Tuesday, May 21 @ 7pm
COURAGE, a comedy by Temi Brodkey Rose*
Directed by Jason Daniel Siegel
A re-interpretation of Brecht's 'Mother Courage' with a decidedly modern feel, 'Courage' is a play about the sometimes staggering chasm between the intellect and the emotions, and one woman's quirky attempt to bridge it.
With Rin Allen, Matt Decoster, Charles Hinshaw, Matthew L. Imparato, Peter Klein, Lorinne Lampert, Lucy McMichael, Nona Niedert, Jerry Rodgers, Andrew Rothkin & Joan Shepard
Stage Directions: Jason Daniel Siegel
Sign Man: Big Mike Logan
Music by Somers and Steel / Melodie Somers*
FREE! & on the 6th Floor
Click here to RSVP | Click here for more information
Past MEMBERFEST readings:
Tuesday, April 16 @ 7pm
Funny by Gabe McKinley & directed by Mark Armstrong*
With Andrew Garman*, Steven Boyer*, Danielle Slavick, Scott Sowers*, Helen Coxe*, Sean Geraghty & William Oliver Watkins
It's a big night at Karin's Comedy Club. With the chance at their own television show hanging in the balance, five stand-up comedians wrangle with their emotions and one another. This dark comedy exposes the hilarious and harrowing world of the most fearless performer around: the stand up comedian -- begging the ultimate question: what is FUNNY?
Tuesday, March 5 @ 8pm
V-Day EST 2013 presents a Benefit Production of
I Dream Before I Take The Stand by Arlene Hutton+*
Directed by Margot Avery* with Carla Cantrelle* & Mike Smith Rivera*+
& The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler with Shyko Amos+, Margot Avery+*, Stephanie Berry+*, Kelly Anne Burns+*, Molly Carden+*, Lucy DeVito+*, Abigail Gampel+*, Kelli Lynn Harrison+ & Susan Willerman+*
Join us as we raise funds and awareness to end violence against women and girls.
All ticket sales go to V-Day Campaigns and Safe Horizon
V-Day (www.vday.org) is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls that raises funds and awareness through benefit productions of Playwright/Founder Eve Ensler's award-winning play The Vagina Monologues and other artistic works.
I Dream Before I Take The Stand has been translated into multiple languages and presented at universities, high schools, and women's centers around the US for over fifteen years as a way to initiate dialogue on sexual violence.
Safe Horizon (www.safehorizon.org) moves victims of violence from crisis to confidence.
Sunday & Monday, March 3 & 4
The Last Showgirl book and lyrics by Melodie Somers*; music by Rich Campbell
Follow one Woman’s Quirky Quest for Answers to some of Life’s Little, Big Questions with plenty of Wine, Chocolate, Sex and Music to guide her.
“How do you start over when it’s almost done and the Book of Rules
You followed is now being sold on Half.com for $.17 plus shipping?”
Directed by Hal Corley with Melodie Somers*, Gary Nebiol* & Martha Braunfield. Rich Campbell on Piano
Tuesday, February 26
Between Pretty Places by Susan Merson*, music and lyrics by Shellen Lubin
Fighting the ghosts of the land and their own daughter, an aging ranch couple must decide if rescuing their abandoned grand child will heal or destroy
them. A musical play about the desperation, danger and drought of love in the harsh landscape of Central California. Based on a true story.
Directed by Shellen Lubin, Musical Direction by Matthew Gandolfo with Tuck Milligan, Joyce Cohen, Heather Lupton, Lara Miller & Taysha Gonzalez
Tuesday, February 19
A Good Smoke by Don Cummings & directed by Austin Pendleton*
Joyce, the mother of three grown children, isn’t the center of attention any longer. Will she stop at nothing to regain that position? Joyce drops her meds – cold-turkey – the day her daughter gives birth, resulting in severe drug withdrawal. As her daughter is wheeled into delivery, Joyce is hauled off to the psych ward. Her husband and their two sons, David and Joe, are trying desperately to cope, but this family is functioning at its worst when it needs to be at its best, with generational repercussions that will not waft away. The painful comedy of life burns into this dark drama to make - A GOOD SMOKE.
With Leslie Ayvazian*, Jared McGuire*, Peter McRobbie, Lance Rubin*, Diana Ruppe* & Barbara Marks.
Tuesday, February 12
Tonight at Noon by Jeff Tabnick & directed by Eric Nightengale
Tim and Emily can’t justify having children, given how little hope they have for the future. That night they are each overcome by a dream: Tim must save a co-worker from a man in a black mask, and Emily dreams that she will save the world by convincing humanity to stop procreating. They wake up convinced that their dreams are reality. As they journey down the NJ Turnpike to pursue their new found goals, they find that all of America has succumbed to nighttime visions. Reality rends, government agents intervene, the future is foretold, lust is sated, and ideals are lost-- and somewhere in the rubble, Tim finally understands why he might want to start a family. But in a world where everyone is consumed by his or her own delusions, is reuniting with his wife evenpossible?
