Tuesday, November 25, 2014

MARLOWE'S TAMBURLAINE AT THEATER FOR A NEW AUDIENCE


THEATER FOR A NEW AUDIENCE (TFANA)
PRESENTS
CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE'S
TAMBURLAINE PARTS I AND II
with JOHN DOUGLAS THOMPSON
NOVEMBER 1, 2014 - DECEMBER 21, 2014

John Douglas Thompson's performance in Marlowe's exciting Tamburlaine is a magnificent tour de force.

John Douglas Thompson as Tamburlaine
TAMBURLAINE PARTS I AND II
TFANA
Credit Gerry Goodstein

Christopher Marlowe was born in 1564 a few months before Shakespeare. His first play, Tamburlaine the Great was first performed in 1587. It was based on the career of Timur the Lame, written in blank verse, and was a major success. (Shakespeare's first play was likely Henry VI from about 1590.) 
Tamburlaine the Great Part II was a sequel. 

Timur was a vicious warrior. According to references cited by Wikipedia, he may have been responsible for the deaths of as many as 17 million people -- about 5% of the world's population in his time, the mid 1300s.

Marlowe's Tamburlaine is charismatic, cruel, and a brilliant warrior. His tactics are to gain allies with his charisma, terrorize his foes with his cruelty, and win battles with his military acumen. A peasant and a thief, he is constantly being underestimated by the leaders of the great powers of his day. His victories in Persia, Iraq, Syria, and Egypt give this story an unmistakable modern currency.

As a play, Tamburlaine Part I is also a love story, as Tamburlaine woos his captive princess, Zenocrate of Egypt.

As a playwright, Marlowe writes elegant blank verse. But, unlike Shakespeare, there are few if any truly memorable lines. Also, the play is almost all plot; there is very little subtlety of characterization; only Tamburlaine, and hardly anyone else, gets any dimensionality. The plotting is relatively simplistic. Tamburlaine and his adversary of the moment face off with bravado and insults, each predicting victory, after which the adversary either yields to Tamburlaine and switches sides, or Tamberlaine's armies prevail, and the enemy is killed, or enslaved and humiliated.

John Douglas Thompson as Tamburlaine
And in cage, Chukwudi Iwuji as defeated and enslaved Bajazeth
TAMBURLAINE PARTS I AND II
TFANA
Credit Gerry Goodstein

The action is rather brutal; however, in this production, the director stages murders stylistically, by simply splashing a bucket of red, bloody liquid over the actor.

Tamburlaine Part II, as mentioned before, is conspicuously a sequel, and seems to tread on much of the same ideas as Part I. The brutality escalates, including the drowning of all the men, women, and children from a city that resists.

One new idea in Tamburlaine Part II is Tamburlaine's attempts to turn over his legacy to his sons. Predating King Lear, two of Tamburlaine's three sons profess loyalty to their father's militarism, and one son embraces a peaceful life. Calling this third son effeminate and a traitor, Tamburlaine kills him.

Though it was obvious after Part I that this play could be about current events, the director includes some unnecessary anachronisms in Part II, perhaps to underscore the connections with the present time. This includes using photographs for paintings, using guns, and dressing one character in a modern suit. (By modern, here, though, the director seems to be using the 1900s as his stylistic model.) 

Also, perhaps to suggest some kind of universality, the director made the strange choice to cast the same actor as both Tamburlaine's love (and later, after her death, her statue) and -- in between her death and her reappearance as her statue -- as the adult son of Bajazeth, one of Tamburlaine's first victims.

Among the many reasons to see this production are John Douglas Thompson's great performance, a chance to experience Marlowe's rarely seen Tamburlaine, and to realize that this exciting play, written roughly 500 years or half a millennium ago, could have been written today about today's news.

Theater For A New Audience (TFANA), which is now in its second season in its new home, the comfortable and elegant Polonsky Shakespeare Center in Brooklyn, is not difficult to reach from Manhattan, either by car over the Brooklyn Bridge, or by subway. Nearby, one also finds restaurants, parking, and BAM, the Brooklyn Academy of Music. 

Inside, TFANA houses a well-stocked classic book stall, drinks and refreshments.

