FUN AND GAMES Comes to Theater For The New City

 

"Fun and Games" begins as a woman brings a man home after meeting him at a bar. Minutes later, another man arrives at the door who had been pursuing her at the bar.

What follows is an unpredictable series of events in which we find out that nobody is who they appear and relationships can be put on and taken off like disguises.

We find that the man who pursued her isn't a stranger at all in an evening where layers of reality are peeled back. Tickets are available for $18 and $15 for seniors and students by clicking the tickets link.

Justin Bennett directs this play with a realistic touch, creating a kind of hall of mirrors in which we see fun and fear blend.

"A couple plays a game to spice up their life," said Claude Solnik, who wrote the play. "Pretty soon, the game gets out of hand."

The ensemble piece stars Marisa Sullivan as Bethany, *Joshua Gutierrez as Kevin, Enrique Huili as Nate, *Arisael Rivera as Denny, *Leo Delgado as Sweeney and Bridgette Leath as a police officer.

Mikaela Blanchard is the stage manager. Marsh Shugart designed and runs the lights and sound while Everett Clark designed costumes and Mengyi Lui designed the set.

Fun and Games is an edgy new play showcasing a talented, young cast. Being presented just weeks before Halloween, Fun and Games is at least in part about the games we play to entertain ourselves.

The play, debuting at Theater for the New City, is presented with a touch of cinema noir as the stakes rise and the game gets more serious.

"Fun and games may be enough for the couple in the beginning," Solnik added. "But a friend suggests they could turn this game into something more and that's when the fun, the games and the drama really take over."

*appearing courtesy of Actors' Equity Association

Fun & Games, Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave. (9th-10th Streets), New York, NY. Oct. 13-23. $18, $15 seniors and students. For tickets, click Tickets or call 212-254-1109.

CAST

Marisa Sullivan (Bethany) is a writer, entertainer, and media professional from Los Angeles. She studied Theatre at the University of Iowa after performing in plays such as Barefoot in the Park since her early years in the Chicago suburbs. The TV personality's first stint was MTV's famed Wanna Be A VJ contest live on TRL, beating out 8,000 hopefuls across the U.S. After a pitstop to study and perform in Cannes, Marisa made her way to the west coast with $100 and a one-way ticket, her preferred method of travel. Her stage roles have been featured in the L.A. Times, and Backstage magazine recently highlighted Marisa, who once shared a film scene with late legend Peter Fonda. In 2020, she started doing sketch comedy when COVID struck. She had just been nominated for Best Lead Actress in a Play for another comedic role and was also on chemotherapy for breast cancer, which prompted her East Coast move during lockdown. Her inspiring story was chronicled in The New York Times. Now a two-year survivor, Marisa is covering Broadway and film premieres for PEOPLE and E! News after a long career of covering awards shows in L.A. This is Marisa's first show in NYC and she can't wait to see what else the city has in store!

Joshua Gutierrez (Kevin) moved back home to New York after getting his BFA in Theatre at VCU in Richmond, VA in 2017. His last official stage appearance was actually as a puppeteer for Pip's Island, an Off-Broadway interactive children's theatre show that ended back in January 2020. During the quarantine, Joshua stayed active doing various online workshops and classes, and even a few shorts and independent films, as well as trying to get into voiceover. He recently performed in readings of the original play Miss American Bellyflop, written by Iriasa Ann Reilly and directed by Aimee Todoroff at the Chain Theater, Derby Day, an original screenplay written and directed by Bill Sterritt in Cape May, and 7 Guys Round About 40, an original play written by Laurence David Laufer and directed by Ellen Cheney at Teatro LATEA. Joshua is very excited to be actually acting and not reading this time, and hopes you enjoy the show.

Arisael Rivera (Denny) is a bilingual actor and writer based in NYC. He's so excited to be working with this awesome cast and crew! He received his MFA in Acting from The New School. He has had the opportunity to perform with various theatre companies in New York City including The Working Theatre, Pregones PRTT, New York Theatre Workshop, New Perspectives Theater Company and The Anthropologists. Selected Regional Credits include: Ned Allyn in Shakespeare in Love, Stephano in The Tempest with Opera House Arts. Friar Lawrence in Romeo & Juliet, Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream with Commonwealth Shakespeare Company. He is the Co-creator and writer of the comedic web series "Meet". In 2020 he received the Actor of the Year Award from The International Puerto Rican Heritage Film Festival for his role as Tomas in "Rinse & Repeat". Le da gracias a su familia por su eterno apoyo! Follow him on instagram @arisael_riv

Leo Delgago (Sweeney) is an actor based in New York City and originally from Puerto Rico. Select credits: Time Is On Our Side (Perisphere Theatre, D.C, BroadwayWorld DC Award: Best Supporting Performer), Stoop (Downtown Urban Arts Festival, N.Y), La Vida Es Sueño (GALA Hispanic Theater, D.C.) Give him good pho recommendations in NYC

Enrique Huili (Nate) is an actor based in New York City. His acting stage credits are: Mogadishu Ghost Story, The Glass Menagerie, Oedipus Rex, Boleros for the Disenchanted, Salome, The Tempest, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, Macbeth, The Seagull, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Dracula, Mercury Fur, Medea, Leurana, and Is This a Graveyard? In 2012 he was nominated for Best Actor in the Midtown International Theater Festival for Mogadishu Ghost Story. He wrote and starred in the play Is This a Graveyard? which won an entry to The Brick theater festival in 2018. He is represented by Josselyne Herman And Associates, NYC.

