Ensemble Studio Theatre's flagship festival of new one-act plays, the Marathon has played annually at EST for over 30 years. 2011, marking the 33rd year of the Marathon, features all EST member playwrights.
Series B begins Saturday, June 4th and runs through Saturday, June 25th, 2011.
Opening Night - Thursday, June 9th, 2011
I Know
by Jacquelyn Reingold*
Directed by Dan Bonnell*
With Jack Davidson*+ & Beth Dixon+
Stage Managed by Meredith Dixon+
A funny play about a sad day. Two lifelong actors and long-term lovers, devoted to the theatre and each other for forty years, one day find nothing is the same.
Mrs. Jones and the Man from Dixieland
by Steven Sater*
With a song by Steven Sater & Duncan Sheik;
Directed by José Zayas*
With Uzo Aduba+ & Stanton Nash+
Stage Managed by Matthew Klein
Music Supervisor/Orchestrator: Eli Zoller.
A blind sharecropper's daughter is rocking her infant when a young man in a blue serge suit comes calling with a carpet. The play features a new song by Tony and Grammy Award-winning composers Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik, who have collaborated for over a decade.
For Elise
by David Zellnik*
Directed by Pamela Berlin*
With Delphi Harrington*+, Drew Hirshfield+ & Erik Liberman+
Stage Managed by Jason Weixelman.
At a Hasidic wedding reception, a 90-year-old woman from the old world and a gay 30-something from the new one find themselves on the outside looking in.
Two from the Line
by Michael Louis Wells*
Directed by R.J. Tolan*
With Eddie Boroevich*+ & Curran Connor*+
Stage Managed by Jes Levine+
Two men get a little too personal while watching a basketball game on TV.
Cell
by Cassandra Medley*
Directed by Jamie Richards*
With Shyko Amos*, MaConnia Chesser+ & Lizan Mitchell+
Stage Managed by Chiare Di Lello
An African-American woman rescues her younger sister and adult niece from homelessness only to have a "minor" on-the-job mishap change her family forever.
Set by Jason Simms
Lights by Greg MacPherson*
Sound by Benjamin Furiga
Costumes by Erica Evans
Props by Starlet Jacobs
*denotes EST Member + denotes Equity Member
Marathon 2011 is an Equity approved showcase
Reviews
"Memory, both sweet and painful, triggers engaging drama in each of the five plays of Ensemble Studio Theatre's 33rd Marathon of One-Act Plays (Series B). It is a thin thread weaving together a memorable night of entertainment and talent. Quality casting, tight direction, graceful writing, and program diversity add to a satisfying evening." -nytheatre.com
"Director Jamie Richards pitches the tension levels just right, and the three-person cast [of Cell] all deliver superb performances. [Cell] provocatively addresses issues of race, class, and immigration even as it remains centered on the complex interactions of these three women, who are just as trapped by their social circumstances as the prisoners whom they oversee." - theatermania.com
"Uzo Aduba gives an intense portrayal of Mrs. Jones, an African-American woman with an overly obsessional attachment to a baby. Mr. Sater and Duncan Sheik provide touching music for [Mrs. Jones and the Man from Dixieland]'." - picktainment.com