2012 ALL FOR ONE THEATER FESTIVAL Announces Lineup of 10 Solo Plays

THE 2012 ALL FOR ONE THEATER FESTIVAL, which begins September 14th at the 179 seat Cherry Lane Theatre/Mainstage, 38 Commerce Street, NYC, will feature 10 extraordinary solo performers presenting their own works. This 2nd AFO Theater Festival, which continues through September 30th, will offer two performances of each play plus panels, workshops, works in development, talk-back audience sessions after every performance and a special solo performance Mentoring Program with Nilaja Sun for high school students. This second AFO season features solo plays directed by Lynne Taylor-Corbett, BD Wong and Colman Domingo; the World Premiere of “WHAT I THOUGHT I KNEW” by Alice Eve Cohen, based on her New York Times bestseller, and the NY Premiere of Emmy-winner and theatre favorite Leslie Jordan’s new solo piece “FRUIT FLY.”

Michael Wolk, Executive Producer said: “The All For One Theater Festival is a nonprofit organization presenting outstanding solo shows that inform and inspire, along with workshops and panels to promote excellence in solo theater.

“This year, we have Lily Tomlin, Patrick Stewart, Whoopi Goldberg, Carrie Fisher and many other solo artists standing with us on our Advisory Board, and their message is clear: solo performance matters. In a time when it’s easy to point and click news stories away like gnats, solo theater gives us the means to personally connect with the life’s important issues.

“Because they believe solo performance matters, BD Wong, Colman Domingo, and Broadway’s Lynne Taylor-Corbett not only serve on our advisory board, but will all direct shows in the 2012 All For One Theater Festival.

“AFO 2012 offers 10 stories of personal triumph – triumphs that, through masterful performance, become OUR triumphs.

"To cite just two examples: FRUIT FLY, a New York Premiere, is Emmy Award-winner Leslie Jordon’s inspiring peon to finding your own path; WHAT I THOUGHT I KNEW, a World Premiere by Alice Eve Cohen, is based on her critically acclaimed, award-winning memoir and tells of her miraculous mid-life pregnancy.

“A great solo show starts a conversation – so we’re delighted to announce this year ALL performances will be followed by audience talkbacks.

“We know the shows in the Festival will start many conversations and we hope, through our new booking partnership with Peter Ligeti and The Show Store, that after the Festival, our shows will tour to theaters and campuses across America.”

The All For One Theater Festival launched its inaugural season on 11.11.11 – November 11, 2011 – at Theatre 80 St. Marks in New York City, presenting a program of 15 highly acclaimed full-length solo works plus 6 short pieces, 5 panels with leaders of solo performance, and 8 workshops led by the solo performance community’s most respected instructors. A New Works Series and an evening of excerpts were also presented.

With its second NY season this fall, All For One continues to build its burgeoning community of solo theater performers, writers, directors, educators and audiences. All For One works year-round to promote its Festival shows and workshops and expand the audiences for these amazing artists.

This year, AFO premieres The AFO Mentor Project. Through this program, six exceptional high school students, selected from schools throughout NYC, will participate in an extended workshop in the art of solo performance lead by award-winning writer/actress Nilaja Sun. The project will culminate in the inaugural AFO Student Showcase in December 2012. The first of these workshops will occur during the 2012 AFO Theater Festival on Sunday, September 16 at 4:30pm. (This workshop is by-invitation-only and is not open to the public.)

On Wednesday, September 26th (7 to 8:30 PM) the AFO Festival Salon will celebrate the vibrant and thriving solo theatre community with an evening of 10 minute excerpts from 10 new works by up-and-coming solo performers. This evening is open to the public with a $10 ticket.

The 2012 AFO Festival performance schedule September 14 through 30 is: Wednesday-Sundays at 7 PM; Saturdays & Sundays at 2 PM and 4:30 PM.

There will be Workshops with AFO advisors and/or performers Nilaja Sun, Gretchen Cryer, Leslie Jordan, Deb Margolin, Matt Hoverman, Alice Eve Cohen, Jennifer S. Jones, Debra Barsha, Lynne Taylor-Corbett and others as well as several panels related to the development, performance and production of solo performance. (See Workshop schedule below)

The 10 solo plays selected for the 2012 ALL FOR ONE THEATRE FESTIVAL, all written and performed by the author, are:

APPEARANCE OF LIFE by Jennifer S. Jones (formerly called Letters to Clio) A riveting thriller set in Buenos Aires in 1976 about an upper class woman who become radicalized when her daughter is ‘disappeared’ by the Argentine junta.
Directed by Jessica Lefkow
Saturday, September 15 @ 7pm & Sunday, September 23 @ 4:30pm

ASKING FOR IT by Joanna Rush If you had a strict Catholic upbringing, ran off to pursue a dancing career in NYC, and were sexually assaulted by a helpful stranger you meet at Port Authority Bus Terminal…were you just ‘asking for it’?
Directed by Lynne Taylor-Corbett
Friday, September 14 @ 7pm & Saturday, September 22 @ 2pm

DIRTY PAKI LINGERIE by Aizzah Fatima Sex, politics and religion collide as six Pakistani-American women air their dirty lingerie.
Directed by Eliza Gould
Saturday, September 22 @ 4:30pm & Thursday, September 27 @ 7pm

FRUIT FLY by Leslie Jordan Emmy-winner and theatre favorite Leslie Jordan asks, “Do gay men become their mothers?”
Directed by David Galligan NEW YORK PREMIERE
Thursday, September 20 @ 7pm & Saturday, September 22 @ 7pm

