Drilling Company Presents FAITH Short Plays Project 5/6-23

Declaring "We all believe in something...don't we?," The Drilling Company has set a short play project on the subject. The troupe (www.drillingcompany.org), known as a home for award-winning writers, has saved the theater where they made their home for the last ten years and in September 2009, assumed the lease on the venue formerly known as the 78th Street Theatre Lab, citing their faith in the space. To mark the occasion, at the time of the takeover they commissioned nine emerging playwrights to write short works on the subject of faith. The entire project, titled "Faith," will be presented as a two hour evening May 6 to 23.

The Drilling Company has been doing projects like this since 1999, the year of its founding. This is the ninteenth themed compilation in their ten year history. "It is the cornerstone of our work" asserts Founder/Artistic Director Hamilton Clancy, adding "We chose faith as a theme this year because it echoed our confidence the space could continue. Faith means a lot of things to a lot of people, including things like faith in the government and faith in celebrities and politicians who fall from the pedestal. We thought it would be a wonderful theme."

The nine short plays cover a range of ideas and writing styles (see listings below). The program includes plays by Brian Dykstra, Kate McCamy, Richard Mover, C. Denby Swanson, Scott Baker, and Stephen Bittrich, all regular contributors to past Drilling Company projects, plus newcomers Jennifer Fawcett, Misha Shulman and Christine Whitley.

The Drilling Company has presented many notable premieres in the space, including "Atomic Farmgirl" by C. Denby Swanson, "Dealers" by Neil Olson, "Big Apples" by Stephn Bittrich and several early short plays by Will Eno. Recently, "Over the Line " by P. Seth Bauer and "Bird Brain" by Vern Theissen played for extended runs.

Clancy adds, "For thirty years, The 78th Street Theatre Lab presented innovative new work here. We're proud to continue producing in that spirit as The Drilling Company Theatre."

THE PLAYS

"Hole" by Stephen Bittrich, directed by David Marantz
Three miners trapped in mine have different reasons to find faith they might survive.

"Jump" by C.Denby Swanson, directed by Hamilton Clancy
A suicide help line helps a crisis make the decision to do the unexpected.

"Dogma Afternoon" by Kate McCamy, directed by Kate McCamy
Suicide helpline workers wonder where they are putting their faith.

"That 40's Play" by Scott Baker, directed by Marisa Viola
In the spirit of Noel Coward, a vintage director encourages and overage ingenue to carry on in the theater.

"39 and 9th" by Richard Mover, directed by Richard Mover
At 39th Street and 9th Avenue, two Jewish men wrangle over whether to have faith in the Messiah's final coming.

"On the Possibilities of Endings" by Jennifer Fawcett, directed by Hamilton Clancy
A woman, at the end of life meets another on the same journey.

"Questions I Try Not to Ask" by Misha Shulman, directed by Richard Harden
A retelling of the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac with an interesting twist.

"Parent and Children" by Christine Whitley, directed by Hamilton Clancy
A family in crisis discovers the kind of faith parents need to raise a child.

"Kind of a Music Aficionado" by Brian Dykstra, by Sarah Biesinger
Dykstra brings his acerbic wit to three hipsters wrangling over the existence of God.

The plays will be acted by the ensemble of of veteran and emerging talents from Off and Off-off Broadway: Darrell Larson, Elowyn Castle, Veronica Cruz, Darren Lipari, Paul Guskin, William Balzac, Bob Greenberg, Karla Hendrick, and Drilling Company members Billie Davis, Dan Teachout, Amanda Dillard, Ivory Aquino, Amanda C. Fuller and Walter Cline.

All ten plays will be designed by the team of Rebecca Lord (sets), Miriam Crowe (lighting) and Christopher Rummel (sound).

WHERE AND WHEN:
May 6 to 23, 2010
The Drilling Company Theatre
236 West 78th Street (between Columbus & Amsterdam)
(One block south of the #1 train at 79th Street)
Box office: 212-873-9050, online ticketing available at www.drillingcompany.org
Runs 2:10. CRITICS ARE INVITED on or after May 6.

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