Amios to Present FIRST DRAUGHTS Reading Series This Month

First Draughts is a developmental reading series produced by Amios, a theater collective whose mission is to build community through art. First Draughts is dedicated to expanding first produced at Shotz (Amios' monthly short-play series) into full-length plays over the course of a six-month development process.

This Spring's plays will include:

March 7th, 7:00pm @ D-Lounge

The Ash Tree Spinners, words by Liz Thaler, music by Erik Saxvik (of The Hollows), lyrics by Liz Thaler and Erik Saxvik. Directed by Jess Chayes (The Assembly).

The reading will feature Carolyn Braver (Broadway: Airline Highway), Mandi Masden (Off-Broadway: Julie Taymor's A Midsummber Night's Dream, TFANA, Our Lady of Kibeho, Signature Theater), Erik Saxvik, Lipica Shah, Joy Donze, Jenna Panther, Khris Lewin, Sarah Nedwek, Michael Propster, and Ray Campbell.

March 14th, 7:00pm @ D-Lounge

Eidola by Michael Sadler, directed by Lauren Miller. Cast TBD

March 21st, 7:00pm @ D-Lounge

The Loneliest Number by Lizzie Vieh, directed by Maria Dizzia. Cast TBD

March 28th, 7:00pm @ D-Lounge

Breaking and Entering by Liz Morgan, directed by Ilana Becker. Cast TBD

All readings are free and open to the public. Please RSVP to amiostheatre@gmail.com, as seating is limited. D-Lounge is located at 101 East 15th Street, NY, NY. All readings are at 7 p.m.

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FIRST DRAUGHTS WRITERS:

Liz Morgan (writer, Breaking and Entering) holds both a B.A. and an M.F.A from Brown University where she was the recipient of the Davis Wickham Prize for Excellence in Playwriting. She also wrote, directed and performed in her original solo show , Deep $h*t as a capstone project during her undergraduate studies. Previous collaborations with Amios include the Directors' Lab and handful of Shotz pieces including her short play Projection which was hand-picked by Emmy-winning and Broadway producers as a finalist in the New York New Works Festival. Morgan is also known for her full-length, The Clark Doll which appeared at Manhattan Rep and her one-act, A Matter of Taste which also appeared at Manhattan Rep and was published as a finalist in the Long Island City One Act Festival as well. www.LizMorganOnline.com

Michael Sadler (writer, Eidola) has worked in New York and regional theatre for over a decade, in varying capacities as writer, director, actor, and producer. In addition to his traditional theatre work, he is a frequent collaborator of Odyssey Works, with whom he creates immersive, multi-site pieces over a period of months for a single audience member. He has teamed up with Amios for several Shotz outings. His writing has seen numerous readings and productions in the city, and he is pleased to develop Eidola as part of First Draughts.

Erik Saxvik (composer, The Ash Tree Spinners) is an actor and musician from the Chicagoland area. He is a founding member of The Hollows, a junkyard folk-rock band based in Brooklyn, and he is excited for their fourth album release this spring www.thehollowsonline.com). Acting credits include Safe Home by Sean Cullen (Cap 21 and Royal Family Productions), To the Oars (Semi-Theatre) and Orlando by Sarah Ruhl (A.C.T.- west coast premiere). With Amios: Shotz: Live and in Concert. B.A. Hope College, M.F.A. American Conservatory Theatre.

Liz Thaler (writer, The Ash Tree Spinners) is a playwright, director, and native New Yorker. This is her first full musical, but she has long dabbled with music-in-theatre: her queer fable The Peddler's Tale (LAMDA, Edinburgh Fringe, The Wild Project) and her feminist punk historical fan fiction play Courtney and Kathleen: A Riot Act (Fringe NY @ La MaMa) both featured original music. Her BDSM existentialist love story Happy does not have any songs, but was produced as part of The Brick's 2015 F*ckfest-and began as a Shotz play! She is Artistic Director of All Out Arts/The Fresh Fruit Festival, New York's largest celebration of LGBTQ art. Wesleyan, LAMDA.

