Ensemble Studio Theatre Announces Directors for the 38th Marathon of One-Act Plays

Ensemble Studio Theatre (EST) announced the directors for the 38th Marathon of One-Act Plays, which will be fully comprised of work from artists who identify as Black, Indigenous & People of Color (BIPOC). The full list of directors is Sivan Battat, Dominic Colón, nicHi Douglas, Chika Ike, Cameron Knight, Rebecca Martinez, Jonathan McCrory, Jess McLeod, Keenan Tyler Oliphant, Erin Tripp and Elizabeth Van Dyke.

This year's selection of eleven plays was curated by Co-Artistic Directors Mike Lew (Teenage Dick) and Colette Robert (Behind the Sheet). Ten plays will be presented across two different series from Sunday October 16, 2022 through Sunday November 13, 2022 at EST (545 West 52nd St, New York, NY 10019). An eleventh play, Yan Tután, will be streamed October 23 to November 13 in collaboration with Perseverance Theatre in Alaska.

Series A will begin on Sunday, October 16 with press invited beginning Monday, October 17. Series B will begin on Sunday, October 23 with press invited beginning Monday, October 24.

"France-Luce Benson, a Haitian-American playwright has given me a place in earlier marathons at EST, as a director and actress," said Director Elizabeth Van Dyke. "In each of her plays, Learning to Swim, The Talk, and Fall, the cast was mostly Black Artists and the director was also Black. These were rich wonderful experiences. This year, the entire marathon is by BIPOC playwrights, directors, designers, and technicians, and artistically directed by two BIPOC artists, Colette Robert and Michael Lew. EST, founded by the late Curt Dempster, followed by Billy Carden, and now with interim Artistic Director, Graeme Gillis, is making an effort to reflect the world in which we live by embracing multi-cultures, races, and genders in a profound way- Giving space and resources to these dynamic voices- and it is a privilege to be a part of it."

The biennial Marathon of One-Act Plays has been a landmark New York theatre festival since 1977. Praised by critics and beloved by audiences, it launched an industry-wide revival of the short play form, breaking new ground by putting emerging and established writers together on one stage. In its earliest days, the Marathon was key to sustaining the careers of writers like Horton Foote and Romulus Linney, while providing essential early opportunity for then-new voices like Christopher Durang, Richard Greenberg and Aaron Sorkin.

That mix of ages and cultures remains at the Marathon's core, with each subsequent generation - now including Julia Cho, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Amy Herzog, Qui Nguyen, Taylor Mac, and many others - taking their turn on the festival's Hell's Kitchen stage. Recently produced Marathon playwrights include Clare Barron, Leah Nanako Winkler, Anna Ziegler and Lloyd Suh. Martyna Majok was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Cost of Living, a play which originated in the 2015 Marathon of One-Act Plays.

General admission tickets are $25 and student/senior tickets are $20. A Marathon Pass is available for $40, which includes a ticket to each series bundled together. Tickets can be purchased at ESTnyc.org or ensemblestudiotheatre.org/marathon. Complete casting to be announced at a later date.

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