TFANA'S CURRENT SEASON

TAMBURLAINE PARTS I AND II
NOVEMBER 1, 2014 - DECEMBER 21, 2014

SOHO REP'S AN OCTOROON
FEBRUARY 14, 2015 - MARCH 8, 2015

TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA
APRIL 24, 2015 - MAY 24, 2015

LINKS

THEATER FOR A NEW AUDIENCE
www.TFANA.org

TAMBURLAINE ON WIKIPEDIA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamburlaine_(play)

TAMBURLAINE ON AMAZON

JOHN DOUGLAS THOMPSON ON WIKIPEDIA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Douglas_Thompson

CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE ON WIKIPEDIA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Marlowe

CHRISTOPHER MARL0WE ON AMAZON


SHAKESPEARE ON AMAZON


TIMUR THE LAME ON WIKIPEDIA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timur


Tuesday, May 13, 2014

PLAYING WITH REALITY - MAY 17 & MAY 24



After three years away from Manhattan, Playing With Reality is doing a show in Manhattan this month!

Playing with Reality's
DIRECTOR SHOWCASE

The premiere of 5 pieces developed by five visionaries from the Playing with Reality Directors Program. 

This evening of eclectic interactive pieces has been conceived, written, and developed by directors Trevor Buteau, BJ Burbidge, Jennifer Kent, Michele Vazquez, and Zoë Watkins.

Playing With Reality is unique for bringing an audience member into the show as the main character.


SATURDAY, MAY 17, 10:30PM 

SECRET THEATRE 

$12 Tickets --
$10 Tickets with the code SECRETPWR, (expires at 11:59 on Friday, the 16th)

Secret Theatre 44-02 23rd Street Long Island City, NY 11101
Only 1 stop outside Manhattan!
E/M to Court Square-23rd St N/Q to Queensboro Plaza R to Queens Plaza


SATURDAY, MAY 24, 8:15PM 

THIS THEATER  154 West 29th Street MANHATTAN!

$20 Tickets--
$15 Tickets with the code THISPWR, (expires at 11:59 on Friday, the 23rd)



PLAYING WITH REALITY - HOME 

THIS THEATER - HOME
http://www.thistheater.com 

THE PLAYING WITH REALITY TEAM
BACKSTAGE IN 3D
http://youtu.be/AEO6syNqQKo 
 
 
 
 

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Preview: WHEN JANUARY FEELS LIKE SUMMER (From Page 73 at EST)

Ensemble Studio Theatre and Page 73 Productions
New York Premiere
WHEN JANUARY FEELS LIKE SUMMER
by Cori Thomas
Directed by Daniella Topol
Previews begin May 28; Opens June 5

Cori Thomas's warm-hearted and funny play about the many flavors of desire, When January Feels Like Summer, will receive its New York premiere in a co-production of Ensemble Studio Theatre and Page 73 Productions directed by Daniella Topol.

Previews begin at the Ensemble Studio Theatre, 549 West 52nd Street, Wednesday, May 28, at 7:00pm for an opening Thursday, June 5, at 7:00pm (for a run currently scheduled through June 22).

When January Feels Like Summer follows five diverse Central Harlem residents as they collide during one strangely warm winter, when a feeling of change hums in the air. Through everyday encounters on the subway and in corner bodegas a pair of teenagers becomes unexpected heroes, an immigrant accountant embraces transformation, and two lonely souls begin to stumble toward each other.

The cast includes Debargo Sanyal, Dion Graham, Mahira Kakkar, Maurice Williams and J. Mallory McCree.

Cori Thomas is a playwright and actress who lives in New York City. Her plays include:
  • When January Feels Like Summer (World Premiere City Theatre Co., Pittsburgh); 
  • Pa’s Hat (Pillsbury House Theatre, MN); 
  • My Secret Language of Wishes (Various theaters and University productions including Mixed Blood, MN); 
  • The Princess, The Breast, and, The Lizard; 
  • The Unusual Love Life of Bedbugs and Other Creatures; 
  • Waking Up; 
  • His Daddy; 
  • our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. 
Ms. Thomas'’s plays have been developed and produced at Sundance Theatre Lab, Goodman Theatre, City Theatre Company (Pittsburgh), Page 73, Playwrights Horizons, Lark Play Development Center, The Ensemble Studio Theatre, Going To The River, Pillsbury House Theatre, Mixed Blood Theatre, Penumbra Theatre, Passage Theatre, The Playwrights Realm, New Federal Theatre, New Georges, The Black Rep (St. Louis), The New Black Fest, and Queens Theatre in the Park. She has been commissioned by South Coast Rep Theatre, EST/Sloan Foundation, NYSCA/Page 73, NYSCA/EST and Pillsbury House Theatre.

