Axis Company's 2014-15 Season to Feature World Premieres from Randy Sharp, Marc Palmieri & More

Axis Company has announced its 2014-15 season, which will feature a number of world premieres, as well as the return of its beloved family holiday show Seven In One Blow, or The Brave Little Kid. The season begins with the world premiere of Axis Company Artist Director Randy Sharp's new musical Triangle Fire, part of the second annual Theater:Village festival, which is co-presented by Cherry Lane Theatre, New Ohio Theatre and Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. Entitled E Pluribus, the festival will feature four new plays celebrating the diversity of America, running from September 3-October 5.

Triangle Fire (September 10-October 4) finds Sharp working with Paul Carbonara (Blondie, Mary McBride Band) to present a musical about the turmoil surrounding the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. The production follows the company's world premiere of Edgar Oliver's In The Park, which the New Yorker's Hilton Als called "emotionally grand work."

Axis' beloved holiday family show, Seven In One Blow, or The Brave Little Kid (December 5-21), returns for its 13th year. Written and directed by Sharp, the production "bring(s) a distinctly local flavor and history to bear" (NPR).

Following his 2009 play Levittown, which was a New York Times Critic's Pick, longtime Axis Company member Marc Palmieri returns with the world premiere of The Groundling (February 11-March 7, 2015).

The company's episodic drama Hospital (April 23-May 30, 2015) has become an almost annual tradition since it was first presented in 1997. Written and directed by Sharp, this year's installment will be a reimagined full-length version of the show.

David Crabb, a performer, writer, storyteller and longtime Axis Company member, returns to the stage in a new collaboration with director Josh Matthews. The Horror (July 1-25, 2015) is the follow up to 2012's Bad Kid, which The New York Times called "endearing."

More information available below.

AXIS COMPANY 2014-15 HIGHLIGHTS

Triangle Fire
September 10 - October 4, 2014
Theater:Village Festival 2014
Music by Paul Carbonara & Randy Sharp
Lyrics by Randy Sharp
Directed by Randy Sharp

In the new musical Triangle Fire Randy Sharp (Artistic Director, Axis Theatre) and Paul Carbonara tell a story through the eyes of those who witnessed the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City killing 146 people. Using historical documents and newspaper accounts they recreate the lives of two young politically minded immigrant workers in love, the financially strapped owners and the incredibly rich families of 1911 New York who had little concept of the horrors of the working class experience.

Seven In One Blow, or The Brave Little Kid
13th Smash Year!
December 5 - 21, 2014
Written & Directed by Randy Sharp

Axis Company will present its beloved family holiday show, Seven In One Blow, or The Brave Little Kid. Adapted from the classic fairy tale by The Brothers Grimm, this interactive winter play is conceived by Axis and directed by Randy Sharp, who also wrote the adaptation and composed the music. Though the poignant tale was created for kids, the Axis production-which teases out some of the many plausible subtexts-resonates equally well for adults. Seven In One Blow is now published and produced around the country. It is part of an eclectic repertoire of original and published plays that Axis Company has produced.

The Groundling
February 11 - March 7, 2015
Written & Directed by Marc Palmieri

After stumbling upon a small outdoor production of a Shakespeare play in Manhattan, Long Island landscaper Bob Malone is inspired to write a play about his troubled marriage. He hires two reluctant New York theatre professionals to spend a week at his home and stage the play in his garage with a cast of colorful locals. The Groundling is a heartfelt comedy about the surprising effects a play can have on the most unsuspecting, and perhaps most deserving, people.

Marc Palmieri's The Groundling was presented in 2012 at South Coast Repertory's lauded NewSCRipts Series, in 2011 at Penobscot Theatre Company's Northern Writes Festival and work shopped at the Lark Play Development Center. Marc's other plays include Levittown (New York Times Critic's Pick, 2009), Carl The Second and Poor Fellas (all published by Dramatists Play Svc.)

Hospital
April 23 - May 30, 2015
Written & Directed by Randy Sharp

Axis Company's Hospital series, set in the interior life of a person in a terminal coma, is something of a signature for the company, which has produced a new installment of the episodic drama nearly every year since 1997. Writer & director Randy Sharp (Last Man Club, Edgar Oliver's In The Park), now presents a newly conceived and reimagined full-length version of the show that has become a summer downtown phenomenon beloved for its balance of horror, humor, and weirdness.

The Horror
July 1 - 25, 2015
Written & Performed by David Crabb
Directed by Josh Matthews

From the team that brought you Bad Kid comes The Horror, a new solo show in which author, storyteller & Moth host David Crabb explores what is truly frightening in our lives, our bodies, our desires and ourselves. Through comedy, storytelling, and horror movie tropes, this show uncovers what's important, ridiculous and fascinating about what we're afraid of, even when it's a part of us.

David Crabb's previous solo show at Axis Theatre, 2012's Bad Kid, was a New York Times Critic's Pick and has been performed throughout NYC, Washington D.C. and Austin. Harper Perennial will publish a memoir, of the same name, in May 2015.