Metropolitan Playhouse's EAST SIDE STORIES Begins Tonight

OBIE Award-winning theater company Metropolitan Playhouse will present the eleventh annual East Side Stories, a three-week celebration of the life and lore of the East Village featuring twelve new plays and solo performances chronicling such timely topics as real estate, rising development and the loss of old neighbors as well as historical events like the Astor Place and Tompkins Square Riots.

East Side Stories will be presented from tonight, April 14 through May 3, 2015 at Metropolitan Playhouse, located at 220 East 4th Street in New York City.

The event is comprised of two distinct programs each now in its eleventh year. East Village Chronicles features new plays inspired by the life, lore and history of the diverse neighborhood. Alphabet City features solo performances derived verbatim from interviews with local residents.

The program of performances is as follows:

RIOTS
Two new plays about turbulence in the East Village

B'Hoys Do Macbeth
Written by Jonathon Ward
Directed by Mike Durkin

In 1849, an African American entrepreneur caught between rival gangs of New York and the Upper Ten Percent gets entangled in a Shakespearean-sized conflict that leads to the Astor Place Riot, one of the bloodiest in New York City's history.

Tomkins '88
Written by Suzaenne Willett
Directed by Mike Durkin

A council member, an anarchist, a real estate developer, a communist and a cop try to work out a deal to stop the Tompkins Square Riots of 1988.

The cast of RIOTS features Elizabeth Bove, Sean Michael Buckley, Ian Eaton, Seth McNeill, David Perez Ribada and Emerald Rose Sullivan

REAL ESTATE
Four new plays about the greatest game in town

Kiko
Written by John Von Hartz
Directed by Wendy Merritt

Feeling unaccepted in her East Village neighborhood, a successful professional reaches out to a street-wise mechanic and his savvy sidekick, who happens to be a dog.

East Village Vignette: An Improbable Romance
Written by Al Meglin
Directed by Wendy Merritt

Can a funky, finicky flutist best a demon real estate agent at her own game?

Real Estate of Emergence
Written by Elise Marenson
Directed by Wendy Merritt

A family with deep roots in the neighborhood prepares for eviction from skyrocketing rents, overshadowed by rampant new construction out their window. But grandma has a radical fight in her, a secret weapon.

Post-Establishment
Written by Evan Allgood
Directed by Wendy Merritt

Two hipsters find themselves in either an abandoned building or the most cutting-edge hangout in all of the city.

The cast of REAL ESTATE features Olivia Bosek, Elizabeth Bove, Eric Coles, Amy Fulgham, Charles Marti, Eric Meyers, Kane Prestenback, Erin Leigh Schmoyer, Donnah Welby and Kayla Wickes.

THE INDELIBLE
Three new monologues based on interviews with our neighbors, told entirely in their own words

Lillian Rodriguez as Jonas Mekas
Directed by Chris Harcum

Jonas Mekas founded the Film-Makers' Cooperative in 1962 and the Film-Makers' Cinematheque in 1964, which grew into Anthology Film Archives, one of the world's largest and most important repositories of avant-garde cinema.

Jason Brown as Jeanise Aviles
Directed by Chris Harcum

An account of Hair Artist/Color Specialist/WigMaker/Performance Artist/KnitBomber Jeanise Aviles

Tammy McNeill as Jimmy Webb
Directed by Chris Harcum

The story of Jimmy Webb, "The Punk Peter Pan", trailblazing manager and buyer for the iconic Trash and Vaudeville

THE VANGUARD

Three new monologues based on interviews with our neighbors, told entirely in their own words

Brigitte Barnett as Alex Harsley
Directed by Chris Harcum

Alex Harsley is a visionary and photographer who is founder and director of the Lower East Side's 4th Street Photo Gallery

Jody Christopherson as Clove Galilee
Directed by Chris Harcum

A glimpse of Clove Galilee, experimental theater artist, choreographer, Mabou Mines Artistic Associate and daughter of Lee Breuer and Ruth Maleczech

Randy Lee as Corlie Ohl
Directed by Chris Harcum

Corlie Ohl is your friendly, bossy, sassy and giving real estate agent