Sets are by Jason Simms, lights by Austin R. Smith, costumes by Sydney Maresca and sound by Shane Rettig. Eileen Lalley is production stage manager.

Box Office 
When January Feels Like Summer performs Wednesday through Saturday evenings at 7:00pm and Mondays at 7:00pm. Matinees are Saturdays at 2:00pm and Sundays at 5:00pm. The final performance is currently scheduled for June 22.

Reserved seats are $40, general admission seats are $30 ($20 student/seniors) and Saturday and Sunday matinees are $10. Advance general admission tickets bought before the first preview (May 28) are $15. To order tickets call 866.811.4111 or click

www.ovationtix.com/trs/cal/134

 

When January Feels Like Summer is the third production this season on the Ensemble Studio Theatre mainstage, following the extended run of Year of the Rooster by Eric Dufault for which Bobby Moreno received a Drama Desk nomination, and Fast Company by Carla Ching.

Page 73 Productions, under the leadership of Executive Directors Liz Jones and Asher Richelli, Producing Director Michael Walkup, and Associate Director Rachel Karpf, produces and develops the work of early-career playwrights who have yet to receive a professional New York production. Page 73's writers have gone on to win the Pulitzer Prize, the Drama Desk Award, the OBIE Award, the Lucille Lortel Award, and many more. Page 73's world and New York premiere productions include...

  • the recent New York premiere of Grounded by George Brant; Elliot, 
  • A Soldier’s Fugue by Quiara Alegría Hudes (2007 Pulitzer finalist); 
  • 1001 by Jason Grote; 
  • Sixty Miles to Silver Lake by Dan LeFranc (2010 New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award); 
  • Creature by Heidi Schreck; 
  • Jack’s Precious Moment by Samuel D. Hunter; 
  • Edgewise by Eliza Clark;
  •  Lidless by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig; and 
  • Sleeping Rough by Kara Manning. 
Page 73's slate of development programs includes the prestigious P73 Playwriting Fellowship, offering a $10,000 grant and a yearlong artistic home to one early-career writer, as well as the Interstate 73 writers group and an annual Summer Residency. Plays developed in these programs include the recent acclaimed world premieres of Meghan Kennedy's Too Much, Too Much, Too Many at Roundabout Underground and Dorothy Fortenberry's Partners at the 2014 Humana Festival of New American Plays.

When January Feels Like Summer is Page 73's second production this season, following Grounded by George Brant for which Hannah Cabell just received a Drama Desk nomination.


MAY 2014 EVENTS @ HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP

MAY EVENTS @ 
HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP

COMEDY

Stand Up and Take Your Clothes Off 
Sunday, May 4 @ 9pm $15 ($10 in advance)
The Kraine Theater (85 East 4th Street) 
Stand Up and Take Your Clothes Off is a fast paced, sexy show, bursting with talent. Each month will feature NYC's funniest female comics and sassiest burlesque acts.

Sketch Block 
Wednesday, May 14 @ 9pm $8 
Sketch Comedy meets Block Party. This monthly show features a guest host comedian, three guest sketch troupes and drinking. Come meet, mingle, and perform! 

Thank You, Robot
Friday, May 16 @ 10:30pm $5
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. 

The Skinny
Hosted by Peter DeGiglio
Wednesday, May 28 @ 9pm $10 
The Skinny is a political comedy talk show with a twist: The host, Peter DeGiglio, is just an average schnook struggling to wrap his head around the events that shape our world. Joining him is a discussion panel of real life experts and a plethora of wacky variety acts. 

