Writers and Directors Announced For April 2019 New York Madness

NY Madness is excited to announce it's April 2019 line-up as a Madness Co-Produced by Elephant Run District! The event will take place on Sunday, April 28th at 8pm at The Kraine Theater (85 East 4th Street between 2nd Avenue and Bowery). The lineup will include:

Mariko Iwasa- A stage alumni of Tokyo's prestigious Nihon University for the Performing Arts, Mariko has spent the last four years delighting crowds nationwide as a clown for the world-renowned Ringling Brothers Circus. In clown alley, she honed her craft as a physical comedian developing and performing comedy skits as well as opening gags and promotional work. She most recently made buzz starring in the Red House Theater's production of "A Charlie Brown Christmas," gaining acclaim for her headlining performance as Snoopy. She continues her work in both New York and Tokyo, creating original musical featurettes melding classical tap, juggling and slapstick comedy. She hopes to spread the joy of circus arts and vaudeville tradition to contemporary audiences of all ages. http://www.rossooo.com

Alex Orthwein - Alex Orthwein is a jubilant young artist with a passion for expressing the beauty of the human soul. His enthusiasm for life shines through every character he plays. Alex studied theater at Skidmore College and has since gone on to find a niche in the studies of physical comedy and character improvisation. The range of characters Alex has had the pleasure to play vary from zany-yet-twisted jar opener salesmen, vexed restaurant owners, compassionate friends, simple hearted strangers, town naturals, sloppy drag queens, lovers, fathers, ogres, all the way down to himself. His work with the Rebel Theater Ensemble has granted Alex the privilege to perform as a human activist.

Bethie Fowler is an American playwright who has written for stage and film. She has worked in the education departments of the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival and the Dublin Shakespeare Festival, as a writer/performer for RTE - Ireland's national television, and in the literary department of Atlantic Theater Company. Bethie received her BA from Trinity College Dublin and her MFA from SUNY Stony Brook.

José Antonio Melián - Recent performances include "Bamboo in Bushwick" (Ed Cardona Jr.) for the Working Theater, "La Caída de Rafael Trujillo" (Carmen Rivera) for Teatro Círculo, "Pinkolandia" (Andrea Thome) for INTAR and the dual language podcast Sangre Celestial/Celestial Blood (Mariana Carreño-King) for KCRW. He can be heard providing simultaneous interpretation of civic events on television, calling NFL games in Spanish on CBS' Game of the Week with the assistance of Sofía Zinger, and on the Spanish soundtrack of many HBO Sports specials.

Julienne Hairston- has written for Our Men Productions and The Mission Herald. Her plays have been featured in Hunter's Playwrights festival; Project Y's Racey Play Festival; The Fire This Time Festival (season six); Project Y's Techno Plays; Project Y's Parity Plays; NY Indie Theater Annual one-minute Play Festival; Project Y's Women in Theater Festival; Madness Theater Ten Minute Festival. Julienne was a member of Project Y's Playwright Group. She is currently in Athena Writes 2017. She is the founder of Lift as You Climb, Inc, a theater company dedicated to inspire and lift African American children through the experience of live theater, in Westchester County, New York.

Jerry Polner -"Like Money in the Bank", a romantic comedy about the founding of the Federal Reserve System, recently completed a run at the Theatre Row Studio Theatre. Quit the Road, Jack, a comedy about the North American Free Trade Agreement, was a guest production of Theaterlab last year. His earlier play Fix Number Six was presented by the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity and was nominated for six Planet Connections awards including Outstanding Playwriting for a New Script. Jerry's short play Medici Love was presented by the independent theatre group Fresh Produce'd and his short plays Florence Farewell, Gone With The Masha, Thank You For Applying, and Saute Your Face were produced by the Brooklyn Playwrights Collective at the Manhattan Theatre Source, the Brecht Forum, and Galapogos Artspace. He has also contributed short plays to the first six seasons of New York Madness.

Aleeka Wade- has been an advocate for sexual freedom and health in communities of color for 20 years in the U.S., South America, and Africa. Aleeka's writing explores the intersectional dynamics of power on a global stage. She holds a BA in Creative Writing from New School University.

