Casts Set for THE POOL PLAYS 3.0 at 59E59 Theaters

59E59 Theaters and The Pool Plays, in association with The New Group’s New Works, have revealed the casts for The Pool Plays 3.0. Part of the Makers Program, The Pool Plays 3.0. begins previews on October 8 in 59E59’s Theater C (59 E 59th Street, New York, NY 10022) and opens October 15 for a run through October 28, 2023.                
 
The cast of Antiquated F*ckery will include kARE: n____EiLbacher (“Dietland”) and Davon Williams (For Colored Boyz). Michele Correggio is the Stage Manager.   
 
The cast of The Berlin Diaries will include David Greenspan (Dead Mother) and Rebecca S’manga Frank (At the Wedding). The stage manager is Courtney Seyl.
 
The cast of Two Brown Porters will include Omar Maskati (Disgraced) and Sathya Sridharan (Life of Pi). Hasan Shah (“Nobody’s Listening”) will serve as understudy. Sarah Gorden is the Stage Manager; Gorden and Hasan Shah are the Assistant Directors.
 
The Pool Plays 3.0 will feature scenic design by Zoë Hurwitz, costume design Rodrigo Muñoz, lighting design by Reza Behjat, and sound design by Brian Hickey. Vasile Flutur is the dialect coach and Andrew Diaz and Joshua Yocom are the props designers. Katie Curran is the Production Manager, and Michele Correggio is the Production Stage Manager. Janae Beaver is the Creative Producer and Adrian Alea is the Creative Producing Consultant. 
 
Three playwrights. Three plays. One remarkable experience.
 
The Pool Plays span space and time, taking audiences from Brooklyn, to Delhi, to Berlin; from 1850, to the 1940s, to 2023 as three diverse playwrights bring their vastly different perspectives into one collective dramatic space.
 
Running throughout the plays are bright, common threads about the shifting nature of identity and about how the past echoes through the present and the future, demanding to be heard.
 
“When we found each other, we each had very specific stories to tell,” said Jessica Charles, Andrea Stolowitz and Naren Weiss, the core playwrighting trio, “and yet, in our specificity, we found a cultural unity connecting all of our communities. How they meld, we leave up to each viewer. But we somehow saw cultures past, present, and future unfurling within our collective worlds. And we knew this fit was more important, more authentic, than anything any of us could’ve ever prepared for.”
 

Antiquated F*ckery

By Jessica Charles
Directed by Cristina Angeles
 
Jasmine and Diggy have passion, humor, and friendship, but what they want are careers.
 
Playwright Jessica Charles slyly explores the creative struggle of two Black, queer artists trying to make it in an industry that considers them at once too Black and not Black enough.
 
Jasmine and Diggy gas each other up and tear each other down with razor sharp dialogue as Charles poses the question of whether they can maintain their friendship as each tries to claim their space in a world that needs to hear them but doesn’t want to.
 
The cast of Antiquated F*ckery will include kARE: n____EiLbacher (“Dietland”) and Davon Williams (For Colored Boyz). Michele Correggio is the Stage Manager.   
 

The Berlin Diaries

By Andrea Stolowitz
Directed by Will Steinberger
 
The great-grandfather of Oregon Book Award-winning playwright Andrea Stolowitz kept a journal for his descendants after escaping to New York City in 1939 as a German Jew. Following the complicated lure of genealogy, Stolowitz goes back to Berlin to bring the story of her unknown ancestors out of the archives into the light. The record keeps as many secrets as it shares; how do people become verschollen, lost, like library books?
 
In this complex, contemporary drama about the search for home, fragmented heritage, and Jewish diaspora, two performers scintillate between characters and locations at the border of reality and memory and the intersection of national history and private lives.
 
The cast of The Berlin Diaries will include David Greenspan (Dead Mother) and Rebecca S’manga Frank (At the Wedding). The stage manager is Courtney Seyl.
 

Two Brown Porters

By Naren Weiss
Directed by Rajesh Bose
 
This dark comedy by Naren Weiss is set in 19th century India during a period of great upheaval seen through the eyes of two friends watching their world transform. Reality is grim, much is absurd, yet nothing is as it seems.
 
Funny, surreal, and mesmerizing at times, Two Brown Porters explores history both real and imagined. As a precious diamond loaded with significance changes hands under the tightening yoke of imperialism, the fate of an individual and of a nation hangs in the balance. One choice can set momentous events into motion and two humble porters hold the key.
 
The cast of Two Brown Porters will include Omar Maskati (Disgraced) and Sathya Sridharan (Life of Pi). Hasan Shah (“Nobody’s Listening”) will serve as understudy. Sarah Gorden is the Stage Manager; Gorden and Hasan Shah are the Assistant Directors.
 
The performance schedule for The Pool Plays 3.0 is as follows:
Antiquated F*ckery: Sunday October 8 at 7:30pm, Wednesday October 11 at 7:30pm, Friday October 13 at 7:30pm, Saturday October 14 at 7:30pm, Tuesday October 17 at 7:30pm, Thursday October 19 at 7:30pm, Saturday October 21 at 4:30pm, Sunday October 22 at 2:30pm, Wednesday October 25 at 2pm, Saturday October 28 at 2:30pm.
The Berlin Diaries: Sunday October 8 at 4:30pm, Tuesday October 10 at 7:30pm, Thursday October 12 at 7:30pm, Saturday October 14 at 4:30pm, Wednesday October 18 at 2pm, Saturday October 21 at 2:30pm, Sunday October 22 at 7:30pm, Wednesday October 25 at 7:30pm, Friday October 27 at 7:30pm, Saturday October 28 at 7:30pm.
Two Brown Porters: Sunday October 8 at 2:30pm, Wednesday October 11 at 2pm, Saturday October 14 at 2:30pm, Wednesday October 18 at 7:30pm, Friday October 20 at 7:30pm, Saturday October 21 at 7:30pm, Sunday October 22 at 4:30pm, Tuesday October 24 at 7:30pm, Thursday October 26 at 7:30pm, Sunday October 28 at 4:30pm.
Please note that all three plays will be performed in repertory on Saturdays & Sundays.
 
Tickets to The Pool Plays 3.0 begin at $25 and are on sale now at 59e59.org/shows/show-detail/pool-plays-30/.
 
 
The Pool Plays started in 2017 to create a sustainable model of artist-led theater production that breaks down the current processes and puts playwrights at the helm – in support of one another and making way for diverse storytellers of tomorrow. Each cohort of The Pool produces three plays in rep; the playwrights are empowered to take matters into their own hands as they lead the production of their original work – from the page to the stage. This year's plays are presented in association with The New Group, who generously provided us with in-kind producing support and embraced and amplified our mission of bringing a playwright-led independently produced model into the mainstream consciousness. Past Pool playwrights include Susan Bernfield, Kate Cortesi, Peter Gil-Sheridan, Lynn Rosen, Brenda Withers and Emily Zemba.
 

ABOUT 59E59 Theaters

59E59 Theaters was established by the Elysabeth Kleinhans Theatrical Foundation in 2004 to grant professional space and expertise to non-profit theater companies premiering their work in New York City. Under the leadership of Val Day, Artistic Director, and Brian Beirne, Managing Director, 59E59 Theaters presents a year-round curated program of Off Broadway plays and musicals that are nurtured and supported through highly-subsidized rental rates as well as production, ticketing, FOH, marketing, and press support.
 
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT
www.59e59.org
 

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