The Drama League's DirectorFest '05 Showcases One-Acts, Dec. 8-11
By: BWW News Desk Dec. 01, 2005
DirectorFest 2005 "offers an exciting glimpse into the future of American theatre by presenting one-act productions by four of the nation's most talented young directors," state press notes. This year's bill consists of four new plays – Gary Sunshine's Kahn and Kant, directed by Michael Goldfried; Sung Rno's Drizzle, directed by Abigail Marateck, Elizabeth Meriwether's The Sketch Comedian, directed by Alex Timbers and Michael John Garces' Audio-video, directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel.
Now in its twenty-second year, The Directors Project has gained an international reputation for nurturing a new generation of exceptional directors. Noted alumni include John Rando (Urinetown), Michael Mayer (After the Fall), Diane Paulus (The Donkey Show), Hal Brooks (Thom Pain), and more. DirectorFest 2005 is the culmination of the Fall Production Program of The Directors Project, the only career-development program for directors in the nation that guarantees an opportunity to direct a professional production.
Gary Sunshine's Kahn and Kant "is a comic fantasia about a closeted insomniac whose intellectual aspirations are exposed by the flamboyant fantasies (Judy Garland, Michelle Kwan) who invade his waking dreams." This fall, director Michael Goldfried assisted director Les Waters on Finn in the Underworld by Jordan Harrison at Berkeley Rep, and is now assisting Blanka Ziska on the premiere of Ariel Dorfman's The Other Side at Manhattan Theatre Club.
In Sung Rno's Drizzle, "a seemingly harmless coffee break takes a sharp turn when the conversation shifts to the Korean War. One man has a sinister past, and both realize that their futures will never be the same again." Director Abigail Marateck's Drama League fellowship took her to England, to the Royal Shakespeare Company, where she assisted director Sarah Esdaile on The Taming of the Shrew. She also had a residency at New Dramatists.
Elizabeth Meriwether's The Sketch Comedian "is a new comedy about a young woman's first date with her hero – a semi-famous, self-loathing sketch comedian. " The play will be directed by Alex Timbers, the artistic director of Les Freres Courbusier. Timbers' fellowship has led him to Broadway, for the new musical Jersey Boys, and he then assisted director Tony Taccone on Tony Kushner's and Maurice Sendak's Brundibar at Berkerley Rep. He iss the recipient of Obie and Garland Awards.
Michael John Garces' Audio-video "is an intensely charged comedy that follows two outcast teenage boys who realize they've accidentally given their grandmother a homemade illicit video instead of the family trip to Yellowstone. (At least the audio was erased!)." Director Moritz von Stuelpnagel also spent his fellowship in England assisting RSC director Dominic Cooke on two new American plays. He also did a literary residency at New York Theatre Workshop.
Call (212) 868-4444 or visit www.smarttix.com for tickets, which are $15 for the general public and free for industry professionals. Industry professionals should call (212) 561-1419 for reservations.
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