With Emily Hagburg, Jennifer O'Donnell, Jonathan Todd Ross, Scott Sowers*, Matty Stuart, with stage directions read by Margaret Fitzpatrick
Tuesday, February 5
Beautiful Boy by Eric Conger* & directed by Andrew Grosso*
A fifty-year old adoptee from Missouri drives to Connecticut to search for his parents. What he finds surprises and shocks him. But is he
disappointed? A funny and poignant look at the plight of grown children lost in the closed system.
With Tim Cain*, Zach Grenier*, Kristin Griffith*, Lois Smith* & Megan Tusing*.
Tuesday, January 15
USELESS by Saviana Stanescu* and directed by Daniel Winerman
USELESS, a darkly humored new drama, investigates the relationship between a married couple of Eastern European immigrants involved in organ trafficking - Kora, formerly sex-trafficked and pimped by her now husband Chris - and a disabled boy from a poor country, brought to the U.S. for his kidney. The silent boy affects Chris and Kora in a profound way, triggering unexpected outbursts and changes. He becomes a sort of mirror for their unfulfilled dreams, hidden fears and desires, and ultimately makes them connect on a deeper level. Or so we hope. (Warning: Heightened Realism & Dark humor) With Ana Grosse, Jared McGuire* & Steven Rishard.
Wednesday, December 19
But for the Grace… written by David Eliet and performed by Bob Jaffe*
But for the Grace... dispels many of the false ideas the general public often has about the people who rely on food pantries to put food on their tables. Bob Jaffe, who portrays eleven different characters ranging from a 7 year old boy to an 75 year old Russian immigrant woman, was acclaimed for his fully realized and highly nuanced performance. But for the Grace... has been touring ever since its premiere in 2007, changing people’s perceptions about hunger in the United States.
Donations will be collected for Hunger Relief and will go to Share Our Strength, which strives to eliminate childhood hunger.
“Jaffe’s earnest dignity and subdued rage are engaging. Jaffe’s skill makes this a worthwhile, even inspiring, guilt trip.”
- Time Out NY
Sunday & Monday, December 16 & 17
Margaret & Kit by Shirley Lauro* & directed by Mary Fassino
A unique love story that only now can be told. In the tumultuous sixties, a world famous novelist and her student are drawn inexplicably together as they transcend age, time, place and heritage.With Diana LaMar* & Lucy DeVito* & voiceovers by Dennis Paton & Nelson Avidon.
Monday, December 10
The Angel In the Trees by Dan O’Brien & directed by Mark Armstrong*
Not long after moving to Lowden, a small town below the Mason-Dixon line, native New Yorker Madeline Singer encounters an unexplained phenomenon while walking through the woods. The Angel in the Trees is an evocative one-woman show about ghosts, God, and the American South. With Jessica Dickey.
Tuesday, December 4
The Portable Dorothy Parker by Annie Lux & directed by Lee Costello*
Dorothy Parker reminisces about her life, loves, work—and the Algonquin Round Table—while selecting stories and poems for her 1944 collection, The Portable Dorothy Parker. Featuring Margot Avery*.
Tuesday, November 13
Grant and Twain by Elizabeth Diggs* & directed by Faith Catlin
In 1884, Ulysses Grant was the idolized four-star Union Commander who won the Civil War. Mark Twain was the most famous writer in America. The two men were superstars. They were also, improbably, good friends. Twain had just broken a seven-year writer’s block to finish Huckleberry Finn. Grant had just been swindled out of all his money in a Ponzi scheme. Grant’s only chance to save his honor and provide for his family was to write his memoirs. Twain persuaded Grant to entrust the publication of his book to his own new publishing house. Halfway through the book, Grant was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and threatened with betrayal close to home. Twain went into serious debt and put his own career on hold for a year in his determination to save Grant’s reputation before he died. Grant’s Personal Memoirs and Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn became masterpieces of American writing. Featuring Cecilia DeWolf*, Clayton Fox, Dion Graham, Zach Grenier*, John Griesemer, Celeste Makoff & Scott Sowers*
Tuesday, October 23
Fish Display by Robert Askins* & directed by Jamie Richards*
The world of New York fine dinning is madness. Egos flare, stars flame out, allegiances change and fortunes are made all before the pre-theatre rush is over. In a Midtown Greek whole fish house a young man from Texas learns to serve, sell and eat the competition under the tutelage of 6 pound white snapper that doesn’t know he’s dead yet. Find out what can go wrong when you play with your food. Featuring Dennis Boutsikaris*, Geneva Carr*, Curran Connor*, Frank Harts* & Bobby Moreno*.
Tuesday, October 16
Filming O’Keefe by Eric Lane & Directed by Martha Banta
This contemporary story is inspired by the time Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz spent at his family home on Lake George. In Lane’s emotional, lyrical and funny play, the echoes of these two legendary artists are alive in a modern artistic family residing on the former Stieglitz property. This new play was commissioned by the Adirondack Theatre Festival and will premiere at A.T.F. in 2013. Featuring Anne-Marie Cusson, Eli Gelb, Megan Hill* & Bob Jaffe*, with stage directions read by Ean Kessler
Tuesday, October 2
Tonight at Noon written & directed by Jeff Tabnick
A comedy featuring Emily Hagburg, Jennifer O’Donnell, Jonathan Todd Ross, Scott Sowers* andMatty Stuart, with Brian Edelman reading stage directions.
*denotes EST Member