STORYTELLING

The Adam Wade Show
Featuring Moth StorySLAM Champion, Adam Wade
Monday, May 12 @ 7pm $5 
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. 

BURLESQUE

An Evening with Handsome Brad and his Naked Friends
Presented by The Nefarious Laboratory 
Wednesday, May 7 @ 9pm $10
Nefarious Laboratory has decided to kick off its partnership with Horse Trade by lying to the paying public: Only some of Brad’s friends are naked. The others are brilliant musicians, comics, and sideshow performers. Together with the finest in New York Burlesque they present an evening of variety entertainment. Part Carson era tonight show, part Addam’s Family, and entirely uncensored.

The Wasabassco Hellfire Club
Wednesday, May 14 @ 9pm $40 
The Kraine Theater (85 East 4th Street) 
It’s Wasabassco’s wildest, wickedest and most adult evening, curated to cater to the most sophisticated and lustful desires of a select group of curious and enlightened guests. 

Naked Girls Reading
Wednesday, May 21 @ 9pm $25 (2 for $40) 
A monthly nude literary salon featuring in-the-buff readings by local burlesque luminaries, professional librarians, authors and other Naked Girls.

VARIETY & OPEN MIC

The Open Mic Downstairs 
Hosted by Dan Ricker, Mike Milazzo, & Kaitlyn O’Connor  
Every Tuesday @ 9pm  $3 
At The Open Mic Downstairs the focus is the stage! Sign-ups get seven minutes to try anything in one of the most supportive rooms in New York. Whether it be a performance art piece, comedy, music, storytelling, dance, something entirely off the top of your head, or you just would like to have a drink and watch the show, you'll find a home in the welcoming community every Tuesday night at UNDER St. Marks

Pulp Variety Streamcast
Presented by RadioTheatre
Friday, May 26 @ 7pm $10
AshcanDepot, a new media production company, will be releasing its new series: The Pulp Variety Streamcast, an original RadioTheatre showcase, recorded live in front of a studio audience then released as a Audio Podcast and Video series for New Media listeners and viewers to consume and share.

Ten-Foot Rat Cabaret
Thursday, May 8 @ 10:30pm $10
Ten-Foot Rat Cabaret is Gotham’s Premiere Variety Show hosted by Canadian import Jillian Thomas; featuring Bill Chambers and Gregory Levine - and a rotating cast of the entertainment cream of NYC, America and Canada. 

Your Musical Trivia Jukebox Show! 
Monday, May 12 @ 9pm $5
Singer and comic Kyle Supley and Paulie "Fingerz" Leschen (Scissor Sisters, Bedbugs the Musical) bring you "Your Musical Trivia Jukebox Show!" which lets you the audience answer themed trivia questions, and choose the songs we perform.

Cabaret Showdown
Hosted by Mark McDaniels 
Sunday, May 11 @ 7pm $12 (includes a free drink)
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. 

Radical Vaudeville
Thursday, May 29 @ 10:30pm $12
The Kraine Theater (85 East 4th Street) 
Join Surf Reality and Faceboy as we celebrate NYC’s counterculture and the downtown Art Stars. While Manhattan has been relentlessly transformed into a corporate strip mall these intrepid entertainers are the cultural vanguard that leads by example. We welcome you to come enjoy the nights of sex, comedy and eclectic music that are Radical Vaudeville.

All shows are at UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Avenue and Avenue A) unless otherwise noted. Tickets may be purchased in advance at www.horseTRADE.info or by calling 212-868-4444. 

#  #  #  #

Preview: CAROLE GREEP's HAPPY NEW YEAR (Meilleurs Voeux)


HAPPY NEW YEAR
by CAROLE GREEP
Directed by Mark Blum

Adapted (in English) and Performed by 
Constance Labbe and Christopher Heard

4TH STREET THEATER
83 EAST FOURTH STREET
MAY 27 TO JUNE 1


Constance Labbe and Christopher Heard have teamed up to bring a "very French" play by a very hot French playwright to New York in an English adaptation.

