Directed by Eleni Papaleonardos, it runs from September 19 to October 5, 2024, at Vern Riffe Center.
Available Light Theatre has announced a slate of three shows for their 2024-'25 Season:
by Adrian Einspanier
Directed by Eleni Papaleonardos
Vern Riffe Center - Studio 2
Sept 19-Oct 5, 2024
When we feel hopeless and that we can't control the chaos around us, tiny joys can make all the difference. But can we take it too far? Seven public defenders are up to their elbows dealing with child protective services, inequality, burnout, and existential dread. Amidst the distinct feeling that the world is, always has been, and always will be going to sh*t, these public defenders seek meaning, belonging, and some kind of order in the world via their quest for the perfect lunch. When your whole day's happiness hangs on one ritual meal, everything rides on the Lunch Bunch.
Adrian Einspanier's (they/them) plays include Lunch Bunch (PlayCo and Clubbed Thumb; New York Times and Time Out Critic's Picks), House Plant (New York Theatre Workshop's Next Door; "highbrow / brilliant" in New York Magazine's Approval Matrix; Lambda Literary Award Finalist), I LOVE SEAN (Playwrights Realm Writing Fellow), The Convent of Pleasure (Cherry Lane's Mentor Project), MADONNA col BAMBINO, created with composer Deepali Gupta and director Caitlin Sullivan (Ars Nova's ANT Fest and the New Ohio's Ice Factory, curated by New Georges), Doctor De Soto and Other Stories by William Steig, conceived by Miranda Haymon and co-written with Miranda Haymon and Seonjae Kim with music by Ellen Winter (upcoming tour TheaterWorksUSA), and I forgot to tell you (The Brooklyn Rail, June 2021 Issue).
Their work has also been developed and presented by Ars Nova's Play Group, Clubbed Thumb's Early Career Writers' Group, the New Georges Jam (former co-leader), and Williamstown Theatre Festival's Directing Studio. They have been a resident at Millay Arts, the Hambidge Center, Sewanee Writers' Conference (Walter E. Dakin Fellow), Cape Cod Theatre Project (Noel Coward Foundation Writer in Residence), SPACE on Ryder Farm, Mercury Store, and Erik Ehn's annual Texas Silent Writing Retreat. A recipient of Darren Aronofsky's Protozoa Pictures and Los Angeles Media Fund Theater Fund commission and the 2023 Lotos Foundation Prize, they teach at NYU Tisch, HB Studios and the National Theater Institute, and have recently developed work with A24 and Breaking the Binary Theatre.
An AVLT original work focused on themes of HOME
Directed by Acacia Duncan
Vern Riffe Center - Studio 2
Feb 27-March 15, 2025
Original work has been a hallmark of AVLT since its inception. We're thrilled to bring back to the stage an AVLT original, developed by the company and friends. Gathering together a multitude of voices from Columbus, and joining with poets, dancers, playwrights, this piece will be a wonderful collaboration between AVLT and some of the artists who make Columbus great. What is home? What makes us search for home, and keep looking for it? How does one find home? A piece not just about a physical home, but about longing and belonging.
Directed by David Glover
Vern Riffe Center - Studio 1
May 1-17, 2025
It's 1804 and President Tommy J has ordered Louis N. Clark on a voyage to map America's uncharted territory. Aided by Bigfoot, Sacagawea, and his own bravado, Louis makes his way across America, discovering and rediscovering everything that has been lost and left behind in the unbearable hardship that we call These United States. A recipient of the Kennedy Center's Jean Kennedy Smith Playwriting Award, ROCK EGG SPOON is a modern American epic about privilege, sadness, and giving credit where credit is due.
Noah Diaz is a playwright and screenwriter from the Iowa/Nebraska border. Productions include You Will Get Sick (Steppenwolf, Roundabout Theatre/NYT Critic's Pick), All the Men Who've Frightened Me (La Jolla Playhouse), Richard & Jane & Dick & Sally (co-production The Playwrights Realm/Baltimore Center Stage), and The Swindlers (Baltimore Center Stage). Commissions from La Jolla Playhouse, Roundabout Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club/Sloan, Baltimore Center Stage, Audible/Amazon Studios, and Arena Stage. His work has been developed with Berkshire Theatre Group, Two River Theater, The Sol Project, First Floor Theater, and The Playwrights Realm, where he was a Page One Resident Playwright. Noah is a recipient of the ASCAP Cole Porter Prize, a six-time recipient of playwriting awards from The Kennedy Center, and a nominee for an Outer Critics Circle Award. In television, he has written on Nine Perfect Strangers (Hulu), Up Here (Hulu), Joe vs. Carole (Peacock), and has developed projects for ABC, Hulu, 20th Television, The Walk-Up Company, Nyle DiMarco, and the team at Eva Longoria's UnbeliEVAble Entertainment. MFA: Yale School of Drama.
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