NO PAROLE by Carlo D’Amore From Peru to the streets of NY, the struggle between a con-artist Mother and her trusting son who tries to save her from her self-destructive habits of lying and stealing.
Directed by Colman Domingo
Sunday, September 16 @ 7pm & Saturday, September 29 @ 4:30pm

THE PURPOSE PROJECT: THAO’S LIBRARY by Elizabeth Van Meter Video and live performance illuminate the story of how a woman deals with her sister’s suicide by building a library in rural Vietnam. Developed as part of AFO’s New Works Series in 2011 WORLD PREMIERE
Sunday, September 23 @ 2pm & Saturday, September 29 @ 7pm

SPEAK UP CONNIE by Cindy Cheung A musical comedy about a Chinese-American woman who learns to speak up for herself and stand up to her mother.
Directed by BD Wong
Saturday, September 15 @ 2pm & Sunday, September 23 @ 7pm

WHAT I THOUGHT I KNEW by Alice Eve Cohen Adapted from her critically acclaimed, award-winning memoir, Alice Eve Cohen shares the story of her miraculous mid-life pregnancy.
Directed by Elizabeth Margid WORLD PREMIERE
Saturday, September 15 @ 4:30pm & Friday, September 28 @ 7pm

A WOMB WITH A VIEW Award-winning composer Debra Barsha’s rollicking musical about a Lesbian couple’s quest for a baby
Directed by Frank Ventura
Sunday, September 16 @ 2pm & Friday, September 21 @ 7pm

YOU WANT ME TO DO WHAT? by Mary Lou Shriber An original musical about an actress who never intended to be a nurse.
Directed by Joe Ricci
Wednesday, September 19 @ 7pm & Saturday, September 29 @ 2pm

The 3-hour AFO Workshops, with a fee of $85 each, are:

Jump Starting Your Personal Narrative
Instructor: Jennifer S. Jones
Wednesday, September 19 2:30-5:45pm

Tell Your Story: The Art of the Autobiographical Solo Show
Instructor: Matt Hoverman Thursday, Sept 20 11am-2:15pm

Using Music in Your Solo Piece
Instructor: Debra Barsha Thursday, September 20 2:30-5:45pm

Tapping the Source: Creative Writing for Any Reason at All
Instructor: Deb Margolin Friday, September 21 11am-2:15pm

The Director/Performer Collaboration
Instructor: Leslie Jordan & David Galligan
Friday, September 21 2:30-5:45pm

Creating Characters From Your Life Stories
Instructor: Alice Eve Cohen Thursday, September 27 11am-2:15pm

Writing for Solo Performance
Instructor: Gretchen Cryer Thursday, September 27 2:30-5:45pm

Making It Move: Using Movement in Your Solo Piece
Instructor: Lynne Taylor-Corbett and Joanna Rush
Friday, September 28 11am-2:15pm

Michael Wolk is Executive Producer of the AFO Theatre Festival with Associate Producer Megan Kolb, and with Town Square Productions as General Managers. The Advisory Board of the All for One Theater Festival includes: Daniel Beaty, Gretchen Cryer, Mike Daisey, Tovah Feldshuh, Carrie Fisher, Whoopi Goldberg, Jackie Hoffman, Matt Hoverman, Leslie Jordan, John Leguizamo, Deb Margolin, Jackie Mason, Dael Orlandersmith, Eva Price, Mark Rylance, Patrick Stewart, Nilaja Sun, Lily Tomlin and BD Wong.

THE ALL FOR ONE THEATER FESTIVAL is partnering with Peter Ligeti and The Show Store to book past and current AFO shows. TheShowstore.com, a division of Ligeti Artists LLC, provides live entertainment services for theaters, performing art centers, music festivals, campuses, charities, corporate and private events. TheShowstore.com acts as a broker, packager, and/or producer, and provides an online department store for the Arts & Entertainment Community, providing presenters with a wide range of live attractions. http://theshowstore.com/artists/view/1045

AFO Theater Festival is a non-profit organization devoted to the advancement of solo performance. Its mission is to provide career sustaining performing and teaching opportunities for these extraordinary solo artists. The AFO’s new collaboration with The ShowStore, which offers touring and booking support for plays from the Festival’s first and up-coming seasons, is an expansion of this mission.

All performances of the 2012 AFO Theater Festival will be at The Cherry Lane Theatre, 38 Commerce Street, NYC (west of 7th Avenue South, 3 blocks south of Christopher Street), and accessible via the A, B, C, D, F and M trains to West 4th Street or the #1 to Christopher Street. From Christopher Street (#1 train) walk three blocks south on Seventh Avenue to COMMERCE STREET (also called CHERRY LANE). Turn right onto Commerce Street and walk to the end of the block. The theatre is on the left hand side. From the West 4th Street station (at Sixth Avenue), (A, B, C, D, E, F, and M trains), walk west along Bleecker Street to Seventh Avenue. At Seventh Avenue, continue west along COMMERCE STREET (also called CHERRY LANE), which is just south of Bleecker. The theatre is at the end of the block, on the left hand side.

Regular Seats: $25, Student Rush: $15, Senior Citizen: $20, Group Discount (10+): $15, Festival Pass (1 ticket to a performance of each show): $200

Buy tickets online at www.afofest.org/tickets or call Ovation Tix at (212) 352-3101. Tickets for all performances will also available for purchase at The Cherry Lane Box Office, 38 Commerce Street, one hour prior to performance, beginning September 14th.

For more information visit www.afofest.org. Follow us on Twitter at @AFOfestival and on Facebook at facebook.com/afofestival.