David Kimple - is a playwright originally from Merritt Island, Florida ("Where dreams are launched!"). His full-length plays include MMF, Who is Theo?, Mare in the Men's Room, Swamp Squatch, and Sink, Florida, Sink. which has been commissioned as part of The Public Theatre of San Antonio's FreshInk program for 2018/19. Select short plays include Carpe Fuckin' Diem, Carpeteria, Life, and Sherpa Cop which was presented as part of both the New York and Los Angeles ABC Network Talent Showcases in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

Ciara Ni Cuirc- is an Irish writer and a member of Elephant Run District theatre company in New York City. Her work has been performed in the Samuel Beckett Theatre and Project Arts Centre (Dublin); Theatre Exile (Philadelphia); The Kennedy Center (Washington, DC); and The Tank, Irish Arts Center, Schapiro Theatre, and the Studio Theater (NYC). She was selected as an emerging playwright by the Stewart Parker Trust and by Play On (Dublin Theatre Festival). Her play, Ferns, was a finalist for the 2018 National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center.

Bethie Fowler- an American playwright who has written for stage and film. She has worked in the education departments of the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival and the Dublin Shakespeare Festival, as a writer/performer for RTE - Ireland's national television, and in the literary department of Atlantic Theater Company. Bethie received her BA from Trinity College Dublin and her MFA from SUNY Stony Brook.

José Antonio Melián - Recent performances include "Bamboo in Bushwick" (Ed Cardona Jr.) for the Working Theater, "La Caída de Rafael Trujillo" (Carmen Rivera) for Teatro Círculo, "Pinkolandia" (Andrea Thome) for INTAR and the dual language podcast Sangre Celestial/Celestial Blood (Mariana Carreño-King) for KCRW. He can be heard providing simultaneous interpretation of civic events on television, calling NFL games in Spanish on CBS' Game of the Week with the assistance of Sofía Zinger, and on the Spanish soundtrack of many HBO Sports specials.

Kristin Cantwell - is an actor, writer, and improviser. Recent theatre: Radio COTE with Co-Op Theatre East and the upcoming Writopia Worldwide Plays Festival. Recent TV: The Path (Hulu). Kristin has a BA in Theatre from the University of Mary Washington in Virginia. Proud company member of Elephant Run District. Website: kristincantwell.com Instagram: @thekristincantwell

Helen Herbert - is an actor and filmmaker. She has appeared onstage in Broadway benefit concerts, Off-Broadway plays, regional commercials and National Tours. Favorite New York roles: Haley in Final Request; Marilyn Monroe in It's All Make Believe, Isn't It? (Nylon Fusion); Elizabeth in Queen Elizabeth of Factory Fifteen (Samuel French); Margaret in Everything Will Be Alright (Columbia Univ.). She has a green thumb and lives in Brooklyn with her husband. SAG-AFTRA / AEA. helenherbert.net

GuyYedwab- Attractions (Hudson Guild Theater); White Men Who Know (Brooklyn Arts Exchange, actor/playwright); The Uses of Anger (Hemispheric Institute, actor/playwright); The End, Performance Anxiety and The Kafka Project (Organs of State, actor/playwright); Hello from the Children... (AGGROCRAG); Cherry Orchard (UCI Barclay Theater); With Their Eyes (Chance Theater); Christmas Carol (South Coast Repertory); Romeo and Juliet, Assassins and Laramie Project (Sage Hill). Film: This Is Not A Doc; In Memoriam; The Orange Hats; Take Care of Yourself (actor/screenwriter). Audio: The Big Game; Moment of Magic; Axes of Evil. Managing Director, The League of Independent Theater.

Katharine McLeod - Born and raised in Vancouver, BC, and spent time in Toronto, Berkeley, and Seattle before landing in Manhattan. I've worked in regional theaters across the US and Canada, and my solo play, My High-Heeled Life, premiered in New York in 2014 after touring Toronto, Vancouver and Salem, Oregon.

Aimee Todoroff - a freelance director and producer. Her work has been seen on indie stages, off-broadway, regionally, and in non-traditional spaces. She has been a part of two Obie Award-winning projects, and is Artistic Director of the independent theater company Elephant Run District, dedicated to challenging expectations and inspiring dialogue in the communities we serve since 2010. aimeetodoroff.org

Elephant Run District is an NYC-based indie theater and film company devoted to developing the work of a core group of artists, challenging expectations, engaging our audiences, inspiring dialogue in the communities we serve, and creating long-lasting memories. ERD seeks to entertain its audiences while addressing issues that affect our society. The District is a place where traditions collide and new possibilities are explored in the hunt to create stories that are ultimately human. The company gets its name after the time when founding members Aimee Todoroff and Chris Harcum first met on a chilly Monday around midnight in 2010. This happened to be the final time the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus ran their elephants across 34th Street to get them to Madison Square Garden. People cheered the elephants while others protested the cruelty. There were cops shouting, sirens blaring, clowns cheerily waving on tall bikes, horses majestically trotting, and stilt walkers gliding above the crowd. The elephants zipped by much faster than you might imagine. It was exciting and unexpected, just like how we feel good theater should be.

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

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