 
CAROLE GREEP
Carole Greep is one of Paris’ most successful playwrights. Her very first play, 'J'aime beaucoup ce que vous faites' has been running in Paris uninterruptedly since 2003. Her next play, 'post-­‐it', was played over 500 times, including at the Palais des Glaces, one of Paris' most famous and popular theaters. Starting in 2008, her play "la Bombe" -­in which Constance Labbe played the title role-­was in production in Paris and on tour all over France for over two years.

Carole also writes for stand-­‐up comedians and has written short films and TV scripts.



CONSTANCE LABBE
Constance Labbé is an up-­and-­coming French actress and adopted New Yorker. Before moving to the US, Constance played the title role in Carole Greep’s ‘La Bombe’ in Paris and on tour all over France. Constance was recently featured in the “Women we love” edition of NY and Paris based Art magazine: CRUSH (www.crushfanzine.com), alongside Daryl Hannah, Chloe Sevigny and Beatrice Dalle, to name a few! (It's the Auxiliary Issue #3 "Women We Love" Collectors Issue)


CHRISTOPHER HEARD
Christopher Heard is originally from Southern California. He now resides in New York City where he has become a budding member of the theatre scene. Having started in stand-­up comedy, he then spent a year studying Uta Hagen's technique at HB Studio. Christopher played the title role in the feature film The Curse of Duncan Carbunkle and most recently starred in plays Balm in Gilead and Beach Trip, both directed by Amy Wright.


MARK BLUM
Mark Blum is a Broadway veteran. As an actor, he has appeared on Broadway in Twelve Angry Men, The Graduate, A Thousand Clowns, Gore Vidal's The Best Man, Lost In Yonkers, My Thing of Love, and The Merchant. Off-­‐Broadway, he won an Obie Award for his performance as Al in the Playwrights Horizons production of Albert Innaurato’s play Gus and Al. Mark has extensive credits in film and television.

He teaches at HB Studio in NY, and in the graduate training program at Brooklyn College. Mark also writes, directs and produces for the stage and the screen.



LINKS

CAROLE GREEP

CAROLE GREEP - IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1955626/

MORE ABOUT CAROLE GREEP (in French)
http://evene.lefigaro.fr/celebre/biographie/carole-greep-26896.php


LA BOMBE

LA BOMBE (also in French) INCLUDING A 'TRAILER' WITH CONSTANCE LABBE
http://www.placedesprods.com/productions/la-bombe


CONSTANCE LABBE

CONSTANCE LABBE - IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3952521/


CHRISTOPHER HEARD

CHRISTOPHER HEARD - IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1651089/


MARK BLUM

MARK BLUM - IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0089685/

MARK BLUM - WIKIPEDIA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Blum



TICKETS AT

Monday, April 28, 2014

Preview: FLUX THEATRE ENSEMBLE's JANE THE PLAIN

FLUX THEATRE ENSEMBLE
PRESENTS 
JANE THE PLAIN

WRITTEN BY AUGUST SCHULENBURG
DIRECTED BY KELLY O’DONNELL

WORLD PREMIERE 

MAY 9-24 
@ 4TH STREET THEATRE

www.fluxtheatre.org

Flux Theatre Ensemble will present the World Premiere of August Schulenburg’s (Lesser Seductions of History; DEINDE) JANE THE PLAIN, May 9-24 at the 4th Street Theatre (83 East 4th Street between 2nd Avenue and Bowery). The production will be directed by Kelly O’Donnell (NYIT Award nomination for Hearts Like Fists) with Assistant Director Emily Hartford (Co-founder, Rabbit Hole Ensemble) and will feature Becky Byers* (NYIT Award nomination for Hearts Like Fists), Sol Crespo (nytheatre.com 2012 Person of the Year; August Schulenburg’s DEINDE), Chester Poon (Job at The Flea; Adam Szymkowicz’s Hearts Like Fists), Alisha Spielmann* (Johnna Adams’ Sans Merci), Isaiah Tanenbaum* (August Schulenburg’s Honey Fist), and Chinaza Uche* (Indie Theatre Now 2013 Person of the Year; Ellen McLaughlin’s Ajax in Iraq). The creative team will include Sound Design by Janie Bullard (2014 USITT/LDI Rising Star Award; Indie Theatre Now 2013 Person of the Year), Set Design by Will Lowry (Ajax in Iraq), Costume Design by Stephanie Levin (Hearts Like Fists), and Lighting Design by Kia Rogers (2012 nytheatre.com Person of the Year). The Production Stage Manager will be Jodi M. Witherell*Actor appears courtesy of the Actors’ Equity Association. 

