4 PLAYWRIGHTS write
4 NEW (short) PLAYS
set in the same LOCATION
We had a great time at Lena’s Cafe & Confections in January, as did all those who attended! Here’s what some have said:
Acting Out is like a wonderful translation of the “locavore” movement into theater. Everything about it is fresh, homegrown, and wildly creative—You get a delightful taste of the talent that’s right in your own community, starting with the innovative idea of writing short plays specifically for local venues and including the community in the production. Everything about “Acting Out” is high quality, and being so close to the action—not just because of the intimate space, but because you’re essentially ‘on stage’ as an audience member–makes this an incredibly satisfying evening–loads of fun!
One of the most interesting consequences of site-specific theater is that it makes the audience aware that the real drama in life is in everyday occurrences – a conversation overheard from the next table, an observed discussion between two waiters, an unexpected encounter with a person whose outfit or manner or offhand comment turns out to be memorable and thought-provoking. The real power of each of these four plays is that it actually could happen to you, in that place.
There was a theatre group in New Haven, about 15 years ago, that we just loved. The concept: plays were done in a setting relative to the play’s theme. So, that Inherit the Wind was done at the Yale Law School court room; Becket was done on a lone wind swept hill with one single tree. So, I think you’re onto something. Why always do the stage thing? It’s much more dynamic to be part of the audience. Short, original plays are a great addition. Keep it up.
The Owner herself said:
Hilarious, Fun, and would do it again if we had the opportunity. Not knowing what was going to be written, how it was going to be presented or even if people would come were some of the variables no one knew. I think this could have ran all week and still would not have fit everyone in that wanted to see the show.
The actors were all great, very helpful in the set up, promotions, and specifically putting on a great show. We would recommend to all that are approached by the Theater 4 group to give it a try. It was a fun and a great way to introduce your place to new people.
Gail and John Campagna
Why ACT OUT?
Traditional venues available for up-and-coming theater companies are scarce in New Haven. Fortunately, our city is home to many creative organizations that embrace that challenge and turn to non-traditional locations such as parking spaces, buses, and bridges to share their work. We, too, wanted to play within the community in venues that don’t traditionally serve as performance spaces. We also wanted to reach out to the talented writers of the region and challenge them to create original pieces written specifically for those locations. And so we decided to ACT OUT: use existing spaces within our city to serve as fodder for the playwrights, stages for the players, and houses for the community.
It is our goal to ACT OUT all over New Haven: to provide opportunities for local, exciting voices to write and develop thought-provoking new works, to welcome the resident acting pool to come and play and perform, and to encourage our audience to travel with us as we explore the city’s spaces and reveal its untold stories.
Where to ACT OUT next?
Lots of great suggestions were made including churches, libraries, museums, farmers’ markets, and many more. We are currently touring the city, and will reveal our next site soon. Send us an email with any other great site suggestions or submit your idea below.
Local Playwright?
If you write and are interested in working with us on ACTING OUT, please submit a selection of your short plays for us to read. Send submissions to: Theatre 4, PO BOX 8782, New Haven CT 06532
Where we’ve been…
Acting Out: Lena’s Cafe & Confections, January 20 &21, 2010
Made possible by with the support of the City of New Haven’s Mayor’s Community Grants Program
The Plays:
The Poster by George Brant
Doesn’t Get It by Rosemary Foley
86 Jake by Jack Rushen
‘Till that Lucky Day by Staci Swedeen
Actors: Jeffery Allen, Rebecka Jones, Tom Murphy, Mariah Sage, Jackie Sidle, and Jane Tamarkin
Keyboard/Guitar: Luke Elliot
Who’s Who?
George Brant’s scripts have been produced and developed by Trinity Repertory Company, the Kennedy Center, Premiere Stages, Trustus Theatre, the Drama League, and the Disney Channel. Most recently, his script Elephant’s Graveyard was awarded the David Mark Cohen National Playwriting Award from the Kennedy Center, a citation of “Best New Play” from the Austin Critics’ Table, and the Keene Prize for Literature. He received an MFA in Writing from the Michener Center for Writers at UT-Austin.
Rosemary Foley has written over eighty plays. Leaving Her was a winner at the 2009 Six Women Playwrights Festival. Her comedy, Ophelia’s Mother won the Havemeyer Award and was a finalist at the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Festival. Rosemary’s I’m Sorry, I’m Sorry won first prize at the International Festival of New Works. She was a finalist for the Heideman Award at the Actors Theatre of Louisville. Works by Women chose her as one of the ten best women playwrights. Her first play, Punch with Judy, was co-produced in New York by Jean Erdman and Joseph Campbell.
