Kennedy Center Page to Stage Festival includes Empire of the Trees

,

The Inkwell Theatre will present 20-minute excerpts of “six of the most daring plays in The Inkwell’s selection pool” – including EMPIRE OF THE TREES – at the Kennedy Center’s Page to Stage Festival on Sept. 7th at 2 PM

EMPIRE OF THE TREES is set in India, in the fall of 1963.  It explores the relationship between the wife of an American foreign correspondent and a traveling Indian bookseller.  Their journey through the worlds of literature, romance, and myth clashes with cruel facts of class, history and human nature.

 

LAUNDRY AND LIES published in Best American Short Plays

,

Applause Books has published my one-act, Laundry and Lies, in BEST AMERICAN SHORT PLAYS 2007-2008. 

On Saturday, Sept. 12, there will be a reading from Laundry and Lies and other plays in the anthology at the Lincoln Center Barnes and Noble.

The play has been produced by Ensemble Studio Theatre and the Rude Mechanicals Theatre Company, among others.

EMPIRE OF THE TREES designated Stanley Award finalist

,

Empire of the Trees was designated one of three finalists for the Stanley Drama Award. 

The play is set in India, in the fall of 1963.  It explores the relationship between the wife of an American foreign correspondent and a traveling Indian bookseller.  Their journey through the worlds of literature, romance, and myth clashes with cruel facts of class, history and human nature.

Empire of the Trees was developed at the Lark Theatre, William Inge Center for the Arts and LaMama ETC.

SHIPWRECKED debuts in June and July 2009

My one-act play, SHIPWRECKED, premieres this summer as part of BRIEF SHORTS, a collection of five danced plays produced by the Xoregos Performing Company.  The show will tour New York City libraries and parks. 

NYTheatre.com writes: “…the deceptively light absurdity of SHIPWRECKED… literally takes off as the couple Tanara and Jeanne, played by Ralph Coppola and Tracy Espritu, begin a truly moving dance that had couples nearby reaching for each other’s hands and drawing each other closer.” 

Schedule below:

PERFORMANCES ARE FREE

Flushing Library: Queens
Final stop on #7 train
Saturday, June 27 at 2:00 PM

Central Park Meadow
near Delacorte Theater
Mid-park at 80 Street
Sunday, June 28 at 6:30 PM

Yorkville Library
222 East 79 Street (2/3 Ave)
Monday, June 29 at 6:30 PM

Muhlenberg Library
23 Street W. of Seventh Ave.
Tuesday, July 7 at 6:00 PM

Morningside Library
2900 Broadway/113 Street
Thursday, July 9 at 6:00 PM

96 Street Library
96 Street & Lexington Avenue
Saturday, July 11 at 2:00 PM

Riverside Park North Lawn
Riverside Drive at 80 Street
(enter at 79 Street)
Sunday, July 12 at 6:30 PM

Hamilton Grange Library
145 Street-West of Broadway
Monday, July 13 at 5:00 PM

Webster Library
1465 York Avenue/78 Street
Thursday, July 16 at 6:00 PM

Kip’s Bay Library
446 Third Avenue/31 Street
Saturday, July 18 at 2:30 PM

Tompkins Square Park
8 Street/Avenue B: East Village
Sunday, July 19 at 6:00 PM

Forest Hills Library: Queens
E/F/R to 71/Continental Avenue
Exit North side of Queens Blvd.
Monday, July 20 at 6:00 PM

Inge Center playwright-in-residence

,

This spring, Adam Kraar will be one of two playwrights-in-residence at the William Inge Center for the Arts, along with Alice Tuan.

The residency includes a workshop of Adam’s latest play, The Return of Sita Rubin, culminating in a presentation on April 6th.  The workshop is directed by Shilarna Stokes and features Catherine Eaton, Joseph Gomez, Ed Hajj, and Rizwan Manji. 

Read The Brooklyn Rail feature on William Inge and the Inge Center residency

The Van Buren Cloak Room published in The Best Ten-Minute Plays

THE VAN BUREN CLOAK ROOM is now available in THE BEST TEN-MINUTE PLAYS FOR TWO ACTORS published by Smith and Kraus.  To order, please visit Amazon.com

THE VAN BUREN CLOAK ROOM was first produced at the H.B. Playwrights Theatre, directed by Randy White and starring Patricia Randell and Tamilla Woodard.

FREEDOM HIGH awarded first Handel Playwright Fellowship

In May 2007, FREEDOM HIGH was awarded the inaugural Bernard and Shirley Handel Playwright Fellowship by the Woodstock Byrdcliffe Arts Guild.  The Fellowship included a grant and a residency at the Byrdcliffe Arts Colony.

Queens College discussion panel – FREEDOM HIGH

BROADWAY WORLD feature

FREEDOM SUMMER PANEL AT QUEENS COLLEGE – MAY 13

Following the Sunday, May 13 performance, at 5:15 pm, Queens College alumni will discuss the themes of FREEDOM HIGH in relation to their experiences as Freedom Summer volunteers and civil rights activists.

Panelists are:

Mark Levy, who, with his wife, Betty (Bollinger) Levy (deceased), was co-director and teacher of the Meridian Freedom School during Freedom Summer and assigned to the same project area with Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner. Mr. Levy has generously provided rare photographs and documents for the production.

Dorothy Miller Zellner ‘60, who participated in Freedom Summer as a Queens College graduate and whose husband, also a Queens College graduate, was among the first white members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

Dean Savage, Queens College professor of Sociology, and Rabbi Moshe Shur, head of the Queens College chapter of Hillel, who both volunteered for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1965 to register African Americans to vote in 120 counties in five Southern states. This major voter registration effort came to be known as the Summer Community Organization and Political Education (SCOPE) Project, which resulted in the registration of 49,000 new voters in the South.

 

 

FREEDOM HIGH at QUEENS COLLEGE and QUEENS THEATRE IN THE PARK

,

Queens College and Queens Theatre in the Park
present

FREEDOM HIGH

a new play by Adam Kraar
directed by Susan Einhorn

Wednesday, May 9, 7 pm
Thursday, May 10, 7 pm
Friday, May 11, 8 pm
Saturday, May 12, 2 pm & 8 pm
Sunday, May 13, 3 pm

The Little Theatre
King Hall 115, Queens College
Tickets: FreedomHighTickets@hotmail.com
Directions: http://www.qc.cuny.edu/about/directions.php

There will be a discussion panel following the May 13th performance. Click here for further information.

Also at QUEENS THEATRE IN THE PARK:

Saturday, May 19, 8 pm
Sunday, May 20, 3 pm

Box Office: (718) 760-0064
 

Inspired by actual events, FREEDOM HIGH takes place in June 1964, when black Civil Rights workers trained hundreds of white volunteers to work in Mississippi registering blacks to vote. Jessica, a young white volunteer, has no idea has no idea how dangerous – both physically and emotionally – the project will be. Instead, she throws herself into learning non-violent tactics and stubbornly trying to befriend an angry, wounded veteran of the Movement.

When three Civil Rights workers who’d been at the training the previous week disappear, the volunteers are forced to decide if they can risk their lives for a mission that seems doomed. Jessica discovers the deep – sometimes dark – complexity of her motivations, and those of everyone else involved.