Flux Theatre Ensemble will present the World Premiere of Johnna Adams’ (The Angel Eaters Trilogy with Flux; 2011 recipient of the Princess Grace Award) Sans Merci, April 26-May 17 at the 4th Street Theatre (83 East 4th Street between 2nd Avenue and Bowery). The production will be directed by Heather Cohn (NYIT Outstanding Direction Award nominee for The Lesser Seductions of History) and will feature Rachael Hip-Flores (Anyone But Me webseries; Hearts Like Fists with Flux), Susan Ferrara* (Peasant with KEF Productions), and Alisha Spielmann* (Blast Radius with Gideon Productions; The Runner Stumbles with Retro Productions). The Production Stage Manager will be Audrey Marshall. *Actor appears courtesy of the Actors’ Equity Association.
When Tracy, a shy literature major, falls in love with Kelly, a political activist, their shared idealism takes them on a humanitarian mission to South America. Years later, Tracy’s mother visits Kelly with hard questions about her daughter, their relationship, and the truth of what happened on the final day of their mission.
Flux’s production of Sans Merci will run in rep with their production of August Schulenburg’s Honey Fist. While both plays stand alone as individually conceived works, when presented together a fascinating dialogue emerges. Both plays explore the fraught landscape of loss, asking urgent questions like: “Who owns the stories of the dead?” and “Is it possible to move on without letting go?” yet each play has its own distinct and vital voice. Flux hopes that audiences will join them in the conversation sparked by presenting these plays together. The creative team for both productions will include Sound Design by Janie Bullard, Scenic Design by Charles Murdock Lucas, Costume Design by Will Lowry, and Lighting Design by Kia Rogers.
About the Company: Flux Theatre Ensemble
FLUX THEATRE ENSEMBLE Flux is an ensemble of 12 multi-faceted theatre artists developing plays through its quarterly Food:Soul play development series, weekly Flux Sunday workshops and its annual week-long retreat. In 2008, the New York Press called Flux “The Most Underappreciated Indie Theatre Whose Work You Should Get Your Ass To” and nytheatre.com made Flux one of their “People of the Year” for 2008.
Chrysalis Theatre Company (Adina Taubman, Artistic Director) will present the World Premiere of Susan Bernfield’s (Stretch (a fantasia); Artistic Director of New Georges) BARKING GIRL,November 8-December 2 at the 4th Street Theatre (83 East 4th Street between 2nd Avenue and Bowery). The production will be directed by Pirronne Yousefzadeh (The Tenantwith Woodshed Collective; TEN with Partial Comfort Productions) and will feature Max Arnaud* (Dreams of Friendly Aliens at Abingdon Theatre) Tom O’Keefe* (A Hard Wall at High Speed with Astoria Performing Arts Center), Meg MacCary* (2006 OBIE Award for What Then with Clubbed Thumb), and Adina Taubman* (A Line in the Sand, Outstanding Production of a Solo Show at the 2007 Midtown International Theatre Festival; 2010 Untied Solo Festival). The creative team will include Sound Design by Jon Bernstein & Deepthi Welaratna, Set Design by Carolyn Mraz, Costume Design by Amy Pedigo-Otto, and Lighting Design by Gillian Wolpert. *Actor appears courtesy of the Actors’ Equity Association
Rae sees herself as independent, romantic, and unlike everyone else. So when the world thrusts a strange new identity on her, just because she’s had a baby, she fights it with every fiber of her being. Until adventure abruptly reappears into her life, leaving her to create a connection with her child, on her terms.
Susan Bernfield's play BARKING GIRL was developed at the 2003 O'Neill National Playwrights Conference. Chrysalis Theatre Company’s production will be the play’s World Premiere.
About the Company: Chrysalis Theatre Company
CHRYSALIS THEATRE COMPANY is a new company dedicated to the creative development of new work and old works that deserve a new perspective for a modern audience. We are an artistic community dedicated to creating vital, transformative theater that has use and meaning in our everyday lives. We all spend so much time engaged alone with a piece of technology that we have lost our connection with other human beings. Chrysalis views live theater as a way for us to reconnect with one another.
