Village Playwrights Announce Upcoming Events

The Village Playwright meet from 8 pm to 10 pm at the LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC. Everyone is welcome.

June 28, 2017
Loud and Proud
Join the Village Playwrights at 8 pm on June 28 to celebrate Gay Pride in a thought provoking way with staged readings of seven jury chosen 10 minute plays by some of New York's most interesting playwrights at the LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC. Seating is limited and reservations are recommended. $5 donation requested. Please email villageplaywrights@gmail.com or call 614-285-2515 to reserve seats.

The plays and playwrights are
"Doctor Truth" by Sam Affoumado -- Sex therapist Dr. Truth works miracles with a "dysfunctional" Gay couple.
Sam Affoumado has written six full-length plays and ten short plays. "Peanut Butter Patty" was a semi-finalist in the 2011 Samuel French OOB Short Play Festival in NYC. "Home Sweet Home," another short piece, was a finalist in the 2012 Magnolia Arts 10-minute play contest in Greenville, NC. Sam's play, "The Finalist," was produced in Washington, DC as part of the McLean Drama Company's 10th Annual 10-Minute National Play Festival. His latest work The Bully's Eye" was published in 2015 by Applause Theatre and Cinema Books in an anthology entitled More 10-Minute Plays for Teens, edited by Lawrence Harrison.

"The Choice" by Stephen Barnett -- Trapped between loving the sinner and hating the sin, a grandmother turns to her priest for guidance regarding her queer grandchild.
Having grown from a theatrical foundation, Stephen Barnett is proud to debut as Playwright & Director for the stage after having written, produced, and directed seventeen short films of varied length while studying acting at the Herbert Berghof Studio He earned an Interdisciplinary Baccalaureate in Theatre and Cinema Production. For his theatrical thesis, he directed Tennessee Williams' one-act play, "Adam and Eve on a Ferry." He recently graduated with an MA in Gender, Sexuality, and Cinema Theory. He has also been involved in community theatre as a performer with the Sea View Playwright's Theatre productions of O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh, Miller's Death of a Salesman, and Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. He is presently seeking a Producer for his short film "The Choice" from which this 10-minute play is derived.

"Blame it on the Baby" by Jack Dyville -- A Gay couple discovers that their newborn has potty mouth.
Over the years, Jack Dyville has earned the title, "Jack of All Theatrical Trades" having worked professionally as a Playwright, Producer, Director, Choreographer, Actor, Dancer, Singer and in fact like George M. Cohan, his idol, he's even figured out how to work the Box Office and Usher Folks to their seats! He's a published writer with comedies, dramas & musicals. A favorite is his "The Memory Book" a tribute to a dear friend, one of the first casualties to the AIDS Epedimic.

"Beheld" by Maia Henkin -- Two teenage missionaries go to the subway to propagate the word of the gospel and end up playing a game of "gay chicken."

Maia Henkin graduated with honors in gender studies from Rhodes College with a BA in English Lit/Creative Writing and Theatre with a minor in Film. In New York, her plays have been produced at the Hudson Guild Theatre, the PIT, the Lynn Redgrave Theatre (Off-Broadway, Fresh Ground Pepper), the Gene Frankel Theatre (Nylon Fusion), Littlefiend (UglyRhino), and Manhattan Rep.

"Tahiti" by James Masten -- It's never too late for a second chance on love.

James Masten studied theatre at New York University when the actor Ronald Reagan was President. During the intervening three decades Masten has practiced social work in the fields of AIDS care, aging, and mental health, written several journal articles, and published a book, Aging with HIV: A gay man's guide. His full length play Survivors was the inaugural Michael Warren Powell Memorial Reading at the 29th Street Playwright's Collective.

"Naked" by Mike Poblete -- After having great sex, two men get naked.
Born in Brooklyn, Mike Poblete has had six full length plays and numerous one acts performed in six countries, two of which have been published. He has a Playwriting MFA from Trinity College Dublin and works as Director of Script Development at The Foxboro Company, a Broadway, film and television Production Office. www.mikepoblete.com

"I'm not Gay" by Bernard J. Taylor -- Why does a man who has entered into a same-sex relationship insist he is not gay?
Bernard J. Taylor has had more than 100 productions of his stage works (both musicals and non-musical plays) worldwide. (See www.bernardjtaylor.com). In 2013 I was made an Honorary Fellow by the Victoria College of Music and Drama in London for "services to music and the performing arts". Three recent productions of his show in San Antonio won six awards at last year's ATAC awards (San Antonio's equivalent of the Tony Awards - original script, original music and four performance awards. He has coming up productions in New York (Summerfest at the Hudson in Manhattan in August), San Antonio, Japan, Australia and England. Mr. Taylor started up an LGBT theatre group in San Antonio.

July 12
30 mins, Kevin Curley "Motherhood" - At dinner two married heterosexual couples talk about having babies. One couple is contemplating conception; the other, unexpectedly pregnant, are disagreeing about having it.