Football, popularity and the clash of the gods: it's all going down at Plainview High School's homecoming game in the comic fairy tale Jane the Plain. Jane's status takes a sudden rise after she saves the mysterious Glowing Girl and is given the gift of beauty. Everyone starts falling for her: quarterback Scotty the Hotty, second-stringer Lesson the Decent, even the most popular girl in school, Lexi the Sexy. As the jealous Betty the Pretty seeks to eliminate her newfound rival, Leonard the Awkward tries to win his best friend Jane back. But when another mysterious god, the Mirror Man, starts haunting Scotty, this battle of love and social status takes a dangerous turn of cosmic proportions. What if the wrong choice in high school really could end the world?

Jane the Play was the Winner of the Full Length Play Category for The Chameleon Theatre Circle’s 13th Annual New Play Festival, a Finalist for the Bloomington Playwrights Project’s 2013 Woodard/Newman Drama Award, a Finalist for the 2013 Theatre Conspiracy New Play Contest, and was featured in Stella Adler Studio of Acting’s 2013 First Breath Playwriting Festival, the Brick Theatre’s Oven Series and Purple Rep's Dark Night Serials Series. This production will be the play’s World Premiere. 

Jane the Plain will be presented by Flux Theatre Ensemble at the 4th Street Theatre (83 East 4th Street between 2nd Avenue and Bowery) May 9-12, 15-17 & 19-23 at 7:30pm; Saturday, May 24 at 2:30pm & 7:30pm. Tickets ($18; $15 students) may be purchased online at www.fluxtheatre.org or by calling 866-811-4111 beginning Monday, March 31

AUGUST SCHULEBURG (Playwright) August’s plays include Carrin Beginning, Kidding JaneRueRiding the Bull, Good Hope, Other BodiesHoney FistDark Matter, Jacob’s House, DEINDE, Dream Walker, Denny and Lila, Encryption, Jane the Plain and The Lesser Seductions of History. His plays have been produced and developed at the Lark Play Development Center, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Chelsea Playhouse, Theater for the New City, Portland Stage Company, Dayton Playhouse, Colonial Players, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Contemporary Stage Company, Abingdon Theater Company, Gideon Productions, New Amerikan Theatre, Penobscot Theatre, Impetuous Theater Group, Decades Out, Soundtrack Series, Reverie Productions, Wolf 359, Blue Box Productions, Piper McKenzie, Boomerang Theatre Company, Adaptive Arts, Hall High School, Nosedive Productions,  MTWorks, Purple Repertory, Valley Repertory Company, The Brick Theater, CAPS LOCK Theatre, Chameleon Theatre Circle, Retro Productions, Elephant Run District, TheatreLAB and Flux Theatre Ensemble, where he is the Artistic Director. He is a 2013-14 Lark Playwrights Workshop Fellow and a member of the Propulsion Lab for Mission to (dit)Mars. His work has also been published in the New York Theater ReviewStage and Screen, Indie Theater Now, Midway Journal, NoPassport Press and in two issues of Carrier Pigeon. He also writes for film and television with MozzleStead Productions.

KELLY O’DONNELL (Director) is a co-founder of Flux Theatre Ensemble. For Flux, Kelly has directed Honey Fist, Hearts Like Fists (NYIT Nomination for Outstanding Direction), Dog Act, Jacob’s HouseRiding the Bull, Life is a Dream and Rue. She also directed readings of Liz Duffy Adams’ Wet Or, Isabella the Pirate Queen Reaches the Horse Latitudes and Jason Grote’s This Storm is What We Call Progress for Flux’s Food:Soul. Kelly has worked as an actor or director at The Pennsylvania, Orlando and Utah Shakespeare Festivals, the Walnut Street Theatre, Alchemy Theatre Company, the West End Shakespeare Players, the Cape Playhouse, The Orlando Fringe Festival and the Arden Theatre.