Lizzie Vieh (writer, The Loneliest Number) is a playwright and performer based in New York City. Her full-length plays include Wisconsin Death Trip, Barrier Islands, The Loneliest Number, and Backwater Rising. Her work has been performed at the Brown University/ Trinity Rep Graduate Program, MTC Studios, The Kraine Theater, and The Wild Project. With Amios: several Shotz. She is the literary director of Red Garnet Theater Company. MFA Brown/Trinity, BA Brown University. (www.LizzieVieh.com)

DIRECTORS:

Ilana Becker (director, Breaking and Entering) is a freelance theatre director with a management and producing background. She is thrilled to be developing material with Amios after having a blast directing at Shotz last July; this is her third collaboration with Liz Morgan, and their first as playwright/director. Ilana has developed and directed new material at New York Theatre Workshop, Ars Nova, Dixon Place, The Civilians, The Flea Theater, The Lark, 54 Below, The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, Columbia University's MFA Playwriting program, NYU's MFA Dramatic Writing program, Hunter College, Disney/ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop, Pittsburgh Fringe (Best Ensemble), FringeNYC, Samuel French Festival, and FullStop Collective, among several others. As a producer/director, Ilana led an environmental staging of Waiting for Lefty during the 2011 public employee protests; she co-produced Beer Plays, an evening of short plays paired with craft beers, and Around the Block, an evening of community-driven, investigative pieces about and performed in five different NYC neighborhoods; and she continues to develop Argument Sessions, an ongoing series of immersive events taken from SCOTUS transcripts and woven with original material, in collaboration with a company of actors, writers, musicians, improvisers, puppeteers, designers, and lawyers. Ilana has recently taken on multimedia installations by developing a story for and co-designing a commercial holiday light and music show in Minneapolis, MN, and for an immersive photo-documentary exhibit in Fort Wayne, IN. As Associate Director or Assistant Director, she has had the pleasure of working with Woodshed Collective, Terry Kinney, Pam MacKinnon, Anne Kauffman, Sam Gold, Jonathan Silverstein, and Nick Corley on Broadway, Off Broadway, at BAM, and in the NYMF. Ilana is a member of The Civilians' R&D Group, DirectorsLabChicago, Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, Bastard Playground in residence at the Drama League, The Other Side's Board of Directors, and was a Playwrights Horizons Robert Moss Directing Fellow. www.ilanabecker.com

Maria Dizzia (director, The Loneliest Number) is so happy to be working with Amios again. Her first collaboration was also her directing debut, Gift of the Magi by David Rosen in Shotz. Most recent acting credits include The Blacklist, Tricia on Horace and Pete, Polly on Orange is the New Black. Maria teaches scene study at The Freeman Studio in NYC.

Jess Chayes (director, The Ash Tree Spinners) is a Brooklyn-based director and founding co-artistic director of The Assembly. With The Assembly, Jess has co-created and directed eight original productions. Recent directing includes: That Poor Dream (The Assembly, The New Ohio Theater), Primal Play (New Georges), The Pillowman (The University of Scranton), The Bachelors (Williamstown Theater Festival), The Sister (Dutch Kills), The Netflix Plays (Ars Nova), and HOME/SICK (The Assembly, NY Times and Backstage Critic's Pick). She has developed new work with The Vineyard Theatre, The Playwrights Center, NYTW, The Lark, The Civilians, P73, and Labyrinth among others. Jess is a founding member and facilitator of the New Georges Jam artists lab. Recent affiliations: The Civilians R&D Group, The Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, Associate Director on Peter and the Starcatcher (Brooks Atkinson Theater and New World Stages) and Misery(Broadhurst Theater). With Amios: LongShotz and Shotz Is Busting Out All Over. Upcoming projects include I Will Look Forward to this Later with The Assembly (2015-2016 Archive Residency).

Lauren Miller (director, Eidola) Amios Credits: Leap Shotz, Shotz: Live and in Concert, The Most wonderful Shotz of the Year, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's Shotz, Happy (Amios reading series), Shotz Through the Heart, Chicken Shotz for the Soul, Voulez Vous Coucher Avec Shotz, Shotz of Thrones, Seven Deadly Shotz, Give Me Liberty of Give Me Shotz, Folsom Prison Shotz (Director); Leap Shotz, Shotz from the Crypt, Shotz: The National Pastime, They're Playing Our Shotz, Shotzo de Mayo, Girls Just Wanna Have Shotz (Literary Manager); Shotz: Live and in Concert (Producer). NYC Directing: Happy by Liz Thaler (The Brick); How Do You Say Mother in Esperanto? by Roger Weisman (FringeNYC, Red Eye Reading Series); Reservations by Jeffrey Fischer-Smith (Long Island City One Act Festival, Finalist); Summer of '63 by York Walker, Uncanny Valley by Tom Gibbons, Fortune by Lally Katz, The Unearthing by Lindsay Joy (newTACTics New Play Festival). Producer of newTACTics at TACT/The Actors Company Theatre. TACT Adjunct Company Member. Artistic Director, In Extremis Theater Company. BFA University of the Arts.