|the claque| to Host 5th Annual Play Series in May

|the claque|, New York's favorite arts and performance conglomerate, has announced its fifth annual The Quick and Dirties (The QuaDs) playing at The Sheen Center in May of 2015.

The Quick and Dirties is a play workshop series that focuses on pieces past the point of developmental readings, but not yet ready for full production. The playwrights of the four selected full-length plays and over 40 other theatre artists will engage in a collaborative effort to take four good plays and make them great. Each play receives a two-week-long rehearsal intensive, design elements, a full creative team and two public showings at The Sheen Center.

This year's workshops are:

Wildrose by Anna Moench, directed by Danya Taymor, (Wednesday, May 6th and Friday, May 8th @ 8:00pm)

Boyfriend by Tommy Smith, directed by Nick Leavens, (Thursday, May 7th and Saturday, May 9th @ 8:00pm)

Ghosts in the Tapestry by Seth Moore, directed by Matt Dickson, (Wednesday, May 13th and Friday, May 15th @ 8:00pm)

Fruiting Bodies by Samantha Chanse, directed by Kareem Fahmy, (Thursday, May 14th and Saturday, May 16th @8:00pm)

A cornerstone of this developmental process is the playwrights' retreat, this year hosted at SPACE on Ryder Farm. All four selected playwrights, their directors and a few selected artists attended a three-day retreat organized by |the claque| to delve deep into the plays and strengthen them through collaboration.

Not only do the QuaDs benefit the playwrights and artists directly involved, they serve as a resource for the greater artistic community. |the claque| brings together collaborators of all sorts in an open space for discussion, debate, and inspiration. The QuaDs currently has an alumni base of over 300 theater artists in New York, and the number grows with each year. Past QuaDs playwrights include Robert Askins, Rachel Bonds, Alexander Borinsky, Joshua Conkel, Eric Dufault, Darcey Fowler, Christina Gorman, J. Holtham, Monet Hurst-Mendoza, Braden LuBell, Martyna Majok, Willie Orbison, Frank Paiva, Joseph Riippi, Sarah Sander, Jen Silverman, Mark Snyder, and Crystal Skillman.

Ticket availability and detailed casting information will be released in April.

|the claque| is your favorite arts and performance conglomerate based in New York City. |the claque| is a performing arts support organization dedicated to identifying challenges and problems in the arts and creating artistic programmatic solutions to address them. By both creating excellent work and heightening the level of discourse in the arts, this approach is designed to encourage artists and allow them to thrive, fostering an adaptive and collegial approach. |the claque| has been operating since 2010 and growing ever since.

Other programming from |the claque| includes: |the claque| reads series, displaying exciting and promising work from writers we come across in the city, the Spotlight Fellowship, a fellowship for career development for a panel-nominated actor in the city, the octo-group, a writers group for playwrights with bold, unusual, or idiosyncratic voices. Our annual fundraisers include the Mac Off, a macaroni and cheese competition, Meh..., a theatrical roast, and the upcoming NYLAWN, a ladies arm wrestling completion at Irondale.