November 15, 2005
For Immediate Release
Contact: Adrian Bryan-Brown / Juliana Hannett / Matt Ross
LAByrinth Theater Company Announces The 2005 Barn Series Festival
"INTRÍNGULIS" BY CARLO ALBAN, DIRECTED BY DAVID ANZUELO
"A SMALL MELODRAMATIC STORY" BY STEPHEN BELBER,
DIRECTED BY LUCIE TIBERGHIEN
"1 + 1" WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY ERIC BOGOSIAN
"CITY OF PALMS" BY RAUL CASTILLO, DIRECTED BY MARIANA HELLMUND
"PRETTY CHIN UP" BY ANDREA CIANNAVEI, DIRECTED BY MICHELE CHIVU
"ALL THE BAD THINGS" BY CUSI CRAM, DIRECTED BY PAULA PIZZI
"THE LITTLE FLOWER OF EAST ORANGE" WRITTEN AND DIRECTED
BY STEPHEN ADLY GUIRGIS
"NO VIET CONG EVER CALLED ME NIGGER" WRITTEN AND DIRECTED
BY BRETT C. LEONARD
"GOING AFTER ALICE" BY MEGAN MOSTYN-BROWN,
DIRECTED BY CHRIS McGARRY
"SHE TALKS TO RAINBOWS" BY MICHAEL PUZZO,
DIRECTED BY PADRAIS LILLIS
LAByrinth Theater Company (Co-Artistic Directors Philip Seymour Hoffman and John Ortiz and Executive Director Steve Asher) has announced their lineup for The Sixth Annual Barn Series Festival,
which will be presented in the 102-seat Shiva Theater at The Public
from December 2 to December 19, 2005. It will include Intríngulis by Carlo Alban; A Small Melodramatic Story by Stephen Belber; One Plus One by Eric Bogosian; City of Palms by Raul Castillo; Pretty Chin Up by Andrea Ciannavei; All the Bad Things by Cusi Cram; The Little Flower of East Orange by Stephen Adly Guirgis; No Viet Cong Ever Called Me Nigger by Brett C. Leonard; Going After Alice by Megan Mostyn-Brown; and She Talks To Rainbows by Michael Puzzo.
All readings are FREE and open to the public at the Public Theater (425
Lafayette Street). Reservations are required and can be obtained
by calling 212-513-1083 or emailing barnseriesRSVP@labtheater.org.
The Barn Series Festival features projects originally workshopped at
the annual Summer Intensive, and is the next stage of development at
LAByrinth. The plays, each rehearsed for 15 hours, are usually
presented twice and typically feature the same cast and director as at
the Intensive, while the playwrights are active participants in the
process. While it is a reading series (so actors hold scripts),
many Barn Series projects have added production values such as sound,
lighting, and blocking. The aim of the Series is to nurture new
works at differing stages of development, so each piece is presented in
the manner that best serves its needs.
The Barn Series allows artists to assess how general New York audiences
connect with the work, and gives them a valuable opportunity to further
shape and refine the play as a step towards full production. Some
presentations are followed by talkbacks so artists can hear direct
responses and reactions. LAByrinth's aim is also to share with
our New York community original works of great promise that truly
reflect the city's rainbow of cultures: and the Festival is open to the
public and presented free of charge.
Many projects from LAByrinth's Barn Series have won acclaim at other theaters in New York and nationwide: including Fuente by Cusi Cram at Barrington Stage, Beauty of the Father being presented this season by Manhattan Theater Club. The Secret Lives of Losers by Megan Mostyn-Brown at the Tribeca Theater Festival, and The Dirty Talk by Michael Puzzo at The New York International Fringe Festival.
The Barn Series and LAByrinth's other development programs offer
unconventional and pioneering opportunities that challenge artists to
create their best work, and they have yielded all of LAByrinth's own
mainstage productions. These new plays - such as Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train, Our Lady of 121st Street and Where's My Money?
- are now in demand on stages around New York City, nationwide
and abroad - as well as filling a void in theater schools, where young
artists want to work on plays that reflect diverse cultures.
One of the plays featured in the Barn Series this year, Cusi Cram's ALL THE BAD THINGS, will receive a developmental production, directed by Paula Pizzi. ALL THE BAD THINGS
will begin performances on Wednesday, February 15th at the Public
Theater (425 Lafayette Street) for 15 performances only through Sunday,
March 5th.
