The Drama League's DIRECTORFEST 2015 Kicks Off Today

The Drama League presents DirectorFest 2015: The 32nd Annual One-Act Festival, an evening of four short plays staged by the Drama League Directors Project Fall Directing Fellows Estefania Fadul, Annie Tippe, Sarah Elizabeth Wansley, and Brandon Woolf for a limited 5-performance engagement, tonight, December 12 - 15, 2015 at TBG Theatre (312 West 36th Street, between 8th & 9th Avenues).

The four new one-act plays in this year's festival include: Cell by Cassandra Medley, When The Tanks Break by Anne Washburn, Out at Sea bySlawomir Mrozek with translation by Nicholas Bethell, and The Rock Garden by Sam Shepard. The acting company includes Willy Appelman, Kate Benson, Curran Connor, Emily Davis, Perri Gaffney, Warren Jackson, Mark Light-Orr, Cynthia Mace, Annie Mcnamara, Nafeesa Monroe, Naian Gonzalez Norvind, Jason Nuzzo, Angela Pierce, Destinee Rea, and Joel Van Liew.

The DirectorFest 2015 performance schedule is, as follows: Saturday, December 12 at 7:00 p.m., Sunday, December 13 at 2:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m., Monday, December 14 at 7:00 p.m., and Tuesday, December 15 at 7:00 p.m. There is a free Panel Discussion, "The Directors Roundtable," scheduled for Sunday, December 13 at 4:15 p.m.

Every performance includes all four one-act plays. Tickets are priced at $18 and may be purchased by visiting www.dramaleague.org, or by calling(212) 244-9494, ext 107.

DirectorFest 2015 offers an exciting glimpse into the future of American theatre by presenting one-act productions staged by four of the nation's most promising young directors. This year, directors Estefania Fadul, Annie Tippe, Sarah Elizabeth Wansley, and Brandon Woolf join the ranks of the program's illustrious alumni of The Drama League Directors Project, including Tony® Award winners Diane Paulus (Waitress), Pam MacKinnon (China Doll), John Rando (On The Town), Michael Mayer (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), Sam Gold (Fun Home), Tony® Award nominee Alex Timbers (Here Lies Love), and Drama Desk® Award winner Mark Brokaw (Cinderella), to name only a few.

The creative team for DirectorFest 2015: The 32nd Annual One-Act Festival includes Reid Thompson (sets), Whitney Locher (costumes),Melissa Mizell (lights), M. Florian Staab (sound), Ellie Engstrom (props), Suzi Bonnot (Production Manager), with Roger T. Danforth (Artistic Director), Gabriel Shanks (Executive Director), and Peggy R. Samuels (Associate Producer).

"There is no better way to see the future of theatre than at DirectorFest," remarked Executive Director Gabriel Shanks. "The imagination and daring of these four directors is incredibly inspiring; I can't wait, once they inevitably make it to Broadway and beyond, to say that DirectorFest is where they began their journeys."

The alumni of The Drama League Directors Project, which now number over 300, can be found working in all aspects of the entertainment profession. 'Drama League Directors' are directing on Broadway, Off-Broadway, at regional theaters across the country, and in film and television. They are the artistic directors and associates at 58 regional theaters. Others hold prominent positions throughout the industry as producers, writers, agents and administrators, and many are educating the next generation of directors at some of our finest professional training programs. Their directing work has been honored Tony, Emmy, Obie, Peabody, Drama Desk, GLAAD, Drama League, New York Drama Critics Circle, Outer Critics, Evening Standard, Lucille Lortel, Bessie, Princess Grace, Garland, Drama-Logue, Barrymore, Helen Hayes, Elliot Norton, and Joseph Jefferson Awards, as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. They have literally shaped the future of the American theater, with the praise of critics and audiences alike.

"Since 1984, the Drama League has been presenting the some of the finest young directors to New York audiences," noted Artistic Director Roger T. Danforth. With our alumni now directing some of the biggest hits on Broadway, you truly see tomorrow's talent here today."

DirectorFest 2015: The 32nd Annual One-Act Festival Line-up:

Cell

By Cassandra Medley

Directed by Estefania Fadul

The three-member female cast will feature Perri Gaffney as Rene, Nafeesa Monroe as Cerise, and Destinee Rea as Qwen. The Stage Manager isJames Blaszko.

Cerise and her daughter Gwen are finally turning their lives around. On the brink of homelessness, they have moved in with Cerise's estranged sister Rene and started stable jobs at the immigration detention center where she works. But when Gwen starts empathizing with the detainees, she threatens not just her job but her family's own timely exploration of our country's immigration detention system.

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When The Tanks Break

By Anne Washburn

Directed by Anne Tippe

The five-member cast features Willy Appelman as Ricky, Kate Benson as Gail, Emily Davis as Kate, Annie McNamara as Angela, and Jason Nuzzo as Steve. The Stage Manager is Kristy Bodall.

Kate is a perpetual temp. This week, Kate is a receptionist at Morerand Cybernautics Hardware and Software. While fielding calls from impatient octogenarians and managing her co-workers' neuroses, she daydreams about violence in the office and a world in which she is the master of her own destiny. This catastrophic comedy, written by Anne Washburn, unearths the deeper indignities of the workplace, and the dark desires that arise when we grapple with our own self worth.

* * *

Out at Sea

By Slawomir Mrozek

Translation by Nicholas Bethell

Directed by Sarah Elizabeth Wansley

The four-member cast features Curran Connor as Fat Man, Warren Jackson as Medium Man, Mark Light-Orr as Thin Man, and Cynthia Mace as Postman/Butler. The Stage Manager is Arielle Goldstein

In Out at Sea three men are stranded on a boat in the middle of the ocean and decide to sacrifice one of themselves for food. After considering a lottery and tyranny, Fat Man, Medium Man and Thin Man agree that a free election is the only fair way to decide their fate. Sarah Elizabeth Wansley's timely production re-imagines Slawomir Mrozek's 1960's dark comedy for a contemporary American audience. Out at Sea lampoons the absurdity and theatrics of American election politics - while also revealing its dark underbelly.

* * *

The Rock Garden

By Sam Shepard

Directed by Brandon Woolf

The cast features Ephraim Birney as Boy, Naian Gonzalez Norvind as Girl, Angela Pierce as Woman, and Joel Van Liew as Man. The Stage Manager is Will Chaloner.

The Rock Garden is an expressionistic exfoliation of white suburban dislocation, disorientation, and disillusionment. Consumed by willful nostalgia, narcissism, and middle-class malaise, an "archetypal" family of four embodies the self-imposed disintegration of an American Dream. A picket-fence fairy tale gone awfully awry, Shepard's earliest one-act remains an eerily prescient look in the mirror - with lots and lots of milk!

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Join The Drama League for THE DIRECTORS Roundtable Discussion on Sunday, December 13, 2015 at 4:15 p.m. This program is FREE for all that want to participate. For additional information, visit the website at www.dramaleague.org.