Jack Rushen has had several plays produced with the Emerging Artists Theatre in New York, where he has been a member since 2000. He has also won several national awards for his work, and is working on a full-length play, Quitting Time, which will have a reading in New York in the summer.
Staci Swedeen is a recipient of the 2004 Arts and Letters Award in Drama and a NYSCA Grant for New Plays, a Dramatist Guild Fellow alum and core Lark Theatre member, Staci is also a professional actress and Literary Manager of the Penguin Rep Theatre. Her play “The Goldman Project” played Off Broadway and is published by Samuel French. Other plays have been performed across the country, published in numerous anthologies and presented in many festivals. She is currently acting in her one woman show “Pardon Me For Living” – a biting comedy involving a rabid raccoon – which premiered at the Hudson Stage Company. www.staciswedeen.com
Jeffery Steven Allen is Producing Artistic Director at Oddfellows Playhouse. Jeffery is a member of the Lincoln Center Theater’s Directors lab and Actors’ Equity Association. Recent acting credits: Desinger X (Dr Perez—Best Actor Nomination) & Your Face (Barry) at Planet Connections NYC; Hamlet, Hamlet(Oddfellows); Julius Caesar, Brutus (Ivoryton) The Hand & The Hen (Mr Q/He) NYC. Previous directing credits at the Playhouse; Around the World in 80 Days; Love’s Labour’s Lost, Inherit the Wind, Measure for Measure, Anon(ymous), Much Ado About Nothing, Necessary Targets, Urinetown, Merchant of Venice, To Kill a Mockingbird, Gold in the Bones, Macbeth and Prometheus Bound.
Rebecka Jones, a founding member of Theatre 4, started as a visual artist until entering graduate school at Ohio University. While there, she trained to be a professional actor and earned her MFA. She has since performed with theatres including Long Wharf Theatre, Hartford Stage, Page 73 Productions (NYC), Elm Shakespeare, Shakespeare & Company, Monomoy Theater, and with Quinnipiac’s Theatre for the Community.
Thomas Murphy has spent the last several years transitioning to New York where his performances include Dodge in Sam Shepard’s Buried Child; Baylor in A Lie of the Mind and Blue Morphan in The Unseen Hand as part of The Michael Chekhov Theatre Company’s ongoing Sam Shepard festival. Both the shows and Tom’s performances received excellent reviews in the New York Times and elsewhere. He spent the early spring at the The Irish Rep performing in its month long Yeats Project.
Mariah Sage is a founding member of Theatre 4. She trained at NYU/Tisch (BFA, Drama) and Brown University/Trinity Rep (MFA, Acting) where she was a Stephen Sondheim Fellow. Mariah is an actor, director and educator. She has performed with theatres across the nation and in Europe including: The Trinity Rep, The Public Theater (NYC), The Cleveland Play House, and The Apollo (Germany). She has directed for Hartford Stage and Oddfellows Playhouse. Mariah has taught acting at Brown University, NYU/Tisch, Quinnipiac, Hartford Stage and is currently an Assistant Professor of Acting and Theatre at Fairfield University. Mariah is a member of Actors’ Equity Association.
Jackie Sidle relocated to Connecticut from Chicago 6 years ago. She was seen last season as Holly in Theatre4’s production of Anton in Show Business. Locally she has appeared with The River Rep, Seven Angels, The Ivoryton Playhouse, The Rhode Island Shakespeare Theatre and at The Duplex Theatre in NYC, where she performed her one woman cabaret show. Jackie’s Chicago credits include work with StreetSigns, Zeppo Theatre, Circle Theatre and ImprovOlympic. Jackie is a proud member of Actors Equity Association.
Jane Tamarkin, a member of Actors Equity Association, has acted Off-Broadway, at the Long Wharf Theater, and in summer stock. She studied acting at HB Studios in New York City and at Long Wharf Theater with James Luse. A teacher and director, Jane taught acting classes and directed productions at The Hopkins School for thirteen years and is the founder and director of the Heyday Theatre, a non-profit theater workshop for New Haven area teenagers. She is an Artist-In-Residence for the Schubert Theater’s Education Outreach Program. A judge for the Connecticut Drama Association’s yearly competitions, she was given a Distinguished Service Award for her teaching, directing, and adjuncting in 2000 by the CDA. In addition, Jane sings in a barbershop chorus, a comedy quartet, and teaches acting and performance for singers worldwide.
