Mary Elizabeth Hamilton's SMART to Premiere at Ensemble Studio Theatre This Spring

Ensemble Studio Theatre and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation have announced that Mary Elizabeth Hamilton, an EST Youngblood Graduate, will make her Off-Broadway debut with her new play SMART.

Directed by EST Member Matt Dickson, SMART will run March 30 to April 23 with an official press opening on Thursday, April 6 at 545 West 52nd Street. SMART was originally commissioned and developed through the EST/Sloan Project. Over the past 25 years, the EST/Sloan Project has fostered over 300 plays about science and technology, leading to productions across the country.

Elaine's cantankerous, ailing mother, Ruth, won't let aides in the house to help her, making it impossible for Elaine to go to work. In desperation, Elaine buys a "Jenny," a smart device which doubles as a babysitter/companion for her mom - while allowing Elaine to check on Ruth from anywhere. Jenny quickly feels like another member of the family, playing games with Ruth and talking Elaine through her insomnia. But what if Jenny isn't the only one listening? SMART is a play about how and why we let technology into our homes, and the unexpected changes that tech can bring.

The three person cast features EST Member Christine Farrell, Francesca Fernandez, and Kea Trevett.

"I came to EST by way of Youngblood. At the time I was a newly single mom, working around the clock and barely writing at all. Those weekly meetings on the 6th floor were one of the first places where I started to feel like a playwright again. It's an honor to have my first NYC production with this theater that has always felt like a creative home," said Playwright Mary Elizabeth Hamilton. "Smart's had a long journey - from a Sloan proposal way back before the pandemic, several readings, in person and on zoom, and finally, incredibly this production. EST was so encouraging throughout - of the play and the process. This is a special place and group of people. I'm thrilled to be making theater here again."

"Mary's play is about new tech and privacy, about loneliness and connection in the city, about mothers and daughters - she ties those threads together with humor and warmth, and an ache that stays with you long after the play is over," said Co-Artistic Director Graeme Gillis. "We've been working on this play with Mary for nearly five years, but the story it tells is very much of this moment. It's very much a play about life right now."

The new play will have scenic design by Ant Ma; lighting design by Colleen Doherty; costume design by Megan Rutherford; props design by Caitlyn Murphy; sound design by Josh Samuels; and production stage manager Lauren Nicole Jackson.

This production is under the banner of the EST/Sloan Project and is co-produced by EST and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

BIOS:

MARY ELIZABETH HAMILTON

(Playwright) is a Brooklyn-based playwright, tv writer and mom. She holds her MFA from The University of Iowa and an Artistic Diploma from Juilliard. Mary was a Jerome Fellow at The Lark and has participated in Youngblood, The O'Neill, Ars Nova, I-73, New Georges' Jam, and Play Penn. Her play 16 Winters won ASC's New Contemporaries Award. She is developing her play Smart with EST, and writing a pilot based on this play for AMC. She was a Story Editor on "Why Women Kill", wrote the podcast "Power Trip" starring Tatiana Maslany, and is a resident playwright with New Dramatists.

Matt Dickson

(Director) is a director based in Brooklyn. Upcoming: Where Did We Sit on the Bus? by Brian Quijada (Marin Theatre, Denver Center), Step Mom by Jahna Ferron-Smith (InterACT Theatre). Recent: A Midsummer Night's Dream (Queens College), Where Did We Sit on the Bus? (Cleveland Playhouse, Colorado Springs & a digital creation with Satya Chávez for Actors Theatre, nom. for Drama League Award), Everything is Wonderful by Chelsea Marcantel (Juilliard). He is a 2021-2022 recipient of the Drama League Next Stage Residency, a 2017 Drama League Fellow, a Jonathan Alper Directing Fellow (Manhattan Theatre Club) and proud member of EST.

Christine Farrell

(Ruth) is an actress, playwright, and director. Selected theatre credits include Uncle Vanya, Comedy of Errors, and countless new works. TV/Film: "Law & Order", The Ice Storm, Fatal Attraction. Directing: Hunger by Amy Herzog and War by Bill Bozzone. Her short plays include The Once Attractive Woman, For the Love of a Saint (EST Marathon); Our Half of the Sky; Mama Drama (EST, Cleveland Playhouse). She is an EST Playwrights Unit Member, and a recipient of an NEA Affiliate Artist grant, a MacDowell Colony fellowship, and a Mellon grant. Currently, she teaches at Sarah Lawrence College, where she served as Artistic Director of the theatre program from 2010-2019. Christine is a proud member of Ensemble Studio Theatre.

FRANCESCA FERNANDEZ

(Gabby). Off-Broadway: ...what the end will be (u/s Roundabout), Gloria: A Life (Daryl Roth Theatre), Kenny's Tavern (59E59), Sorry Not Sorry (Ars Nova), Love: Medea (Center at Park West). Regional: Bald Sisters (Steppenwolf), Twelfth Night (KCRep), Good Person of Szechwan (CalShakes), Nanay (Magic Theatre), SYZRGY (Two Rivers Theatre), Lily's Revenge (Southern Rep), Sheddin' (Horizon Theatre), Hotel Plays (Provincetown Players). TV/Film: "Blue Bloods," "Arcadia," "Facetime" "The Hardest Part," "Mooshrooms," "Locker Room Series," PBS' Great Performances recording of Gloria: A Life. Yale MFA Acting. @cheskamckenzie.

