Evening of Short Verse Plays Includes O'Hara, Stein, Millay

Medicine Show Theatre Ensemble, one of NYC's longest-running experimental theatres will present Frank & Stein and Friends, an evening of short verse plays featuring the World Premiere of The Houses At Falling Hanging, a newly-discovered work by famed poet Frank O'Hara, as well as plays by Gertrude Stein, Edna St. Vincent Millay and others.

Directed by Obie-winner Barbara Vann, Frank & Stein and Friends runs from June 14th though the 30th with an opening scheduled for Friday, June 22nd at The Medicine Show Theatre, 549 West 52nd St., 3rd Floor (between 10th and 11th Ave.). The performance schedule is Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00 PM and Sundays at 4:00 PM.

According to press materials, Frank & Stein and Friends celebrates the short verse play by showcasing new and old works by both classic and contemporary voices. The centerpiece of the evening is the world premiere of The Houses At Falling Hanging, an unproduced 1953 play by acclaimed poet Frank O' Hara about a cheery cocktail party in a house dangerously close to slipping off the edge of a cliff, that was considered lost until its discovery at Harvard's Houghton Library. Other works in the evening include Gertrude Stein's In The Garden, Edna St. Vincent Millay's Aria De Capo, and newer works by contemporary poets such as Simon Pettet, Denise Duhamel, Tom Savage and Gary Sullivan."

Featured in the cast are: Jascha Bilan, Mark Dempsey, Felix Gardon, Mark Gering, Beth Griffith, Vince Lingner, Monica Lynch, Khemali Murray, Jose Ramon, Jonathan Roufaeal and Barbara Vann.

O'Hara (1926-66) was a key member of the New York school of poets whose work shaped the contemporary American poetry scene. His plays were fixtures of the avant-garde theatre scene in the 1950s and 60s. Medicine Show has performed many of his works including Try! Try!, and a selection of short plays from Amorous Nightmares of Delay and the musical Undercover Lover. Gertrude Stein (1874-1946) was a famed writer and poet whose books include Three Lives and The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas. Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) was the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for poetry.

Scenic Design is by Knox Martin, costumes by Uta Bekia, lighting by Thea Cooper and music by Mozart, Moondog and Sandra Sprecher. 

Medicine Show Theatre Ensemble was founded in 1970 by Barbara Vann and the late James Barbosa. "The company is dedicated to offering creative alternatives to conventional theatre by creating and presenting works that experiment with language, music, movement, form and ideas. The works are chosen to delight the mind, honor creativity, confound empty convention, encourage active compassion and present the many facets of the American experience within a global community."

Tickets are $18 and are available from Smarttix at (212) 868-4444 or via the web at www.Smarttix.com. For more information, please log onto the company's website at www.MedicineShowTheatre.org.