FLUX THEATRE ENSEMBLE produces transformative theatre that explores and awakens the capacity for change. As an ensemble-artist driven company, Flux believes that long-term collaboration and rigorous creative development can unite artists and audiences to build a creative home in New York.

Flux is the proud recipient of two NYC Fringe Festival Awards (2007 Village Voice Audience Favorite Award for Riding the Bull; 2008 Outstanding Direction Award for Other Bodies) and a fifteen-time New York Innovative Theatre Award nominee between 2008-2013, including wins for The Angel Eaters Trilogy and Ajax in Iraq. In 2011 The New York Innovative Theatre Awards also awarded the prestigious Caffé Cino Fellowship Award to Flux for "consistently producing outstanding work." Flux received a Citation for Excellence in Off-Off Broadway Theatre from the Independent Theater Bloggers Association and was named one of nytheatre.com's 2008 “People of the Year”.

Jane the Plain will be presented by Flux Theatre Ensemble at the 4th Street Theatre (83 East 4th Street between 2nd Avenue and Bowery) May 9-12, 15-17 & 19-23 at 7:30pm; Saturday, May 24 at 2:30pm & 7:30pm. Tickets ($18; $15 students) may be purchased online at www.fluxtheatre.org or by calling 866-811-4111 beginning Monday, March 3 

#  #  #  #


Preview: STRANGEDOG THEATRE's ENCHANTED ARMS

HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP
PRESENTS A
STRANGEDOG THEATRE
PRODUCTION OF
ENCHANTED ARMS

Michelle Lupo and Tony K. Knotts Photo credit: Anthony Gusevich

WRITTEN BY BEN CLAWSON, STACIE LENTS, JOSEPH PALESTINA & JOHN WOOTEN
CREATED BY BEN CLAWSON
DIRECTED BY ARTEM YATSUNOV

NYC PREMIERE
MAY 15 - 31 @ UNDER ST. MARKS
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 Lupo, Tracy Shar, Annalisa Ledson, Gary MartinsShannon Sullivan, Seth Michael, Lee Ann Hoover, and David Hoffman. 
  • Lighting and Sound Design by Harrison J. Adams,
  • Original Art Work by Sara Sciarrabbarasi, and
  • Press Photography by Anthony Gusevich.
  • Stage Managed by Rachael Tucker. 
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.
  
The production will run May 15-31 at UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Avenue and Avenue A); Thursday through Saturday at 8pm. Tickets ($15) are available online at www.horseTRADE.info or by calling Smarttix at  212-868-4444. The production is 70 minutes long, with no intermission.
  
BEN CLAWSON (Creator, Playwright) received his B.F.A. in Theater from Montclair State University. He is the author of numerous full-length plays, short comedies, and evenings of thematically connected one acts.  His plays have had professional productions, readings, and workshops throughout New York, New Jersey, Washington D.C. and New Orleans. He has written commissioned works for the Luna Stage Company, The Montclair State University School of the Arts, and the Contagious Drama Theatre Workshop. He has been an evening winner and finalist in the Samuel French Short Play festival, national finalist for the American College Theater Festival's John Cauble One-Act Award, finalist for the Princess Grace Award in playwriting, and recipient of the Kennedy Center's David Mark Cohen award. He is a member of the Dramatist Guild, and a founder of the StrangeDog Theatre Company, with whom he has produced many of his plays.