Bridgette Leath (Cop) is a Burlington, NC native She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from Winston Salem State University. In August of 2013 she moved to Atlanta to jumpstart her acting career. Since moving to Atlanta Bridgette has been acting on stage, web series, tv, and short films. Her first short film Bone Deep was selected to be in the BronzeLens festival in 2017. She has trained at The Company Acting Studio with Lisina Stoneburner. Bridgette is currently in Manhattan , NY tackling their acting market with the same tenacity she had in Atlanta.

BEHIND THE SCENES

Justin Bennett (Director) has studied directing with Tony winner Rebecca Taichman. He directed The Adding Machine Off-Broadway. Other select professional NYC directing credits: All My Sons, The Boys Next Door, Separate Tables, 45 Seconds From Broadway, Waiting in the Wings, It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play. Justin is a member of Actors' Equity Association. Favorite acting roles include Jean in Rhinoceros at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater in Cape Cod and Brom Bones in Legend of Sleepy Hollow at East Lynne Theater Company in Cape May, NJ. Other NYC acting credits: Twelfth Night, Three Sisters, Macbeth, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, As You Like It, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, King Lear. He is also a pianist. Graduated Summa Cum Laude from LaGrange College with a BA in Theater Arts.

Claude Solnik (Writer) is a journalist, playwright and founder of the Textile Co. Many of his plays have had New York City debuts at Theater for the New City, where he is playwright in residence. His play Victoria Woodhull chronicles the life of the first woman to run for president. Caretaker of Corofin, Sandcastles, The Bohemians, Grace is Good, The Lady From Limerick, Nowhere Man, Pedro Castillo is Innocent, Imagine, The Fare all debuted at TNC. His play Harmony in A Flat was presented at the Triad in Manhattan with original music by Mike Borgia. A Life in the Rye about J.D. Salinger was named among the top ten plays of the year by Theaterscene.net.

Mikaela Blanchard (Stage Manager) is a Stage Manager originally from CT. In high school, she started stage managing for dance competitions, while simultaneously helping her mother open her own studio in 2010 called Dance Progressions. Since then, she's worked with three different national competitions, as well as two dance studios, managing various large events and shows. In college, she started working with Red Monkey Theater Group in the Bronx, and has since worked on seven productions between 2017 and 2022, most recently Poirot: The Mysterious Affair at Styles. In April 2022, she managed a staged reading of Domnica Radulescu's Exile is My Home, which was produced by the Romanian Cultural Institute. Currently, Mikaela is working towards her MBA at the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College. You can follow her journeys throughout NYC and life on instagram @mikaela_amelia

Marsh Shugart (Lighting Designer) is a New York based stage manager and designer. Past credits include Sandcastles (Lighting Designer), The Bohemians (Lighting Designer), North Bound (Lighting Designer), Forbidden (Lighting/Sound Designer), Wild Women of Planet Wongo (Hair and Makeup Designer), Molasses in January (Stage Manager), Arendt-Heidegger (Stage Manager) and Nutcracker the Musical (Stage Manager). He is thrilled to be working with such a creative team and to be involved with this project. Marshshugart@yahoo.com/.

Everett Clark (Costume Designer) is a costume designer known for his work in film and stage. His stage work includes Birds of Paradise, Vervet Amsterdam, Three Mile Limit, Ghost Light, Dress of Fire, Your Name on My Lips, Appendage, Women of the Wind and Mula Jr. among others. He has designed costumes for movies as well such as Tango Shalom (2015), Fists of Love (2014), 36 Saints (2013) and Hip Hop High The Musical (Video)(2010). He views costume design he help the actor to bring character to life. He considerate of the angles of the shots and his is present to the visual aesthetic that adds to the entertainment experience of the audience, subliminally informing the audience with the use of colors, tones and texture draw them in to the mood of the character in the scene.

Mengyi Liu (Set Designer) is an NYC-based scenic designer. She has an M.F.A in scenic design from Carnegie Mellon University. She has designed operas, plays, and musicals including Soldier Songs for the Pittsburgh Opera. She also does scenic painting, carpentry, and prop making. Mengyi loves theatre as an alternative universe for adventures. mengyiliu384@gmail.com

 

To post a comment, you must register and login.