Road Theatre reading of Are You Still There?

,

On November 24th at 7:30, the Road Theatre in North Hollywood presents a reading of ARE YOU STILL THERE? featuring Frank Collison, Lauren Schaffel and Laura Gardner, and directed by Dana Schwartz.

ARE YOU STILL THERE? is a seriocomedy tracking the 13 year relationship of two outsiders:  Artie, an aging teacher who’s been driven out of his classroom; and Ellie, a spiritually lost young woman desperate for a mentor.  Artie, a former actor and director, reluctantly advises Ellie on her checkered theater career, but the real lessons Artie and Ellie learn from each other are the mysteries of friendship, their ache for the families they never had, and why they’re obsessed with the plays of Anton Chekhov.

AS YOU LOVE IT at Zeiders Theater

,

Zeiders’ Curtain Up New Play Series is presenting As You Love It, with performances May 9 through May 24.

“As You Love It (and you will) brings funny fake Shakespeare to The Z.  …there’s… something for everyone. …[It’s] funny and, like its progenitor play, sometimes profound.”

– Virginian-Pilot

“As the show nears its conclusion and you start to see the similarities between the literary hoax and the show playing out in front of you, you’ll look for that nice button to tie everything up – and you won’t be disappointed.  It’s in the getting to that point that the fun happens – and you’ll learn, as Lydia says, that you’ve got to “live life… as you love it”.”

– HRACT Awards

   

 @Jstubbsphotography1

In an alternate version of early 20th century New York, a young woman forges an undiscovered Shakespeare play to impress her antiquarian father and the actress with whom she’s falling in love.  The young woman’s play – a sequel to As You Like It – takes on a life of its own, attracting the interest of newspapers, Shakespeare scholars, a Broadway producer as well her father and the woman she’s dreamed of.

Masquerade Short Play Festival presents A Change of Air

,

In February, my one-act play A CHANGE OF AIR was part of Masquerade Theatre’s Short Play Festival, with performances at the Court Square Theatre (NYC) and the Sherman Theater (CT.)

Ensemble Studio Theatre reading of RUNNING AFTER BOBBY

On June 4th at 7 pm, Ensemble Studio Theatre presents the first reading of RUNNING AFTER BOBBY.

The cast includes Clea Alsip, Rheaume Crenshaw, Eddie Flannery, Jessie Heesacker, Ashley Morton, Riley Jo Payne, Kathleen Salazar, and Jonathan Randell Silver, and is directed by Sarah Connolly and Adam Kraar.

Theatre East premieres BARRIER ISLANDS in 5×5 Drama Series

,

BARRIER ISLANDS opens November 30th at Theatre East, in Long Island City.  The one-act play, commissioned for the theater’s 5×5 Drama Series, runs through Dec. 3rd.

Directed by Avery Banks, the play features Christa Kimlicko-Jones and Caroline Jewell.

Voyage Theatre Company premieres DON’T LOOK BACK at HERE Arts Center

,

Directed by Wayne Maughans, this Voyage Theatre Company production opened in June 2022, and featured Cynthia Bastidas, Masha King, Jeff Rubino, and Lina Silver.

“…a play that seems at once classic and fresh.” – Eye on Dance and The Arts

“Although Mr. Kraar brings a decidedly contemporary bent to the famous tale, his play stays admirably rooted in the spirit of the underlying biblical story. The playwright brings specificity and welcome context to the reason why Lot’s wife ultimately turns back to gaze upon the devastated city. Indeed, the work imbues Edith with an earthy sensuality and passionate individualism that turns her tragic end into a revolutionary act of self determination.”                                          – Interludes

“DON’T LOOK BACK…  highlights current issues and profound themes…  …The poignance of immediately leaving one’s home and all of one’s belongings is identifiable. We empathize with the …symbolic representation of flight, dislocation and fear.  Ukraine and Syria easily come to mind as we watch this family struggle to find their way to a new life.”  – Theater Pizzazz

“The family dynamics are portrayed beautifully.” – Front Row Center

 

Boomerang Theatre Company premieres The Karpovsky Variations at A.R.T./New York Gural Theater

,

Boomerang Theatre’s production of The Karpovsky Variations ran May 13th  through May 29th at A.R.T./New York’s Gural Theater.

“a wonderfully acted exploration of the search for one’s own song, both solo and within the sometimes tumultuous chorus of family.  …A symphony-sized story told as an intimate chamber piece, The Karpovsky Variations really sings.”  – Thinking Theater NYC.

“A brilliant, engaging, and haunting study in family relations.”  – AllNY.com

The Karpovsky Variations…speaks to universal issues.  Moreover, it encapsulates some of the emotional push-and-pull that family members feel when they are together, and when they long to be.  …it’s a very powerful story.  – JewishLink

Directed by Tasha Gordon-Solmon, the cast includes Ezra Barnes, Rivka Borek, Barbara Broughton, Tony Crane, Michelle Liu Coughlin and Chris Thorn.

Association for Theatre in Higher Education workshop of Stuck Inside The Walls

In August 2021, my short play Stuck Inside The Walls was part of ATHE’s New Play Development Workshop.  The workshop culminated in a rehearsed virtual reading at the Association for Theatre in Higher Education Conference.

In 2022, the play was published in Smith and Kraus’ Best Ten-Minute Plays.

Working Theater presents two commissioned one-acts

,

In February 2020, The Working Theater revived of my one-acts, commissioned for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Directed by Sarah Norris, the two plays featured Bob Arcaro, Bob Jaffe, Brandon Jones, Jonathan Randell Silver and Angie Tennant.

This Tainted Earth reading at Project Y Theatre

,

On December 9th at 7:30 PM, THIS TAINTED EARTH will have a reading at ART/NY (520 8th Ave., 3rd Floor), presented by Project Y Theatre.

Directed by Tasha Gordon-Solmon, the reading features Charise Greene, Eliza Huberth, Daniel Johnson, Stacey Linnartz, Sean McIntyre, Patricia Randell, Joseph Siravo, and Angie Tennant

The play is a lyrical drama about a powerful family striving to preserve their deep bonds in the face of a long-term war, inspired, in part, by Greek myths around Iphigenia and Agamemnon.