Directed by Karen Kohlhaas, and featuring Ellen Crowley-Etten, Katherine Emmer, ElizaBeth Malone and Carla Rzeszewski, OTMA takes place in July 1918, Ekaterinburg, Russia as under house arrest, the four young grand duchesses Romanov rehearse Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard as they await their fate.Ryan began her career in 1985 as a winner of the Young Playwrights Festival. Her adaptation of Dorothy Allison's novel, Cavedweller premiered at New York Theatre Workshop and was published Dramatists Play service. OTMA was recently produced at the Ekaterinburg Youth Theatre in Russia. G-d Doesn't Pay Rent Here written with and for comedian Judy Gold will be seen at the Museum of Jewish Heritage on June 22 before playing the Montreal Comedy Festival July 16-22. Her adaptation of Ann Bannon's The Beebo Brinker Chronicles with collaborator Linda Chapman will be produced in New York in Spring 2006. Ryan has received grants and fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Sumner Locke Elliott Exchange from New Dramatists to the Australian National Playwrights Conference, a two year Van Lier Fellowship from The Women's Project and Productions, Yaddo, MacDowell, Edward Albee and the Helene Wurlitzer Foundations. She has been awarded the Brook Atkinson/Max Weitzenhoffer Fellowship to the Royal National Theater in London, the Joseph A. Calloway Award and was a finalist for the Susan Blackburn Prize.
Kohlhaas is a founding member of the Atlantic Theater Company. Recent productions: Keith Reddin's Frame 312 (Atlantic), David Mamet's Boston Marriage (The Public Theater), An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein (Practical Theatre Company, Sydney and Atlantic); Associate Director, Ricky Jay on the Stem (Second Stage); Keith Reddin's Synergy (world premiere, Alley Theatre); David Mamet's The Water Engine and Mr. Happiness (Atlantic); Harold Pinter's The Hothouse (Atlantic); She is the author of The Monologue Audition: A Practical Guide for Actors (Limelight Editions) and a senior teacher at the Atlantic Theater Company Acting School. "Atlantic 453 is a black box space which serves as a second performance venue for the Atlantic Theater Company. The aim is to produce intriguing, worthy new plays that might not otherwise find a New York production. Now in its second season of full production, Atlantic 453 was inaugurated with the acclaimed, sold-out production of Jeff Whitty's The Hiding Place and has presented Jessica Goldberg's Get What You Need and Ken Weitzman's Arrangements. Atlantic 453 offers emerging writers production opportunities when Atlantic's main stage season is fully occupied. Atlantic believes that playwrights develop their talent and craft best by participating in the entire creative process of a play from the printed page to the fully realized production. By presenting new writers on 16th Street, Atlantic continues its long-standing tradition of cultivating new work," according to a press release.
The performance schedule is Tuesday, June 14 at 8 p.m., then Wednesday-Saturday at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday's at 3:00 p.m, with a 2 p.m. performance on Saturday, June 18th and no performance on Sunday, June 19th. Atlantic 453 is located at 453 West 16th Street (between 9th & 10th Avenues).Reservations available by calling 212-691-5919, x123. Tickets are $20, $15 for members, and free for "All-In-One" members. Call 212-645-1242 for more information.
