Mile Square Theatre Presents 8th Annual 7TH INNING STRETCH, 3/13

This year, Mile Square Theatre's production of its annual fundraiser 7th Inning Stretch features a selection of seven 10-minute plays from some of America's finest writers.

From established playwrights Constance Congdon and Richard Dresser, to new star Itamar Moses, to Academy Award nominated David Magee, to urgent new voices Andrew Dolan, Lisa Huberman, and our own Chris O`Connor, this year`s Stretch offers a veritable Murderers Row of talent. Loaded with humor, pathos and just good ole baseball chatter, this evening will remind you of the many magical ways baseball touches our lives-and make you forget, at least for a few hours, about the cold, hard winter.

This year's event also celebrates the publishing of The Baseball Plays, an anthology of 11 7th Inning Stretch favorites from previous years, published by Playscripts, Inc. This fantastic compilation includes nominees for the Pulitzer Prize, Tony and Olivier Awards.

And Here's the Lineup:

HOME IS AN IRREGULAR PENTAGON by Constance Congdon
Moe Berg-former major leaguer, quiz show champion, and international spy-
re-experiences his life while hospitalized in Belleville, New Jersey.

Constance Congdon has been called "one of the best playwrights our country and
our language has ever produced" by playwright Tony Kushner in Kushner's introduction
to her collection Tales of the Lost Formicans and Other Plays. In addition to Tales of the
Lost Formicans, which has had more than 200 productions, world-wide, Congdon's plays
include: Casanova, Dog Opera, both produced at The Public Theatre, Losing Father's
Body (Portland Stage (Maine), Lips, (Primary Stages), Native American, (Portland Stage
(Maine), (Lyric Hammersmith Studio). Her latest play, Paradise Street, is being
developed at New York Theatre Workshop. A Mother, starring Olympia Dukakis, and a
new verse version of The Misanthrope, both commissioned and produced by American
Conservatory Theater. Also at ACT: Moontel Six, a commission by the A.C.T. Young
Conservatory and subsequently performed at London's National Theatre, followed by
another production of the two-act version at San Francisco's Zeum and directed by
Young Conservatory Director, Craig Slaight. The Automata Pietà, another YC
commission, received its world premiere at San Francisco's Magic Theatre in 2002;
Nightingales went to the Theatre Royale Bath's Youth Theatre. Congdon's No Mercy,
and its companion piece, One Day Earlier; were part of the 2000 season devoted to
Congdon at the Profile Theatre. She has also written a number of opera libretti and seven
plays for The Children's Theatre Company of Minneapolis. Congdon's plays have been
produced throughout the world, including Cairo and Berlin. Her plays are published,
mainly, by Broadway Plays Publishing. Samuel French published Dog Opera. A
collection of four of her plays has been published by TCG, Inc. Her new verse version of
Tartuffe will be included in the next Norton Anthology of Drama, and is already out in a
single-volume Norton Critical edition. Currently, she has two commissions: TAKE ME
TO THE RIVER at the Denver Theater Center and a play about Robert Mapplethorpe
commissioned by Primary Stages in New York. She's been writing a long time and can
thank the NEA, the Rockefeller Foundation, the W. Alton Jones Foundation, the
Guggenheim Foundation, the Arnold Weisberger Award, the Berilla Kerr Award, and,
most recently, The Helen Merrill Award for making this more possible. Congdon was
just honored with an award "for distinguished service to the American theater" at the
Great Plains Theater Conference. She's an alum of New Dramatists, member of The
Dramatists Guild and of PEN. Congdon has been teaching playwriting at Amherst
College for fifteen years.

O4: A MUSE OF FIRE by Andrew Dolan
A man seeks comfort from his divorce attorney as he re-counts the impact his
beloved`04 Red Sox have had on his life and family.
Andrew Dolan's first play, That Good Night, was performed at New York Stage & Film's
Reading Series this past summer with a cast that included Reg Rogers, Marin Ireland,
Bruce Norris and Sheri Graubert. He has optioned several screenplays and was a co-
writer the award winning short film Weekend Getaway. As an actor he has worked on and
off Broadway, at various regional theatres and at The National Theatre in London. He
studied at Bowdoin College and The American Conservatory Theatre where he was a
company member for 5 seasons. He hates the Yankees.

An excerpt from ROUNDING THIRD by Richard Dresser
Is winning the only thing that matters, or is it how you play the game? For Michael and
Don, two coaches of the same Little League baseball team, their answers are clear - and
completely opposite. ROUNDING THIRD is a hilarious look at how our culture teaches
our kids - and parents - to deal with ruthless competition and define success.
NOTE: Mile Square Theatre's production of Rounding Third opens April 1 at the Monroe
Theatrespace in Hoboken

Richard Dresser'S plays have been produced in New York, regional theater, and
Europe. His recently published trilogy of plays about happiness in America includes
AUGUSTA (working class), THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS (middle class), and A
VIEW OF THE HARBOR (upper class). Other plays are: ROUNDING THIRD, which
started in Chicago and appeared off-Broadway and has had over one hundred
productions, BELOW THE BELT and GUN-SHY, both of which started at the Humana
Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville before moving off-Broadway. Also,
SOMETHING IN THE AIR, THE DOWNSIDE, ALONE AT THE BEACH,
WONDERFUL WORLD, and BETTER DAYS, plus many short plays. His most recent
projects include a musical, JOHNNY BASEBALL, which opens in May at A.R.T. in
Cambridge, and a new play THE LAST DAYS OF MICKEY & JEAN, about a notorious
Boston gangster in early retirement, which premieres in March at Merrimack Rep. He is a
former member of New Dramatists, twice attended the O'Neill National Playwrights
Conference and is currently teaching at Rutgers University.