Kea Trevett

(Elaine) (she/her) is a Brooklyn-based actor, writer and educator. NY stage: Roundabout, Classic Stage Company, Lincoln Center, Ars Nova, and The Sheen Center. She's developed work at New Georges, The Lark, Page 73, Cherry Lane, and Goodcap Arts. Her film work has screened at Sundance, Atlanta Film Festival, Outfest and Newfest. Kea teaches playwriting and theatre at TFANA and LCT. She is a co-founder of Apocalyptic Artists, a theatre co which provides free classes and productions to NYC schools. Kea is an Outfest Screenwriting Fellow, a Story Pirate, and proud dog mom. www.keatrevett.com

TICKET INFORMATION:

SMART performance schedule is Monday & Wednesday - Saturday at 7pm; Saturdays at 2pm (except for 4/1); Sundays at 5pm with a special benefit night performance on Monday, April 17. (Running time is approximately 100 minutes, no intermission.)

Ticket prices are General Admission - $30; Reserved Seating - $40; Students/Seniors - $25; Early Bird tickets will be available for $20 through March 29 before performances begin on March 30.

EST is located at 545 West 52nd Street. For more play info and tickets: ensemblestudiotheatre.org/smart

ABOUT THE EST/ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY PROJECT:

The EST/Sloan Project (Graeme Gillis, Program Director; Linsay Firman, Associate Director), a pioneering collaboration between the Ensemble Studio Theatre and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, is designed to stimulate artists to create credible and compelling new theatrical works that explore the worlds of science, technology, and economics and to challenge existing stereotypes of scientists and engineers in popular culture. Since its inception in 1998, the EST/Sloan Project has commissioned, developed, and produced over 300 staged plays involving over 1,000 playwrights, actors, choreographers, composers, and theatre companies nationwide. Recent notable plays include what you are now by Sam Chanse, Behind the Sheet by Charly Evon Simpson, Isaac's Eye by Lucas Hnath, Fast Company by Carla Ching, and Photograph 51 by Anna Ziegler.

ABOUT THE ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION:

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is a New York-based, philanthropic, not-for-profit institution that makes grants for research in science, technology, and economics; quality and diversity of scientific institutions; and public engagement with science. Sloan's program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology, directed by Doron Weber, supports books, radio, film, television, theater and new media to reach a wide, non-specialized audience and to bridge the two cultures of science and the humanities.

The Foundation has an active theater program and commissions about 20 science plays each year from the Ensemble Studio Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, and The National Theatre in London, while supporting select productions across the country and abroad. The Foundation's pioneering theater program began with a 1997 grant to Ensemble Studio Theatre for Arthur Giron's play about the Wright Brothers, Flight, and has helped usher in the science play as a regular part of the theater canon, making Sloan a coveted commission for any playwright engaging with a science and technology theme or character. Beginning with such renowned science plays as David Auburn's Proof, Michael Frayn's Copenhagen, and Alan Alda's QED, recent grants from Sloan's Theater Program have supported Mark Rylance's Dr. Semmelweis, Anchuli Felicia King's Golden Shield, Sam Chanse's what you are now, Charly Evon Simpson's Behind the Sheet, Lucy Kirkwood's Mosquitoes, Chiara Atik's Bump, Nick Payne's Constellations, Lucas Hnath's Isaac's Eye, Anna Ziegler's Photograph 51, Leigh Fondakowski's Spill, and Bess Wohl's Continuity. The Foundation has also supported a 32-play radio series through L.A. Theatre Works. For more information, visit www.sloan.org or follow @SloanPublic on Twitter and Facebook.

ABOUT Ensemble Studio Theatre:

Ensemble Studio Theatre (EST) was founded by Curt Dempster in 1968 and led by William Carden from 2007 to 2022. In over 50 years, EST has developed thousands of new American plays and has grown into a company of over 600 actors, directors, playwrights, and designers.

EST's mission is to develop and produce original, provocative, and authentic new work. A dynamic community committed to a collaborative process, EST is dedicated to inclusion across all aspects of identity and perspective, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, sexuality, physical or mental ability, physical or mental health, and recovery while acknowledging and working to end systemic marginalization and oppression at all levels of its organization. EST discovers and nurtures new voices and supports artists throughout their creative lives. This extraordinary support and commitment to inclusivity are essential to yield extraordinary work.

EST's primary programs include Youngblood, a collective of emerging professional playwrights; the EST/Sloan Project, a partnership that commissions, develops, and produces new works about science and technology; and the biennial Marathon of One-Act Plays, a landmark New York theatre festival since 1977. For more information, visit ensemblestudiotheatre.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.