59E59 to Present U.S. Premiere of Walczak's 'Sandbox' and 'The First Time'

59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) presents the Obie Award-winning Immigrants' Theatre Project (Artistic Director, Marcy Arlin) production of  SANDBOX and THE FIRST TIME, two one-act comedies by Michal Walczak and translated by Benjamin Paloff, part of MADE IN POLAND: A Festival of New Polish Plays, presented by the Polish Cultural Institute at 59E59 Theaters. Piotr Kruszczynski directs SANDBOX; Marcy Arlin directs THE FIRST TIME. SANDBOX/THE FIRST TIME begins performances on Thursday, November 13 for a limited engagement through Sunday, November 30.

These two one-act comedies by Michal Walczak examine the ferocious, tragicomic, rough-and-tumble between the sexes. Both plays explore different stages of relationships, underlaid with a cynicism and absurdism often found in Eastern European theater. The battle of the sexes literally starts in the SANDBOX, in this hilarious confrontation between a boy guarding his space and a girl who just wants to play. THE FIRST TIME is an outrageous look at erotic interplay under absurd circumstances, when a woman demands from her eager boyfriend that their "first time" be perfect.

Michal Walczak (playwright) trained as a theatre director at Warsaw Theatre Academy and is one of the most popular and prolific Polish playwrights of the younger generation. After making his debut with Sandbox in 2001 -- staged at 11 theatres, translated into German, English, Hungarian, Czech, and Italian -- he wrote, among other plays, The Journey to the Inside of the Room, staged at 5 theatres and translated into German, Dutch, and Lithuanian; The Night Bus, translated into German and awarded the jury prize at the 2007 tenth annual Heidelberg Theater Days; The River, the Mine, translated into German and Russian; The First Time, translated into German and French; Hangover; and two plays for children: The Last Daddy and The Sad Princess. Walczak was awarded the main prize for The First Time at the Forum for Young Authors at the 2006 Heidelberger Stückemarkt.

Piotr Kruszczynski (director of SANDBOX) studied architecture in Poznan and directing in Warsaw.  He was the Artistic Director of the Dramatyczny Theatre in Walbrzych from 2002 – 2008 and is also a playwright and theatre journalist.  At the Walbrzych, Piotr nurtured many emerging young directors, such as Jan Klata, Katarzyna Paciorek, and Maja Kleczewska.  He directed the world premiere of Walczak's SANDBOX and has toured with the play and others throughout Europe.

Marcy Arlin (director of THE FIRST TIME) is Artistic Director of OBIE- winning Immigrants' Theatre Project, Fulbright Senior Specialist, member of Lincoln Center Directors Lab, Theatre Witthout Borders, No Passport. Recent: Marko the Prince (TBG Theater), Tropic of X (Artheater, Köln); Heresy (HERE); 365/365, Cracking Mud is Pinching Me (Tenement Theatre); Red Bull (Play Co.); Waxing West (Teatrul Imposibil), Name Day (Barrow Group). She curates and directs the series Czech Plays in Translation (Public, NYTW); After the Fall: Reality and New Romanian Theatre; Dis-Location & Re-Invention (with New Group/MESTC). Lectures in Theatre for CUNY; guest-lectured at Yale, Brown, University of Chicago (her alma mater), NYU. She created Journey Theatre project, with refugee survivors of torture and war. Upcoming: Fulbright residency Brno, Czech Republic. Recently published her first play, Oldish Woman Leaves Earth, in the Man.In.Fest Journal of Experimental Theater, Cluj, Romania.

Immigrants' Theatre Project was founded in 1988 by Artistic Director Marcy Arlin to present professional theatre about the American and international immigrant experience, exploring themes the social, emotional and psychological effects of a new culture, receiving the 2003 OBIE for innovative theatre. Using traditional and experimental theatre forms, ITP works with professional theatre artists for mainstream audiences and immigrant communities, and has premiered over 400 plays. Notable projects/productions: Marko the Prince, by Jovanka Bach; Tropic of X by Caridad Svich, Artheater/Koln; Heresy/Progress by Sabina Berman/Matei Visniec, 365/365U, Journey Theater, a theatre project working with survivors of war and torture with playwright Ruth Margraff; Unexpected Journeys: Plays by Women from Muslim Cultures; American Dreams Staged Readings series; Czech Plays in Translation with Theatre Institute-Prague/Czech Center NY (Public/NYTW); Dis-location & Re-Invention (The New Group/MESTC); After the Fall: Reality & New Romanian Theatre; New Indigenous Australian Voices. ITP call 718.237.4545 or 347.512.5572 or immigrantstheat@aol.com. For more information, visit www.immigrantstheat.org.

The press opening is Sunday, November 16 at 7:30 PM.  The performance schedule is Tuesday through Friday at 8:30 PM; Saturday at 2:30 PM and 8:30 PM and Sunday at 3:30 PM and 7:30 PM. Please note that there is no performance on Thursday, November 27 and final performance is on Sunday, November 30 at 3:30 PM (no 7:30 PM performance). Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison, New York).  Tickets are $20 ($14 for 59E59 Members).  Tickets are available by calling Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 or online at www.ticketcentral.com. For more information, visit www.59E59.org.

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