Elephants on Parade 2012 will feature two world premieres and four New York premieres in which hilarity and heartbreak ensues as people strive to connect to one another amidst the chaos of everyday life. In Jeff Carter’s Human Resources we tag along as Karl Clark endures the job interview from hell. Patrick Gabridge’s Curse the Darkness throws a scene change into turmoil when a battle ensues over the right placement of the furniture, and the stupid candle just won’t light. In Barbara Lindsay’s Fighting Mr. Right a couple returns from a great first date and becomes embroiled in a fight to stay together. Jen Silverman’s Notes on Drowning tells the story of Adam, who falls for the drowned girl that lives in his bathtub. He thinks he’s found love, or at least a muse; his sister, however, has a few concerns. In Sonya Sobieski’s True Enough Bo’s world gets turned upside-down when he meets his younger brother’s new girlfriend and her puppets. Finally, John Weagly’s Purple Hearts and Missing Femurs recounts the story of two soldiers in a never-ending war as they discover a new way to become a hero.
The cast will feature EBE Ensemble members Eric Alba, Courtney Fitzgerald, Genevieve Hudson-Price, Joe Mullen, Nick Reinhardt, Elizabeth Spano, Ryan Willard, and new guest artist Joshua Everett Johnson. The production team will include Cory Rodriguez (Scenic Design), Casey Malone (Costume Design), Tracy Lynn Wertheimer (Lighting Design), Joshua B. Jenks (Sound Design), and Lauren Genutis (Props Design). The plays will be directed by Eric Alba, Laura Braza, Katherine M. Carter, Caleb Eigsti, Barbara Harrison, and Phillip Ruvelas.
When forced to move back in with his parents, Eddie seeks the guidance of a fortune teller, whose mysterious and shocking counsel isn't quite what he was expecting. The Empress and El Diablo follows Eddie Roberts, through dreams and reality, as he valiantly struggles with his horrifying destiny, his overbearing family, and a girlfriend who's too tired to fool around. Inspired by Oedipus Rex, the writings of C.G. Jung, and the Tarot Marseilles, this production marks Toy Box Theatre Company’s tenth season. The Empress and El Diablo will be performed with a live garage rock score by Colonna Sonora.
From playwright and director Jonathan Barness:
“Deep down, most of us think we're a little bit special; that our true destiny is fame and fortune. But let's face it, with 6 billion of us, that’s just not true. The Empress and El Diablo imagines a world where psychics and psychiatrists tell the truth. "You will become a crazy cat lady," "your spouse will cheat on you, repeatedly," or "most of your friends think you are annoying" are phrases rarely heard in fortune cookies and Tarot readings. But in the end, it's only the truth that will lead to change.”
About the Company: Toy Box Theatre Company
Toy Box Theatre Company aspires to engage the audience in a diverse and thought provoking theatrical experience through multi-disciplinary presentations and original works.
Arriving in present-day Rwanda with ideas of making a difference, Matthew (Ryan Victor Pierce*), an American aid worker leaves transformed far beyond his expectations through his relationship with Mattie (Nneoma Nkuku*), a local masseuse. Muzungu explores the unseen motives in doing good and unexpected consequences of lending a helping hand.
*Actors appearing courtesy of Actors Equity Association
About the Company: Mixed Phoenix Theatre Group
Mixed Phoenix Theatre Group explores our evolving American identity, in all its diversity through works that investigate our multi-cultural history, challenge stereotypes or embrace our Native American heritage. www.mptg.org
In Lebanon, an American, an Englishman and an Irishman are abruptly taken from their work, their lives and the ones they love. Chained in a dark, isolated room there seems no escape from the enemies that terrorize them. In an absence of time they each struggle to make sense of their circumstances while they seek freedom. How is the value of a human life measured? And will the answer be enough for someone to finally be set free?
www.someonewatchoverme.com
A play about the far-reaching effects of both the Iraq and Vietnam wars on those who served on the battlefield and those who served in protests, PROPHECY is also the story of a marriage: Alan Golden, a Jew whose past includes an affair with an Arab co-worker that results in the birth of a child, and his wife Sarah, an actress and acting teacher, whose intense bond with one of her students -- a talented and vulnerable Iraq War veteran -- triggers memories of a young man from her past.
The cast features PETER FRANCIS JAMES, KATHLEEN CHALFANT, GEORGE BARTENIEFF, BRENDAN DONALDSON and NAJLA SAID.
Tickets are on sale now to PROPHECY, which was previously presented to considerable acclaim in London in 2008 and where its fans include Vanessa Redgrave, David Hare and film producer Barbara Stone.
As well, Theater Three Collaborative has announced a series of post-performance "Talk Backs" at PROPHECY, with special guests including the internationally-renowned scholar and political activist NOAM CHOMSKY on June 8, and also featuring author and activist DAVID SWANSON on June 2, journalist and host of GRIT-TV LAURA FLANDERS on June 3, and journalist and former New York Times foreign correspondent CHRIS HEDGES on June 4.