Matt Dellapina Hosts ON THIS ISLAND at Ars Nova, 4/9

Slant Theatre Project, the team that presented the critically acclaimed play THE STEADFAST earlier this season, will present the sixth episode in their popular story-telling series ON THIS ISLAND on Tuesday, April 9 at 8:00pm at Ars Nova (511 West 54th Street) in Manhattan. Matt Dellapina will host.

The episode, entitled "Wakefield," is inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne's story of the same title and explores the urban soul's urge to leave the hustle and bustle and disappear. We meet a woman who stares at the falling snow out of her cushy Soho office as an English gentleman bids his unsuspecting wife adieu for what becomes a 20-year absence. Guest stars in this episode will include DAVID Ryan Smith ("One Man Two Guvnors," "The Steadfast"), OBIE Winner Birgit Huppuch ("Blood Play," "Telephone"), Paul Niebanck ("Blood And Gifts"), Sofia Alvarez (playwright, "The Fish Bowl"), Susan Greenhill ("The Steadfast," "Dead Accounts"), Samuel Stricklen ("Superior Donuts"), CARMEN CABRERA ("Stockholm"), MAT SMART (playwright, "The Steadfast," "Tinker To Evers To Chance"), PHIL PICKENS (singer/songwriter, "Sweet Tea Circus"), DAVE PAARLBERG ("The Hollows") and more.

The series, hosted by Matt Dellapina, aims to replenish the charms and mysteries that first brought people to this "island" (New York City). The series is presented four times a year.

Begun in early 2012 amidst a collective befuddlement with the current theater scene, Slant sought to reinvigorate the variety show with a slower-paced attention to storytelling. Performed live, then uploaded as a podcast, "On This Island" draws from the uniquely New York collection of theater artists, musicians, and complete and utter non-artists to fill in the lives of the faces we flash by on the street. Mixing short fiction, personal stories, short plays, and song, each live episode weaves through a chosen theme. In a short time, "On This Island" has moved from the People's Improv Theater to a standing slot at Ars Nova and a popular presence on iTunes. Some previous contributors include actors Lucas Kavner and Kelly McCreary, burlesque princess Tansy Tan Dora, the founders of the Bronx Brewery, Broadway's Chad Goodridge and Mackenzie Meehan, playwrights Rachel Bonds and Matt Moses, musician Phil Pickens and indie darlings The Hollows. Slant producers include Wes Grantom, Adam Knight, Mat Smart and Matt Dellapina.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at http://goo.gl/lBg2y.

For more information on ON THIS ISLAND or Slant Theatre Project, please visit www.SlantTheatreProject.org.