All readings are FREE and open to the public at the Public Theater (425
Lafayette Street). Reservations are required and can be obtained
by calling 212-513-1083 or emailing barnseriesRSVP@labtheater.org.
BARN SERIES SCHEDULE
"INTRÍNGULIS"
By Carlo Alban
Directed by David Anzuelo
December 10th and 18th at 8pm
Novelist, sniper, television personality, delinquent youth.
Window washer, tourist, Beelzebub, idealist youth. Vigilante,
rock star wannabe, minuteman, apolitical youth. Illegal
immigrant. These are the people in your neighborhood.
"A SMALL MELODRAMATIC STORY"
By Stephen Belber
Directed by Lucie Tiberghien
December 14th and 16th at 8pm
A Small Melodramatic Story is a small, melodramatic story about a woman
using her intuition, young Latino men and the Freedom of Information
Act to figure out if the person she loves is who he says he is.
"1+1"
Written & Directed by Eric Bogosian
December 5th and 7th at 8pm
In two bare-bones acts, 1+1 tells the story of two men who orbit a
young actress, Brianne, as she arrives in Los Angeles and is seduced
into heartache, drugs and the internet porn biz.
"CITY OF PALMS"
By Raul Castillo
Directed by Mariana Hellmund
December 4th and 11th at 8pm
Spawned by the return of a child, turmoil in a South Texas household threatens to bring a family to its knees.
"PRETTY CHIN UP"
By Andrea Ciannavei
Directed by Michele Chivu
December 2nd and 3rd at 8pm
What's the difference between an overweight marketing executive selling
women's lingerie and diet pills and the starving spokesmodel who
peddles the goods for the camera? About 100 pounds.
"ALL THE BAD THINGS"
By Cusi Cram
Directed by Paula Pizzi
December 6th and 8th at 8pm
A West Village family is being forced out of their rent-stabilized
apartment. Where will they find refuge in a city that is no
longer kind to artists, eccentrics and Bohemians?
"THE LITTLE FLOWER OF EAST ORANGE"
Written & Directed by Stephen Adly Guirgis whose past LAB productions include The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, In Arabia We'd All Be Kings, Jesus Hopped The 'A' Train, Our Lady of 121st Street.
December 19th at 7pm and 9pm
This piece will include scenes from a new work-in-progress about memory and ghosts.
"NO VIET CONG EVER CALLED ME NIGGER"
Written & Directed by Brett C. Leonard whose past LAB productions include Guinea Pig Solo.
December 17th at 7pm and 9pm
A provocative, incendiary exploration of love, sex, race and trying to make ends meet.
"GOING AFTER ALICE"
By Megan Mostyn-Brown
Directed by Chris McGarry who directed John Patrick Shanley's Sailor Song for LAB last season.
December 12th and 13th at 8pm
The already fractured Robertson family is blown apart by grief after their son Sam is killed by a suicide bomber.
"SHE TALKS TO RAINBOWS"
By Michael Puzzo
Directed by Padraic Lillis
December 9th and 15th at 8pm
A heartbreaking tale of obsession, repression, depression and too many Midori Sours.
LAByrinth Theater Company
was founded in 1992 when thirteen actors joined forces to form a place
to work. The idea was to create a home where the group, for three
hours each week, could engage in a variety of theatrical exercises
designed to push each others' limits and bind together into a tightly
knit, uninhibited and impassioned ensemble - one in which each member
is given the opportunity and support not only to act, but to write,
direct, produce, sweep, paint, hang lights, etcetera. The fact
that the company now consists of 92 members from a wide array of
cultural perspectives did not occur through some political
design. It grew out of a shared artistic sensibility and a desire
to create personal work that reflects the community in which the
company lives: New York City. LAByrinth Theater Company has
produced 38 new American plays including The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Our Lady of 121st Street, Jesus Hopped The 'A' Train, and In Arabia, We'd All Be Kings by Stephen Adly Guirgis; Guinea Pig Solo by Brett C. Leonard; Dutch Heart of Man by Robert Glaudini; The Trail of Her Inner Thigh by Erin Cressida Wilson; Stopless by David Deblinger; Dreaming in Tongues by the LAByrinth Ensemble; Cutting Open Wings by Lidia Ramirez; Queen Latina and Her Power Posse Versus The Evils of Society (a musical comic book for the stage) by David Anzuelo; and Sailor's Song, Where's My Money, A Winter Party, and Dirty Story by John Patrick Shanley.
