Writers & Directors Announced For First Madness Of The 9th Season Of NY Madness

NY Madness starts its 9th season this month. The first Madness of the season will be a collaboration with The Playwriting Collective and will take place on Sunday, January 27 at 8pm at The Kraine Theater (85 East 4th Street between 2nd Avenue and Bowery). The lineup will include Dennis A. Allen II (When We Wake Up Dead, The Mud is Thicker in Mississippi), Kate Garfield (Detective Logan, Warpath), Raine Grayson (queeriesblog.com, The TMI Project & The Trevor Project), Nico Grelli (Pier Valentino's Show Without End (The Final Broadcast), Epic Theatre Ensemble),Amina Henry (Ducklings, The Animals), Judith Leora (Showpony, Elijah), Kate Liederman (Dixon Place, Primary Stages), and Antu Yacob (2016 Kampala International Theatre Festival, United Solo Theatre Festival). Directors will include NYM Company members James Masciovecchio, Michele O'Brien, Janet Bentley, Melissa Skirboll, Ben Ferber, Pete Boisvert, Molly Ballerstein, and Celestine Rae.

The Playwriting Collective is a playwright driven initiative to support voices from lower economic backgrounds. Their objective is to put the playwright first and seek out writers as well as stories, narratives, and characters that shine a light on the current state of America's lower class. The work they cultivate is transmedia and they encourage our artists to indulge their imaginations. From vast multimedia spectacle, to puppetry, to audience participation... they want to uplift people artistically and socially through stories armed with all the weapons of modern stagecraft. One of their key programs is the Joshua Young is the President and Artistic Director of The Playwriting Collective. He is a proud member of The Public's 2018-2019 Emerging Writers Group. His play Red Room on a Dark Web will be in the Primary Stages Drills Reading Series this April.

New York Madness is a raw and unpredictable show of short plays by an ensemble of playwrights presented fully staged with scripts in hand. They write a short play and cast it, rehearse it, and bring it in on its feet. The collected works create a kaleidoscope of cultural moments reflecting this moment in time, framed by a theme that is chosen just one week in advance of the show. The primary goal of Madness is the exploration of modern American Playwriting through the use of theatrical storytelling.

New York Madness takes place every last Sunday of the month at The Kraine Theater (85 East 4th Street between 2nd Avenue and Bowery). Tickets ($10) may be purchased in advance at www.horseTRADE.info. Visit the New York Madness Facebook page for discount codes!

FRIGID New York @ Horse Trade is a theater development group with a focus on new work that produces a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater every season. FRIGID's Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. FRIGID New York grew out of the annual FRIGID Festival, the first and only festival of its kind in New York City to offer artists 100% of their box office proceeds, and Horse Trade Theater Group, a self-sustaining theater development and management group. www.horseTRADE.info