The Collective NY Gets Raw for Its Fifth Collective 10 Play Festival

Coming off of four previous sold-out festivals, The Collective NY returns for a 5th year of the wildly popular Collective:10 Play Festival, with 11 world premiere ten-minute plays in two programs. All of the plays presented, plus two additional selections, will be published in a fifth volume of the best-selling The Collective:10 Anthology.

This year The Collective takes over a raw, bare bones space in the Flatiron district that reflects these provocative stories. Co-Artistic Director Robert Z Grant explains, "It's our most intimate setting to date. This is a chance to experience something real amidst a political and social climate that is constantly putting truth and human connection to the test. We want you to come and get uncomfortable with us."

All plays feature members of the permanent ensemble and guest artists.This year's casts include Jacqueline Antaramian (Doctor Zhivago, Broadway), Francis Benhamou (The Profane, PH), Laith Nakli (Aftermath, NYTW), Mark Borkowski (House of Cards) and Kevin Kane (Inside Amy Schumer).

The Collective:10 is presented as part of The Collective's NO EMPTY SEATS initiative in which up to half the seats for every performance are made available on a free and pay-what-you-can basis. NO EMPTY SEATS is made possible by the company's generous donors and patrons, with the sole purpose of providing access to quality professional theatre for all. www-thecollective-ny.org.

GENERAL ADMISSION tickets are $20 and half of the ticket price goes toward the NO EMPTY SEATS initiative--You get a seat for yourself and you automatically give a seat.

RESERVED SEATS are $40 and $30 of the ticket price goes toward the NO EMPTY SEATS initiative--You automatically give THREE seats. And as a 'thank you,' a RESERVED seat will be waiting for you. No need to arrive early to get one of the best seats.

STUDENT tickets are $10. (Use code: STUDENT) Please present valid ID.

FREE tickets are available to every performance. (Use code: NOEMPTYSEATS) Our NO EMPTY SEATS initiative to provide access to quality professional theatre means that you can book a ticket at no charge. When you see the performance, we hope you will give what you are able, to provide the same opportunity for someone else.

This year's plays are grouped into two programs which run for one week each:

PROGRAM A: Nov 1, 2, 3 @7:30pm, Nov 4 @3pm & 7:30pm, Nov 5 @3pm

LAUNDRY AT THE COIN & SPIN

by Stacey Isom Campbell. Directed by Jacqueline Knapp, featuring Geany Masai and Lacy Marie Meyer. Laundry takes on a new meaning when two women seek refuge in a laundromat.

KINDLY FASTEN YOUR SEATBELT

by Julie Brister. Directed by George Demas, featuring Margaret Champagne, Bettina Bilger, and Jenetha Philbert. Two women, one plane, no boundaries.

THE RELUCTANT ANARCHISTS by Craig McNulty

Directed by Margaret Champagne, featuring Maureen Burns and Joan Porter. Trying to keep a relationship together against the rise of fascism and a really shitty MTA.

STELLA AND ADOLPHO by Jonathan Davidson

Directed by Michael Abbott Jr., featuring Nathaly DeLaCruz and Daniel Hall. Two teenage lovers face a rapidly changing future and a relationship at its crossroads.

UNCOVERING by Erin Mallon

Directed by Nina Mehta, featuring Ross DeGraw, Rock Kohli, Ava Paloma, Zoë Van Tieghem. The 10th Annual Father-Daughter Purity Ball, where Jesus is your husband but Daddy is your boyfriend.

PROGRAM B: Nov 8, 9, 10 @7:30pm, Nov 11 @3pm & 7:30pm, Nov 12 @3pm

STARS AND CRESCENT

by Maximillian Gill

Directed by Pirronne Yousefzadeh, featuring Jacqueline Antaramian, May Calamawy, Swann Gruen and Laith Nakli. A mother and father meet their daughter's new boyfriend in a world very different from ours, yet strangely familiar.

SOMEPLACE STRANGE by Mark Borkowski

Directed by Malindi Fickle, featuring Khan Baykal and Lacy Marie Meyer. A trip to James Dean's grave is a dead end for two lost souls.

TRUMP SUPPORTER BEATEN by Nicolas diPierro

Directed by Nicolas diPierro, featuring Brian Hotaling and JB Roté

Political opposites encounter each other in the days after the 2016 Presidential election.

11/9 by Mark Borkowski

Directed by Gabe Fazio, featuring Francis Benhamou, Mark Borkowski, Suzanne DiDonna and Swann Gruen. The morning after the 2016 election, a dysfunctional family deals with its hysteria.

STIFF by Brandon T. Snider

Directed by Emma Canalese, featuring Joe Maruzzo and Brandon T. Snider. Officer Ranelli doesn't think he has anything in common with Jeff, but ten awkward minutes with a dead body might just change his mind.

MARINER MOTEL by David Thigpen

Directed by Malindi Fickle, featuring Kevin Kane and Sayra Player. Brooke and Lee find themselves tapped on the shoulder by a past that will define and haunt them for the rest of whatever life they have left.

Founded in 2007, The Collective NY unites professional artists who share a responsibility to create work in the contemporary American Theatre that is emotionally truthful, socially relevant, and defiantly accessible. Founding Members include Mike Houston, Kevin Kane, Amy Schumer, Robert Z Grant, Brian Leider and Nick Marshall. Company credits include revivals of Ionesco's THE LESSON, McGuinness's SOMEONE WHO'LL WATCH OVER ME, and original productions 360, ME EQUALS THIS, HAPPY GIRL, Edward Allan Baker's LILA ON THE WALL, the Emmy-winning television show "Inside Amy Schumer" and the award-winning short films "Turtleface," "Uncle Silas" and "quick fix."

Tickets available via Brown Paper Tickets. https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3104102