November 30, 2005
For Immediate Release
Contact: Adrian Bryan-Brown / Juliana Hannett / Matt Ross
Casting Announced for
LAByrinth Theater Company's
2005 Barn Series Festival
LAByrinth Theater Company (Co-Artistic Directors Philip Seymour Hoffman and John Ortiz and Executive Director Steve Asher) has announced casting 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.
Intríngulis by Carlo Alban will feature Carlo Alban; A Small Melodramatic Story by Stephen Belber will feature Carlo Alban, Ron Cephas Jones, Chris McGarry and Portia; 1+1 by Eric Bogosian will feature Katie Nehra, Michael Puzzo and Justin Reinsilber; City of Palms by Raul Castillo will feature Carlo Alban, Vanessa Aspillaga, Maggie Bofill, Alexis Croucher, Felix Solis and Doug Stender; Pretty Chin Up by Andrea Ciannavei will feature Buzz Bovshow, Andrea Cinnavei, Beth Cole, Alexis Croucher and Sal Inzirello; All the Bad Things by Cusi Cram will feature Vanessa Aspillaga, Jen Grant, Justin Reinsilber, Phyllis Somerville, Alexa Scott-Flaherty and David Zayas; The Little Flower of East Orange by Stephen Adly Guirgis will feature Elizabeth Canavan, Jeff DeMunn, Richie Petrocelli, Lauren Velez and David Zayas; No Viet Cong Ever Called Me Nigger by Brett C. Leonard will feature Ron Cephas Jones, Chris Chalk and Trevor Long; Going After Alice by Megan Mostyn-Brown will feature Renee Brown, Lauren Hodges, Laura Hughes, Stephen Payne, Portia and Marshall Sharer; and She Talks To Rainbows by Michael Puzzo will feature Mark Hammer, Sal Inzirello, Portia and David Zayas.
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.
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
Starring Carlo Alban
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
Starring Carlo Alban, Ron Cephas Jones, Chris McGarry and Portia
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
Starring Katie Nehra, Michael Puzzo and Justin Reinsilber
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
Starring Carlo Alban, Vanessa Aspillaga, Maggie Bofill, Alexis Croucher, Felix Solis and Doug Stender
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
Starring Buzz Bovshow, Andrea Cinnavei, Beth Cole, Alexis Croucher and Sal Inzirello
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
Starring Vanessa Aspillaga, Jen Grant, Justin Reinsilber, Phyllis Somerville, Alexa Scott-Flaherty and David Zayas
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.
Starring Elizabeth Canavan, Jeff DeMunn, Richie Petrocelli, Lauren Velez and David Zayas
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.
Starring Ron Cephas Jones, Chris Chalk and Trevor Long
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.
Starring Renee Brown, Lauren Hodges, Laura Hughes, Stephen Payne, Portia and Marshall Sharer
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
Starring Mark Hammer, Sal Inzirello, Portia and David Zayas.
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.
