New Works by Stephen Adly Guirgis and More Slated for LAByrinth Theater Company's 2018 Barn Series

LAByrinth Theater Company announces the selections for their Annual Barn Series, the award-winning company's free play reading series. Running January 22-28, 2018, this year's Barn Series features new plays written by members of The Ensemble Company.

The Barn Series continues LAByrinth's 25th Anniversary Season, which will culminate with a World Premiere production in Spring 2018 at Cherry Lane Theatre, title to be announced in February.

"We're really excited to announce an all-LAB Member line-up for this year's Barn Series. The work that we're doing responds to where we are in the world now, in this moment, and our complex, challenging times," says John Ortiz, Artistic Director. "This free reading series is a key part of our new play development process, and it is a privilege to invite our community to be part of that with us."

BARN SERIES PLAYS:

Joan by Stephen Belber
Devil of Choice by Maggie Bofill
East of West Town by Cusi Cram
The Dancing Sailor by Bob Glaudini
Oh, Maria by Yetta Gottesman
Untitled by Stephen Adly Guirgis
Nimbus in a Tin Can by Scott Hudson
The Corridor by Brett C. Leonard
Girl in Window by Florencia Lozano
Frederick Douglass and The Fallen Angels by Mel Nieves
Hopping on Rooftops by Paula Pizzi
The Last 24 by Felix Solis
The Seven Sisters of Socorro Sanchez by Luna Lauren Velez

The free series will run January 22 - 28, 2018 at the Cherry Lane Theatre, 38 Commerce Street, New York, NY 10014. The complete schedule will be available in early January, with reservations opening to the public on January 15, 2018. For complete Barn Series information, visit www.labtheater.org.

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Stephen Belber's plays have been produced on Broadway, off-Broadway, and in over 25 countries. He has written and directed the films Management and Match, written the movies Tape, O.G., Drifting Elegant, and The Laramie Project (co-writer), and written for television shows such as Law and Order SVU and Rescue Me.

Maggie Bofill, founding member of LAByrinth Theater Company, actor and produced playwright. Plays produced in NYC: Face Cream, Winners, Drawn and Quartered, Me Monster. Coming this spring, production of a commissioned new musical, Swipe.

Cusi Cram's plays have been produced by LAByrinth, Primary Stages, The Denver Center, South Coast Repertory, The Williamstown Theater Festival, New Georges and on stages large and petite all over the country. She has written on numerous television programs for both kids and adults and been nominated for three Emmy Awards. Cusi directed her first film, Wild and Precious, through AFI's Directing Workshop for Women where it won The Adrienne Shelly and Nancy Mallone Awards.

Bob Glaudini has had four plays produced by LAByrinth Theater Company; Dutch Heart of Man, Jack Goes Boating, A View From 151st Street, and A Family for All Occasions.

Yetta Gottesman is an actor/director of Puerto Rican and Jewish heritage. She wrote this piece to keep her sanity in the dark aftermath of Hurricane Maria. As an actor she has appeared in numerous Off-Broadway plays including originating roles written by John Patrick Shanley and Stephen Adly Guirgis, and is a proud member of LAByrinth Theater Company, HERO theater and a Lifetime Member of The Actors Studio.

Stephen Adly Guirgis: Playwright, screenwriter, director, and actor. As a playwright, credits include Jesus Hopped the A Train, Our Lady Of 121st Street, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Little Flower of East Orange, The Motherfucker with the Hat, and Between Riverside and Crazy, which won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Television writing credits include "NYPD Blue" and "The Get Down."

Scott Hudson: Playwright: Sweet Storm (Off Broadway). Actor: Our Lady Of 121st Street, Dutch Heart of Man and The Fairy Tale Project with LAByrinth, and was the recipient of the Daryl Roth Creative Spirit Award. He is a graduate of FSU and holds an MFA in acting from Rutgers.

Brett C. Leonard: LAByrinth member since 2003. Some theater credits include Guinea Pig Solo, Unconditional, Ninth and Joanie, Roger and Vanessa, Snapshot, Harold's Harem, and The Long Red Road.

Florencia Lozano's play Underneathmybed was produced at Rattlestick Playwrights' Theatre in 2010 under the direction of Pedro Pascal, and won HOLA's award for Best New Play. Her play Busted was produced as part of Daniel Talbot's CINO Nites at Jimmy's 43. Her performance art guerilla theatre piece Chez Moi happened in and around 208 East 25th Street, underneath a full moon.

Mel Nieves: Mel Nieves is a proud member of the LAByrinth Theater Company and a member of the Actor's Studio Playwright-Director Unit. He is a graduate of The William Esper Studio. His play Frederick Douglass and the Fallen Angels was a 2017 Semi-Finalist for The Eugene O'Neil Theatre Conference and The Princess Grace Playwrights Fellowship.

Paula Pizzi: Born and raised in Argentina to a family of story tellers, this is Paula's first full length play. An actress and sometimes director, she is a founding member of LAByrinth Theatre Company, an ensemble member of Barefoot Theatre Co, New Circle Theatre Co and the PDU (Actors Directors Unit) at The Actors Studio.

Felix Solis is an actor, film director and film producer. Born on the Upper West Side and raised in Chelsea/Greenwich Village area of New York City, to parents that were both born in Puerto Rico, Felix considers himself a Nuyorican.

Luna Lauren Velez is thrilled be making her making her playwriting debut with LAByrinth Theater Company. She has worked in stage (Dreamgirls, Into the Woods, The Happiest Song Plays Last, Catch the Butcher), film (City Hall, ANA) and television ("Dexter," "Oz," "How to Get Away with Murder").

LAByrinth Theater Company, founded in 1992 as The Latino Actors Base, was created to deliberately interrupt the racial status quo by giving voice to artists of color and reflecting a world where color is the norm and not the exception. LAByrinth Theater Company is a diverse, impassioned, tightly knit ensemble of multicultural artists that empowers individuals and builds community by creating member driven, incendiary, new works of theater.