Ensemble Studio Theatre Sets Spring 2016 Season

ENSEMBLE STUDIO THEATRE has announced the continuation of the EST 2015-2016 season. PLEASE CONTINUE by Frank Basloe, directed by William Carden, and presented in association with The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, will begin performances on February 3, 2016 and officially opens Thursday February 11, for a limited run through February 28, 2016. EST, in association with The Radio Drama Network, and Page 73 Productions will present the world premiere of KENTUCKY, by Leah Nanako Winkler, directed by Morgan Gould, which will begin performances in April for a limited run. Both productions will take place at EST's Curt Dempster Theatre (549 W. 52nd Street, New York, NY 10019).

EST is proud to continue their partnership with the Sloan Foundation through the EST/Sloan Project, which has commissioned and developed hundreds of new science-themed plays. 2015 grantees include Will Aronson (My Scary Girl; Mother, Me and the Monsters), Sarah Hammond (Green Girl; House on Stilts), Susan Bernfield (Tania in the Getaway Van; Big Hungry World), Alexander Borinsky (What I Found in Montana; Lost Tribe), Sam Chanse (Lydia's Funeral Video; Fruiting Bodies), Dustin Chinn (Snowflakes; Sharksucker), Sarah DeLappe (The Wolves; Parabola), Ryan Dowler (STIFF; The Gratifications), Ryan Fogarty (The Obligation; Goldfish Love), Keli Garrett (Funkland; Red Clay Hills), Joe Gilford (Finks; Danny's Brain), Robert Lyons (Red-Haired Thomas; Doorman's Double Duty), Ana Nogueria (Empathitrax), Tommy Smith (Fireman; White Hot), Will Snider (The Big Man; How to Use a Knife), Craig Hatkoff (Stargazer), and Eleanor Burgess (Start Down). The EST/Sloan Project is also funding four productions and workshops through NP2 Regional Seed Grants including productions of Spill by Leigh Fondakowski at TimeLine Theatre in Chicago and Some Brighter Distance by Keith Reddin at City Theatre in Pittsburgh, and developmental workshops of Paradise by Laura Maria Censabella at Underground Railway Theatre in Cambridge, MA and Project Dolly by Eric Conger at the Barrow Theatre Group in New York.

Yale, early 1960s. Professor Stanley Milgram's "obedience experiments" test how cruel people can be when they are just following orders. Milgram gets the data he needs, but the lab assistant who conducted the experiment is left to grapple with his own responsibility. Weaving in an historically separate incident, playwright Frank Basloe's PLEASE CONTINUE dramatizes a campus scandal in order to burrow deeper into the ways conformity can push us to act against our conscience.

The cast of PLEASE CONTINUE will feature: Haskell King (The Fly Room; "As The World Turns"), David Jackson (I Loved Sam Stone; The Private Sector), Tommy Schrider (War Horse; Macbeth), Jared McGuire (Between Josie and Maria; Skype War), Jonathan Randell Silver (Daddy Took My Debt Away; Christmas in Queens), Dylan Dawson ("Nurse Jackie"; Five Times in One Night), Alex Herrald (Metro Cards; Just Right Just Now), and Molly Carden (Downtown Race Riot; Emotional Creature).

Tickets for PLEASE CONTINUE are now on sale. Tickets range from $20 to $40 and can be purchased in advance at www.ensemblestudiotheatre.org or by calling (866) 811-4111. The performance schedule is as follows: Monday at 7pm, Wednesday - Saturday at 7pm, Saturday at 2pm, Sunday at 5pm.

Hiro is a self-made single, almost 30 woman making it in New York while estranged from her dysfunctional family who lives in Kentucky. When her sister, a born-again Christian, decides to marry at 22, Hiro decides to do whatever she can to stop the wedding and salvage her sister's future. The themes of identity, religion and love collide in KENTUCKY, a unique coming-of-age story co-produced by EST/The Radio Drama Network and Page 73 Productions. KENTUCKY is written by Leah Nanako Winkler and directed by Morgan Gould, with casting to be announced at a later date.

PLEASE CONTINUE and KENTUCKY join the previously announced BOY, a co-production between the EST/Sloan Project and Keen Company. BOY begins previews on Tuesday, February 23 and opens on Thursday, March 10 at The Clurman Theatre at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036) for a limited run through Saturday, April 9. Tickets are $62.50 and are on sale now at Telecharge.com.

Inspired by a true story, Anna Ziegler's BOY explores the tricky terrain of finding love amidst the confusion of sexual identity, and the inextricable bond between a doctor and patient. In the 1960's, a well-intentioned doctor convinces the parents of a male infant to raise their son as a girl after a terrible accident. Two decades later, the repercussions of that choice continue to unfold. A story of the blinding power of love and the complicated mystery of one's perception of self, BOY is a moving play that calls into question how we become who we are.

The performance schedule for BOY is as follows: Tuesday - Wednesday at 7pm, Friday - Saturday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm, Sunday at 3pm. Exceptions: There will be an additional 2pm performance on Wednesday, April 6.

Previously announced, UNFILTERED 2015-2016 will continue at at EST's Mainstage Theatre in 2016 with Mope by Paul Cameron Hardy, Honors Students by Mariah MacCarthy, and The Triple Threat, a musical comedy by Patrick Link and Eric March. Tickets for UNFILTERED range from $15 to $20 and can be purchased in advance at www.ensemblestudiotheatre.org or by calling (866) 811-4111.

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