasional spitball.
Rising Sun moves their popular Musical Series to UNDER St Marks Theater! NO FOOD or DRINK MINIMUM!!!!
But we'll be serving some of your favorite cafeteria treats!
Come join the multi talented ensemble of Rising Sun as they re-visit the horrors and wonders of growing up. Encounter the bullies, first love, bad grades, evil teachers and school yard chums all over again , reminding you that "growing up is hard to do".
Conceived & Directed by Julie Bain and P. William Pinto
Starring (in diabolical order): Julie Bain, Noelle Boostani, David Loewy, Emily MacLeod, P. William Pinto, Rob Richardson, Jovier Sanchez, Kelly Scanlon and Mimi Jefferson as our favorite homeroom teacher
Come join the multi talented ensemble of Rising Sun as they re-visit the horrors and wonders of growing up. Encounter the bullies, first love, bad grades, evil teachers and school yard chums all over again, reminding you that "growing up is hard to do".
Horse Trade PresentsA Rising Sun Performance Company Production
"Revelations"
When secrets come out to play..
An Evening Of One Acts
Part of Rising Sun's Aspire to Inspire Series
Artistic Director, Akia has selected the work of 4 promising playwrights as part of their "Aspire to Inspire" Series, one of RSP's many programs created to support the work of emerging and established NYC theatre artists. Two of the pieces are making their stage debut, and the other scripts have been paired with new directors to allow a fresh perspective on the work. All of the pieces feature the acclaimed Rising Sun Ensemble.
Good Enough
Written & Directed by Kitt Lavoie
A Jewish college student has just met her fianc's evangelical Christian family over Thanksgiving dinner. A late-night confrontation with her fianc's younger sister drives home the difficulties she faces in her marriageand how little she actually knows and understands about the man she is about to marry.
Without Written by Laura Rohrman
Directed by Kuye Harris
Assistant Director Monica Sender
A young woman encounters and befriends a mysterious stranger, who happens to be the only witness to a brutal attack she survived while studying in Paris.
Music to Travel By
Written & Directed by Andi Stover
Dramaturgy by Lynn A. Hyde
Former best friends, a Drifter and a Housewife reunite after many years and discover how much and how little has changed.
Southern Werewolf
(Only being performed on July 22nd)
Written By John Patrick Bray
Directed by Rachel Klein
A sweet young thing and an older gentlemen take a moonlight stroll on the bayou and a sinister surprise awaits each of them.
Cover Magnets
(No Performance July 22nd)
Written By John Patrick Bray
Directed by Rachel Klein
Two aspiring punk rockers meet, reminisce and mourn over their drummer's grave.
As the wife of a hostage, Lainie is torn between two forces trying to win her cooperationthe media and the government. Walker Harris (Jacob Knoll) is an activist reporter urging Lainie to speak out against the American government, which he believes is pacifying her in order to pursue their own agenda. Ellen VanOss (Emily Zeck), the State Department representative assigned to Michael's case, promises Lainie that she can best help her husband by keeping quiet and allowing the government to do its work, which must remain secret. As the months turn to years, Lainie must decide whether a public outrage or a quiet patience will bring Michael closer to freedom, and her choice triggers the snowball of events that brings the play to its startling conclusion.
Playwright and Chicago cab driver Will Kern draws from personal experiences to create the alternately frightening, hilarious and poignant, Hell Cab. Throughout his long shift the bizarre and eclectic collection of passengers who enter our Hero's cab, a trio of drug-addicts, a rape victim, a fellow cab driver, a smug lawyer, a born-again couple on their way to church, a randy couple on their way to a motel, and others bring about an emotional and existential transformation. 
The demented minds behind A Night of Shitty Theater (Caroline's Comedy Club, NY International Fringe Festival) and Cows of Love (Upright Citizen's Brigade, Above Kleptomania) now turn their attention to the frightening state of holiday entertainment, skewering wholesome family fare, cynical counter-programming and nearly every possible variation on the Dickens classic. Featuring such titles as :A Ku Klux Khristmas, Frodo's Yule, I'll be Homeless For Christmas, and Snowmeiser and Heatmeiser are Dead, the show promises something shitty for everyone. 
Hell Cab is a day in the life story of a cab driver in for the longest night of his life as he transports a bizarre and mysterious collection of customers through the gritty streets of Chicago.Throughout his long shift the bizarre and eclectic collection of passengers who enter our Hero's cab, a trio of drug-addicts, a rape victim, a fellow cab driver, a smug lawyer, a born-again couple on their way to church, a randy couple on their way to a motel, and others bring about an emotional and existential transformation.
One day Gemma, suddenly and without explanation, gives up speaking. One by one her stunned and baffled friends find themselves ripped from their everyday routine of espresso-drinking and navel-gazing to confront their own culpability real or imagined and in doing so, truly seeing each other...and themselves, for the first time. 
The Persians were the most powerful empire the world had ever seen. The Persians' army was the biggest war machine ever assembled.
The Persians marched off to destroy their most hated enemies.
The Persians lost the war and the world.
The revolution is about to begin...let us entertain you!
www.waterwell.org
The show's concept while provocative maintains a level of innocent humor, it is what every history buff and classic movie buff will want to see this May, of course, with the addition of the 1930's sex appeal.
This is the second in the line of 1930's parodies, that author/actor Todd Michael has written over the last two years. "Damaged Dames" follows the "all-time hilarious" comedy about the 1930's era, "Bad Dames Go to Hell", which gave a whole new meaning to "the age of prostitution", honor, and respect for friendship. However, according to Michael, "Damaged Dames" is even more elaborate, creative, and is truly a sensational nerve shocker!
A southern folktale about Bunny and Munk, two animal-like creatures exploring the chasm that separates the human from the animal. Can animals just be while humans must know what it means to be?