Metropolitan Playhouse Announces Upcoming Productions

Obie Award winner Metropolitan Playhouse presents a live-streamed readings of two new plays, free of charge, with a talkback to follow: EAST SIDE STORIES UNMASKED, STICK AROUND, new plays by Nina Howes and Rex McGregor.

6/19/2021 at 8:00 pm (Eastern) through 6/23/2021 at 10:00 pm (Eastern)
Running Time: 1 hour
Free of charge.
Available at: www.MetropolitanPlayhouse.org/ESS2021

The program will be available for four days following its premiere on the Playhouse webpage, YouTube channel, and Facebook page.

"Stick Around," includes CARMEN PABON PRESENTE!, by Nina Howes--the life story of an incomparable activist and light, all in her own words, and IZZY STICKS WITH IT, by Rex McGregor--a whimsical encounter between Ava Astor and a young (and vocal) Irving Berlin.
Beginning in 2003, Metropolitan has presented new one-act plays celebrating the theater's neighborhood, Manhattan's East Village, and has premiered over 100 one-act plays inspired by its history. "Stick Around" is the second of two evenings of new plays for 2021.

The reading will be followed by a question and answer with the playwrights.

CARMEN PABON PRESENTE!, directed by Gloria Zelaya, features Marisol Carrere as the inimitable activist; IZZY STICKS WITH IT is directed by Michael Hardart and features Aidan Eastwood, Jamahl Garrison-Lowe, Michelle Geisler, and Sarah Hankins.

NINA HOWES is a nurse, an activist, and a writer. Her plays have been produced off- off Broadway at The Metropolitan Playhouse, Theater for the New City, Clemente Soto Velez Center, and the Dorothy Strelsin Theater. Her book "Lower East Side Oral Histories" is available on Amazon.com.

Rex McGregor is a New Zealand playwright. His short comedies have been produced on four continents from New York and London to Sydney and Chennai. His most popular play, Threatened Panda Fights Back, has been produced over a dozen times.

Metropolitan presents readings every Saturday at 8 pm, Eastern Time, and varied programing alternate Wednesday evenings as part of The Wednesday Alternative.

Wednesdays, 16, and 23: New plays from graduate student playwriting classes.

Saturday, June 26: MY WIFE'S MIRROR, by Edward G.P. Wilkins, a tale of husband taming from 1856.

The VIRTUAL PLAYHOUSE began on March 28, 2020, and has presented nearly 100 new readings and performances. The program has evolved to be a video/stage hybrid that far exceeds the expectations of online readings. Exploring the possibilities of "remote" ensemble, Metropolitan has pushed the envelope of Zoom broadcasts, with increasingly sophisticated virtual settings and sound design. Each reading is enhanced by conversation with the artists and a guest scholar for an hour-long live entertainment every Saturday night. Reaching an audience across the country and around the globe, the presentation of the forgotten one-act plays is an ideal way to pursue the theater's mission exploring America's diverse theatrical history.

The Playhouse's virtual readings serve to help compensate performing artists, so particularly hurt during this long ""pause.""
Information about the theater's ARTISTS RELIEF FUND may be found at
www.metropolitanplayhouse.org/covidaid

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