Divine Riot to Present World Premiere of THE A TRAIN ANTHOLOGY

Whether living in New York City or just visiting, nearly everyone takes the subway at some point. Call it a necessity or nuisance, entertaining or excruciating, New York's subway train cars provide rich, fertile inspiration for dramatic stories. And that's exactly what Divine Riot's new play, "The A Train Anthology" will serve up in this 90-minute world-premiere production at Brooklyn Art Haus this December.

In its second season as a new theatre and film production company, Divine Riot invited local playwrights to pitch 10-15 minute scenes that take place on the subway. From 60 submissions, seven scripts were chosen and paired with actors and directors from Divine Riot's roster. The A Train Anthology invites audiences to experience the sometimes heartbreaking and often hilarious stories of commuters whose lives intersect on the subway, capturing the essence of human connection, struggle, and resilience in the bowels of the city.

"Everywhere you go in this city you have the chance of becoming the audience to somebody else's drama-and we're sort of fascinated by that," said producing director Madalyn St. John, a founding Divine Riot member who pitched the idea to the company. "The subway is such an integrated part of New Yorkers' lives, it's inevitable that peoples' most private moments end up happening there quite publicly."

The A Train Anthology playwrights include both previously produced writers Jessica Moss (winner 2023 Lanford Wilson award) and Elyssa Nicole Trust, as well as newcomers Sarah Goeke, Jessica Mosher (winner Austen Film Festival Screenplay Competition), Keith Rubin, Lizzy Spano, and Madalyn St. John, all of whom are making their NYC playwriting debut.

"The A Train Anthology" features performances by Justin Ahdoot, Lee Arden, Esteban Benito (Happiness for Beginners), Mahalet Dejene (New Amsterdam), Phoebe Dunn, Larissa Gritti, Annie Hägg (Hunters), Mark Howard, Adam Irigoyen (Shake It Up), Felipe Jorge, Cassidy Layton (Severance), Gail Payne, Keith Rubin (Puffs), Sophie Schulman, Lauren Sowa, Madalyn St. John, Dylan S. Wallach (Leopoldstadt), and Kerry A. Warren.

Performance Dates are December 6, 7, 14 at 7:30 PM and December 15 at 2:00 PM at the Brooklyn Art Haus, 24 Marcy Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211. 

To post a comment, you must register and login.