World Premiere of THE GROUNDLING Set for Axis Theatre

Marc Palmieri has a reputation for writing heartfelt and unsettling plays. Time Out New York writes, "When Palmieri lets his imagination cut loose, the results can be evocative." In a Critic's Pick review of Levittown, Palmieri's compelling depiction of the small and quiet dramas of American family life, The New York Times declared, "you won't stop watching for a second." Now, Axis Company presents the world premiere of Palmieri's latest play The Groundling, February 11 - March 8, 2015.

After stumbling upon a small outdoor production of a Shakespeare play in Manhattan, Long Island landscaper Bob Malone is inspired to write a play about his troubled marriage. He hires two reluctant New York theatre professionals to spend a week at his home and stage the play in his garage with a cast of colorful locals. The Groundling is a heartfelt comedy that meditates on the meaning of the final moments of Love's Labour's Lost, and the surprising effects a play can have on the most unsuspecting, and perhaps most deserving of us all.

The Groundling will run at Axis Theatre February 11 - March 8 (see schedule above). Critics are welcome as of Friday, February 13 for an official opening on Wednesday, February 18. Axis Theatre is located at One Sheridan Square in the West Village (just off 7th Avenue, accessible from the 1 train at Christopher Street and the B/D/F/M/A/C/E at West 4th Street).

Featuring Eva Kaminsky (The Language Archive /Roundabout; Play Company's Made in Poland; The Lyons), Robert Ierardi, Brian Barnhart (Off-Broadway: Last Man Club; Levittown), Kendall Rileigh, Benjamin Russell, Emily Kratter and Jerry Matz (Broadway: Fiddler on the Roof; Ghetto; Roza - dir. Harold Prince). The Groundling is written & directed by Marc Palmieri and Produced by Axis Company, the creative team also includes David Zeffren and Amy Harper (lighting design) Chad Yarborough (set design) Karl Ruckdeschel (costume design), Erik T. Lawson (Sound design), Sean Patrick Monahan (asst. director) and David Beller (stage manager).

The Groundling was presented in 2012 at South Coast Repertory's lauded NewSCRipts Series, in 2011 at Penobscot Theatre Company's Northern Writes Festival and work shopped at the Lark Play Development Center. Marc's other plays include Levittown (NY Times' Critic's Pick, 2009), Carl the Second and Poor Fellas (all published by Dramatists Play Svc.)

Marc Palmieri has worked as an actor Off-Broadway with Classic Stage Company, Axis Company, The Culture Project, The Directors' Company, Emerging Artists, Tectonic Theatre Project, La MaMaETC, The Cliplight Theatre and many others. He played the lead in the feature film Too Much Sleep (Shooting Gallery, 2002), which was nominated for an IFP Independent Spirit Award. Marc's plays Poor Fellas, Carl the Second, and Levittown all premiered in New York and are all published by Dramatists Play Service, Inc. Marc wrote the screenplay for the feature film Telling You (Miramax Films) starring Jennifer Love Hewitt and Peter Facinelli, which premiered at the 1998 Hollywood Film Festival and was released theatrically in 1999. Marc also writes, directs and stars in the web series The Thing (www.theplayis.com) and has done many national commercials. Currently, he teaches playwriting and screenwriting in the MFA Creative Writing program at The City College of New York in Manhattan. He has also taught Shakespeare, Modern and Post Modern Drama, and World Humanities for the undergraduate English Department. Member of Actors Equity, SAG-AFTRA, Dramatists Guild.

He grew up on Long Island and attended Chaminade High School, after which he was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays, and attended Wake Forest University on a full baseball scholarship. He coached varsity baseball at Chaminade for 12 years.