HIGH AND UPTIGHT by Lisa Huberman (2010 Stretch MFA Playwright)
A father and daughter help each other hold on to, and let go of, the past.
LISA HUBERMAN is originally from Youngstown, Ohio. She received a BA in theatre
performance from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois and has held internships at
Chicago Dramatists and the APA Talent and Literary Agency. Currently, she is pursuing
an MFA in playwriting at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.
Lisa is thrilled to be making her Mile Square debut with Seventh Inning Stretch. She is a
Cleveland Indians fan.

THE DESIGNATED HITTER by David Magee
A reunion between old teammates takes a personal turn when the subject of the
Designated Hitter rule comes into play.
DAVID MAGEE's first screenplay, Finding Neverland, starring Johnny Depp, went on to
be nominated for seven Academy Awards, including one for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Magee's script was also nominated for eight other notable awards, including the Golden
Globe, the Broadcast Film Critics Award, the BAFTA and the London Film Critics
Award. Since then, Magee has written thirteen screenplays, including Miss Pettigrew
Lives for a Day with Simon Beaufoy ("Slumdog Millionaire"), starring Amy Adams and
Frances McDormand. He is currently re-imagining the Roger's and Hammerstein classic
Carousel for Fox Films with Hugh Jackman playing the role of Billy Bigelow, and
adapting the novel The Life of Pi with director Ang Lee. Magee began his career as a
stage actor, working in various regional theatres and writing the abridgements of over 80
novels to make his living. He subsequently wrote and performed his first play Buying the
Farm at Guild Hall in East Hampton, which led directly to his opportunity to write
Finding Neverland. This short piece marks his first return to writing for the stage since.

BOTTOM OF THE NINTH by Itamar Moses
During breaks in the action, radio partners at different points in their career sort out their
feelings on marriage.

Itamar Moses is the author of the full-length plays OUTRAGE, BACH AT LEIPZIG,
CELEBRITY ROW, THE FOUR OF US, YELLOWJACKETS, BACK BACK BACK,
and COMPLETENESS, the musicals REALITY! (with Gaby Alter), and FORTRESS OF
SOLITUDE (with Michael Friedman and Daniel Aukin), and various short plays and
one-acts, several of which are collected in the complete evening LOVE/STORIES (OR
BUT YOU WILL GET USED TO IT). His work has appeared Off-Broadway and
elsewhere in New York, at regional theatres across the country and in Canada, and is
published by Faber & Faber and Samuel French. He has received new play commissions
from The McCarter Theater, Playwrights Horizons, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, The
Wilma Theater, South Coast Rep, Manhattan Theatre Club, Lincoln Center, and The
Goodman Theatre. Itamar holds an MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU and has taught
playwriting at Yale and NYU. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, MCC
Playwrights Coalition, and is a New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect. He was born
in Berkeley, CA and now lives in Brooklyn, NY.

THE MASCOTS by Chris O'Connor
In a seedy New York casting office, two men vie for the job of the Springfield Dodger's
stadium mascot. Who will prevail; the jaded pro or the idealistic rookie?

Chris founded Mile Square Theatre in 2002. He conceived and produces the annual 10-
minute play festival 7th Inning Stretch. His MST directing credits include St. Columba
and the River, The Souls of Black Folk, John Redding Goes to the Sea, Charlie Peter's
Striking Out the Babe for the 2003 7th Inning Stretch, Warren Leight's The Love of the
Game for the 2004 Stretch, Jenny Levison's Homefield Advantage for the 2006 Stretch,
the inaugural MST Mainstage production, Cyrano, he co-directed (with Jeff Steitzer) The
Scams of Scapin, for which he played the title role, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and
Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse. As an actor, Chris has been associated with 12 Miles West,
A Contemporary Theatre, The Culture Project, Soho Rep, the 78th Street Theatre Lab,
Target Margin, Gloucester Stage, Book-It Repertory, City Theatre in Pittsburgh,
Provisional Theatre of Los Angeles, The Bathhouse, Seattle Children's Theatre, among
others. His plays for young people have been produced at The Seattle Children's Theatre.
He has taught theatre at Colgate University and Fairleigh Dickinson University, as well
as schools in Hoboken. He is on the faculty at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at
Rutgers University. He holds a BFA in acting from Carnegie-Mellon University and an
MFA in Directing from Rutgers University and lives in Hoboken with his wife Annie
McAdams and their daughters Willa Jean and Mae Rose.

Announcing Mile Square Theatre`s 8th Annual 7th Inning Stretch

When: Saturday, March 13, 8pm

Where: DeBaun Auditorium, 5th and Hudson Streets in Hoboken. Reception with free wine and light fare to follow.

What: We are thrilled once again to bring you 7th Inning Stretch, Mile Square Theatre`s annual fundraiser featuring 7 10-minute plays about baseball. 

Who:
Constance Congdon: NEA Playwriting Fellow, 2 Rockefeller Playwriting Awards, Guggenheim Award
Andrew Dolan: NY Stage and Film, rUDE mECHANICALS
Richard Dresser: O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, The Job w/ Denis Leary, Johnny Baseball upcoming at A.R.T
Lisa Huberman: 2010 Mason Gross School of the Arts MFA Playwright
David Magee: Oscar and Golden Globe nominee for Finding Neverland w/ Johnny Depp, Life of Pi with Ang Lee (upcoming)
Itamar Moses: Manhattan Theatre Club, Playwrights Horizons, McCarter Theater
Chris O'Connor: Mile Square Theatre Artistic Director

Photo: Bryant Mason, Pablo Schreiber, and Tijuana Hicks in Striking Out the Babe by Charlie Peters (photo by Jasmine Vogue Pai)