Vital Signs Festival Runs Nov.29 - Dec.16

Vital Theatre Company is pleased to present its twelfth installment of "Vital Signs," the company's annual new works festival. The three-part series begins Thursday, November 29 at 7PM, and runs Thursday through Sunday until December 16.

All tickets are $18/$10 for students/groups. TDF Accepted. For reservations, please log onto www.theatermania.com or call (212) 352-3101. For more information visit www.vitaltheatre.org. Vital Theatre Company is located at the McGinn/Cazale Theatre, 2162 Broadway, 4th Floor at 76th Street.

Series One: November 29-December 2

In Ross Maxwell's The Dysinformationist directed by Michael Page, whatever anyone tells you… there is no Dysinformationist. In this fast paced, multi-player, split-screen, Information Age comedy, can you trust the facts you're told? In Suzanne Bradbeer's Dead Lucy, directed by Charles Maryan, her sister's violent death has a stripper bent out of shape, and in a holding cell. In Regularly Scheduled Programming by Al Sjoerdsma, directed by Maura Farver, there are suddenly no movies, no television, no radio, no musicals, no video games, no websites.  Now what? In Robert Shaffron's A Contribution to Domestic Architecture directed by Tlaloc Rivas, the dynamics of a family's history is suddenly transformed when Dennis' brother and Dennis' boyfriend clash at an impromptu dinner party. And in LA 8 AM, by Mark Harvey Levine directed by David Ledoux, we see some of the hidden numbers in the world.

Series Two: December 6-9

In Evict This; a one act musical, with book and lyrics by Sonya Sobieski, music by Jana Zielonka and directed by Beatrice Terry, Manhattanite Lila is successful, attractive, and haunted... literally.  Two deceased but still-quibbling siblings are killing her rent-stabilized buzz, and she must take action.  Turns out the sisters aren't the only ones who need an existential intervention. In Kiss and Tell, by Steve Yockey, directed by Bob Cline, when Zack and Susie put the moves on a strange new friend from their college, a simple game of truth or dare slips quickly from drunkenly sweet to hammer-poundingly psychotic. A misunderstanding in a neighborhood supermarket forces two couples to examine their assumptions and expectations around race and gentrification in Laura Eason's Lost in the Supermarket directed by Awoye Timpo. In Jason Salmon's Meeting directed by Jack Reiling an encounter in a bar leads a man and woman through an exploration of love, relationships, and the uncertainty of taking a chance. And in Class Behavior, by Catherine Allen directed by Gwenyth Reitz, the head of an exclusive New York private school battles a powerful guardian wish to change the contents of its library.

Series Three: December 13-16

In Sharyn Rothstein's Senor Jay's Tango Palace directed by Marlo Hunter, in a dilapidated tango hall in Washington heights, two unlikely best friends- a gentle, retired Argentinean dancer and a young, down-and-out writer push each other to take a life-changing risk by the end of a heated tango performance. In Cheri Magid's The Lock directed by Blake Lawrence, a twisted braid of a fairy tale, it was long and red. And when it shone they say the sun itself was eclipsed in shadow. Cook Olivia has an idea for a delicious dish, and only a visiting Elephant can appreciate it, and her, in Sheila Callaghan's Ayravana Flies or a Pretty Dish directed by David A. Miller. It's Our Town, Too by Susan Miller, directed by Holli Harms, is a riff on Thornton Wilder's classic play, because families come in many different forms and love is always beautiful.

Now in its ninth season, Vital Theatre Company programs include the Vital Main Stage, Vital Children's Thetre which commissions and presents new plays with music for young audiences, performed by adults, and Vital Voices: Arts in Education. "Vital Signs" New Works Festival has seen 24 new short plays go on to publication. Vital Theatre Company received two American Theatre Wing Awards for continued excellence and is a six-time winner of the Off-Off Broadway Review's Award for Excellence and was also named 2002 Theatre Company of the Year from The New York Theatre Experience. For more information, please visit www.vitaltheatre.org.

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