Sanford Meisner Theatre

Condemned as "spiritual pollution" by Chinese Communist Party officials and banned from production, the controversial play, which recalls Beckett's Waiting for Godot, earned Gao a reputation as an avant-garde writer to watch. Interpreted as an analogy for ineffective Communist government, the play was described by one eminent member of the party as “the most pernicious piece of writing since the foundation of the People's Republic." Translated by Shiao-Ling Yu and directed by Samantha Shechtman, performances run March 26 - April 19 at Sanford Meisner Theater (164 Eleventh Avenue, between 22nd & 23rd Streets)

In THE BUS STOP, the thoughts and behaviors of eight characters—representing a cross-section of society—are rendered as they wait and watch buses pass without stopping. Characters include an old man on his way to a chess game, a girl on her way to a blind date, and a bureaucrat who has been involved in dirty dealings.

Mind The Gap Theatre returns with their popular festival of shorts by, for or about the British. Featured in this series are Pealing Figs by Bronwen Denton-Davis, Turtles & Bulldogs by Scott C. Sickles, Many Happy Returns by Paula D'Alessandris, Boat for Sale: Careful Lady Owner by Denise O'Leary, Modern Life is Rubbish by Philip Gawthorne, Death of the Small Independent Retailer by Glyn Cannon, Girl Talk by Stephen Donovan, Minsk by Declan Feenan and Girl In A Bath by Nancy Harris.
BRITBITS 3 features performances by MTG's in-house Anglo-American Rep company members Tom Bain, Paula Burton, Maria Pastel, Joel H. Jones, Mia Moreland, Martin Ewens, Sam Redford, Christine Rendel, Stephen Donovan, Polly Lee, Richard T. Lester, Lauretta Vaughn, Camilla Maxwell, Elliot Joseph, Gwenfair Vaughan, Jenny Sterlin, Stephen Pilkington & Hollis Hamilton.
Directing the pieces are Nick Berg Barnes, Joel H. Jones, Stephen Donovan, Jenny Sterlin and MTG's Artistic Director/Founder Paula D'Alessandris.

The dramatic comedy follows the paths of two unlikely friends, a conservative college jock and a radical political activist. From their meeting at a small Midwestern liberal arts college during the last years of the Great Depression, thru World War II their friendship matures and deepens as they find it increasingly difficult to deal with what is clearly their mutual physical attraction. It is in postwar Hollywood, where their personal lives and feelings struggle under the constraints of a rigid moral double standard, that they reluctantly begin to face up to the emotional depths of their physical relationship. With their professional lives on the cusp of major success comes the courage to accept their feelings for each other, only to have their idyll interrupted when the House Un-American Activities Committee subpoenas one with the implication he must point a finger at the other.

JOHN HOPKINS' shattering drama about a British police sergeant who kills a suspected pedophile after the suspect holds a mirror to the officer's own dark side. Actress Shirley Knight (Mr. Hopkins' widow) will hold a Q&A after the May 5th performance.

Further info: myspace.com/absmind

Some material not suitable for children.

Having not spoken for two weeks, a young, recently married couple decides to meet in Central Park at midnight in an attempt to fix their marriage. Suddenly fate takes an unsuspecting turn leaving the husband trapped on the subway with an intriguing new stranger, and the wife sitting on a park bench in the company of a clumsy, yet charming gentleman. As the midnight deadline quickly approaches, they find themselves in the midst of a vital decision: Do they continue to wait for each other, in hopes of proving that their marriage is "meant to be", or do they let their odd attraction for their newfound acquaintances disprove the idea of their marriage all together? Proof by Disproof confronts and challenges conceptions about destiny, love, and the ideal notion of "the one right person."

"IN DELIRIUM" tells the story of Werther, a tormented young man "seeking the infinite" in an art he cannot master and a woman he cannot have. Through a series of letters to his best friend, we feel the vague impassioned longing, the moody melancholy, the wayward love and indignation, the soft feeling and stern philosophy which characterize the hero and inevitably drives him to his tragic end. Goethe was only 24 when he wrote Werther and it seized the hearts of men around the world. Shortly after its publication, there were thousands of reports of young men using the same method as Werther to commit suicide—resulting in a ban of the book in several countries. The term "Werther effect" has been used in scientific literature to designate copycat suicides. This tragic tale may be viewed as a celebration of unfettered emotion or as a mercilessly accurate portrait of a man whose dedication to pure feeling turns him into a monster.

Adapted and Created by
Gisela Cardenas and Joshua Randall

23 Elephants proudly presents The Unspeakable Act, a hilariously twisted fairytale you won't be telling your children anytime soon.

Inspired by an ancient Japanese fairytale, The Unspeakable Act follows an empress on her journey of sexual discovery with an unlikely lover: a hermit-monk turned demonic sex stud. Through the use of improvisation, dance and movement 23 Elephants has created a show rife with physical comedy and throbbing with innuendo.

LITTLE MARY deals with a conservative Roman Catholic Cardinal and his protégé, a progressive California Bishop, whose lives are thrown into turmoil when a 15-year-old Mexican-American girl in their care creates an international sensation by claiming that the seven babies she carries are the children of God. The two men struggle with the nature of their faith, their worldly ambitions, and each other as they take sides over the "miracle" of a pregnant virgin that the media crowns, "Little Mary." The play addresses issues as wide-ranging as overpopulation, world hunger, racism, global warming, and faith and politics in the Catholic Church.
Ron Orbach is renown for his Broadway performance in Neil Simon's "Laugher on the 23rd Floor" with Nathan Lane and his role in the hit movie "Clueless." LITTLE MARY also stars Jeremy Lawrence, Nelson Avidon, Robyn Hatcher and Monica Raymund.
LITTLE MARY is directed by renowned Los Angeles-based director Jessica Kubzansky. Kubzansky was recently honored with the L.A. Drama Critic's Circle Margaret Hanford Award for Sustained Excellence in Theatre. She is the co-Artistic Director of the Theatre@Boston Court in Pasadena, California. Leavengood, a two-time Eugene O'Neill playwright, is Artistic Director of the LiveArts Peninsula Foundation in St. Petersburg, Florida. His Off-Broadway credits include The Head at the Chelsea Playhouse; The Preservation Society, directed by Casey Childs at Primary Stages; and Florida Crackers, directed by John Bishop, which premiered as part of Circle Repertory's 20th Anniversary Season.