Kevin Curley's one-act "Your Place or Mine?" was chosen for the 15th Annual Samuel French Short Play Contest. His one act play "Things" was selected by The William Inge Festival 2016 (declined by me because of expenses); His short play, "Brothers" was produced by Stage Door Productions in Fredericksburg, VA in April 2014. His ten-minute play "Improv & Proposition" were heard on Spokane Radio Theatre. Another, "Friendship," was performed in August 2012 at the Lebanon Community Theatre in PA. He has studied acting and holds a master's degree from New York University. kurley01@aol.com
60 mins., Michael Rendino, "Suckit List" and "The Arrival"

Mike Rendino started writing plays six years ago, when his youngest son turned 18. He now has a c: drive full of long and short plays, with several productions and a first prize at a short play festival under his belt. Recent productions include "Used to be Bonanza" at the Hudson Guild Theater in January 2016, "Crossing" in the Piney Fork Festival in 2014, "Global -Warming", a cautionary tale and first-prize winner at John Chatterton's short play festival and a staged reading of "Jack Rabbits of the Wild Interior", which was performed in the Manhattan Reading Festival in March.

30 mins., Jeffrey James Keyes, "The Masseur" -- A business man gets a massage to remember in Jamaica.

Jeffrey James Keyes is a playwright, producer, and author. He recently co-wrote the New York Times Bestselling book Killer Chef with James Patterson (Hachette Book Group and Little, Brown and Company.) An active participant in New York City's theater scene, Jeffrey has presented plays at The SoHo Playhouse, The Samuel French Festival, 59E59, and The Ensemble Studio Theatre as well as at The Rogue Machine Theatre in Los Angeles, The Prologue Theatre in Chicago, and The Old Vic Theatre in London. Television projects include Revealing for the Sundance Channel and MTV's True Life. He additionally serves as contributor for magazines Metrosource and Passport and websites ManAboutWorld, Queerty, and GayCities. Jeffrey graduated with a BA degree in Theatre and Visual Arts from Fordham University College at Lincoln Center and received his MFA degree in Playwriting from Columbia University School of the Arts.

July 26 -- 2 hours, Wayne Paul Mattingly, Anthem -- A woman tries to re-invent herself.
Wayne Paul Mattingly lives in NYC and has been involved in theatre for decades. Since focusing on playwriting in 2005, his plays have won multiple awards, produced in NYC, Westchester and Putnam, Los Angeles, San Francisco; Bangor, Maine; Denton & Houston, Texas; Valdez, Alaska, and London, England. 2014 Helene Wurlitzer Foundation Artists Fellowship, 2014 Ronald Duncan Literary Prize Finalist, 2014 & 2015 Disquiet International Literary Program Short Play short-list scholarships, Lisbon, Portugal, 2014 Best Women's Monologues, Smith & Kraus. Founding member, The Misfits Ensemble, L.A., Founding Artistic Director, Tiger's Heart Players, N.Y. Member: NYC Playwrights, Axial Theatre, The Dramatist Guild, & Actors' Equity Association. Proud to be on the bill tonight! www.waynepaulmattingly.com

No meetings in August.
Sept 13 -- 30 mins., Michael Hixenbaugh
30 mins., Charles Leipart, "Hammersmith '31"

60 mins available.
Sept 27, 2 hours, Mark Nimar, Good Daddy -- a gay sex comedy about Ben, a young guy who has an affair with an older, married man.
Mark Nimar is a New York-based actor, singer, and playwright. In New York, he has performed at the Bank Street Theatre in the musical Happy End, at the Danny Kaye Playhouse in the New York premiere of the opera il Postino, and at the Manhattan School of Music in the New York premiere of the opera A Taste of Damnation. Productions outside of New York include Animal Crackers at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and Carmen at Dante Hall Theatre in Atlantic City. He made his screen debut as Mason in the film Beneath Contempt, which was screened at the Slamdance Film Festival, IFFB, and at the Brooklyn Film Festival. Mark holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in voice from the Mannes College the New School for Music. As a playwright, his work has been featured at the Village Playwrights in New York City.

Oct 11 -- 2 hours available
Oct 25 -- Queer Scare IV -- stage readings of short plays to celebrate Halloween

MEMBERS NEWS:
Gloria Craig's "Wizzard,' developed in the Village Playwrights Intensive Playwriting Workshop, will be in the Riant Theater's Strawberry One-Act Festival July 14, 16 and 22.

ABOUT THE VILLAGE PLAYWRIGHTS

The Village Playwrights meet at 8 PM on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month at the LGBT Center, 208 W. 13th Street. Participation is open to all Playwrights and Screenwriters. Beginners are encouraged and helped. "This is a place to speak from the heart. This is a place to find one's voice. This is a place to take risks." For information about attending a Village Playwrights' meeting, call 614-285-2515 or e-mail villageplaywrights@gmail.com

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