STACIE LENTS (Playwright) is working with StrangeDog Theatre Co. for the second time after their reading of her play Written on Her Face last year. A Semi-Finalist in the Premiere Stages New Play Festival in 2010, it opened the Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey “Soundings” reading series in December and has also received a staged reading at Luna Stage. Stacie’s play Henry’s Law was featured in Mile Square Theatre’s Fall Fest last season and toured to New Jersey area high schools as part of an anti-bullying initiative through Fairleigh Dickinson University. Henry’s Law received a workshop at Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey this month and a tour is planned for 2014. Stacie returned to Mile Square Theatre’s Fall Fest this year with Laugh Out Loud (cry quietly), which Peter Filichia of TheaterMania called “the best comedy of the year” in 2008. Stacie wrote the book and lyrics for Daisy in Disguise, which ran off-Broadway through Vital Theatre Company with an original cast recording released during the run. Stacie’s play College Colors has received readings at Luna Stage and at Manhattan Theatre Club produced by coLAB Arts. Other writing credits include plays in the 2011 and 2012 New Jersey One-Minute Play Festivals, Tidal Waves in the Neighborhood, Focus, and Just in Case (a commission). 
Stacie is also an actor who has performed in both New York and regional theatre and is currently a member of the Jewish Plays Project’s Development Company. Stacie is an assistant professor of theater at Fairleigh Dickinson University where she originated the Black History, Black Voices series which she writes and directs. She previously taught at Rutgers University. 
Stacie is a member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Screen Actors Guild, and the Dramatists Guild of America. Stacie received her MFA from Rutgers, Mason Gross School of the Arts and her B.A. in Theatre from Yale University.
JOSEPH PALESTINA (Playwright) is the creator of “Joe Pal & Eggs”, a webseries that 'mock'uments the multiple facets of his life. He graduated Montclair State University with a BFA in Acting and an MA in Counseling. He recently won Best Actor for Spincach Quesadilla, a film he wrote and directed for the 48 Hour Film Project NYC. His last play, Bits was winner of Strangedogs Beer Battered Play Festival. 
He's toured the country with indie rock band Thing-One. Their music has been played on WOXY, FUV, and several college radio stations.  He's a production assistant for “The Following”, “Boardwalk Empire”, and “The Americans”.

JOHN WOOTEN (Playwright) John’s plays have been produced in New York, internationally and in numerous regional theaters across the United States. Commercial: Trophies (Off-Broadway at the Cherry Lane); International: The Mission Home (King’s Head Theatre/London) and The Role of Della (Venues in France, England, Serbia, India, Australia, Ireland, Montenegro, and Canada); Regional: Kiss the Bride (Forum Theatre), Hannah (Premiere Stages), Happy Hour (Twelve Miles West), Uncommon Enemies (TheatreFest), UnCivil War (Theatre at Lime Kiln), The Role of Della (ATL finalist and over 300 Regional productions) and Humbug (Premiere Stages). His film Cat in the Pan premiered at the Montreal Film Festival and has been screened across North America. 
Awards/Nominations: New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship, Best New Play nomination from the American Theatre Critics Association, Semi-finalist for a Nicholls Fellowship, sponsored by the Academy Awards, and multiple Best New Play nominations from the Newark Star-Ledger. Published in/by: Dramatists Play Service, Samuel French, Inc., Playscripts, Inc., Dramatic Publishing Company, Plays for Actresses, 
Playing Contemporary Scenes, and Millennium Monologues. John is the Producing Artistic Director of Premiere Stages and teaches Playwriting at Kean University.

ARTEM YATSUNOV (Director) received his B.F.A. in Theatre from Montclair State University. Along with playwright Ben Clawson and a handful of irresponsibly creative individuals he co-founded StrangeDog Theatre in 2008. In just six years StrangeDog has produced over 30 evenings of mild mayhem and honest to goodness pieces of theatre. NYC: Writopia Worldwide Playwriting Festival 2014, Basic Help by Ben Clawson (FRIGID NYC 2014, Sell Out Award), Israela Margalit’s Night Blooming Jasmine (Under St Marks), The Virilogy (Horse Trade), The StrangeDog Eat Dog and Pony Show (The Tank). NJ: Kitty Kitty Kitty by Noah Haidle (Tierney’s Tavern), Omnivores by Ben Clawson (PTNJ, World Premiere).
Artem will be seen next on stage the Edmonton and Winnipeg Fringes alongside Antonia Lassar (The Godbox; Tina and Amy: Last Night In Paradise) with the World Premiere of Pair of Animals want to marry YOU! – a two-person musical-comedy co-written with Ms. Lassar.
STRANGEDOG THEATRE COMANY is a nomadic troupe intent on creating new plays for both avid theatre-lovers and people who mistakenly think they don't like plays.

The production will run May 15-31 at UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Avenue and Avenue A); Thursday through Saturday at 8pm. Tickets ($15) are available online at www.horseTRADE.info or by calling Smarttix at  212-868-4444. The production is 70 minutes long, with no intermission.
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