Playwrights Horizons to Host ALMANAC Literary Magazine Launch Party
With Almanac, Playwrights provides its singular community of writers and artists an outlet for dialogue in various mediums.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Feb. 01, 2023
Playwrights Horizons will host a launch party for the second print edition of the pioneering Off-Broadway theater's innovative literary magazine, Almanac-toasting the publication with a gathering of some of today's most imaginative playwrights and theater-makers. With Almanac, Playwrights provides its singular community of writers and artists an outlet for dialogue in various mediums-both alongside and in response to the organization's on-stage productions-that capture the rapidly changing ideas and mindset of this critical moment. The pages of Almanac burst to life in this free event, inviting the public to party with the playwrights of Playwrights (and one another), February 27, 5:30-7:30pm, in the Mainstage Lobby at Playwrights Horizons (416 West 42nd St). Dress code: Express Yourself!
This party celebrates playwrights and theater artists and the electric dialogue they generate for the rest of us, featuring special musical acts from two musicals in development. Alyse Alan Louis and Jason Gotay, accompanied by Steven Cuevas, will perform from Teeth, by Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning A Strange Loop writer Michael R. Jackson and composer and lyricist Anna Jacobs; and Zeniba Now and Jay Adana will showcase material from their Richard Rodgers Award-winning work-in-progress Loophole.
Playwrights Horizons Associate Artistic Director Natasha Sinha-who serves as Almanac Editor-in-Chief in partnership with Playwrights Horizons Literary Director Lizzie Stern-says, "Alongside our full productions, our staff has been working on an array of dynamic artistic programs. We're thrilled to share the second volume of our literary magazine, Almanac, brimming with original work by insightful theatermakers from a multiplicity of perspectives who shared their thoughts during the 2021-2022 season via essays, short plays, poetry, letters, drawings, interviews, collages, and a crossword puzzle. We believe in coming together around visionary art. And we believe in the power of a party! Our lobby is where we all pass through-artists, audiences, staff, crew-so we're excited for this excuse to invite everyone to celebrate liberated artistic expression and the prismatic conversations that follow, which we will continue to amplify with Almanac each season."
Almanac Volume 2 revisits and deepens conversations surrounding plays that were featured in the 2021-22 season at Playwrights Horizons: Aleshea Harris' What to Send Up When it Goes Down, Sylvia Khoury's Selling Kabul, Dave Harris' Tambo & Bones, Sanaz Toossi's Wish You Were Here, and Will Arbery's Corsicana. Writing in multiple forms from Aleshea Harris, Heather Raffo, Anne Washburn, Natasha Sinha, Anaïs Duplan, Lizzie Stern, Heidi Schreck, Martyna Majok, Jia Tolentino, Aydan Shahd, and Ryan J. Haddad extends from these plays. Adam Greenfield, Deborah Margolin, Mara Nelson-Greenberg, Deepali Gupta, Mextly Couzin, Agnes Borinsky, Adam Coy, David Zheng, and Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas offer other bold writing.
In addition to spotlighting writing released digitally over the course of the last year, the print edition of Almanac Volume 2 includes Plays as Shapes, for which Playwrights Horizons commissioned Aleshea Harris, Sarah Ruhl, Mia Chung, Abe Koogler, Agnes Borinsky, Christopher Chen, and Jordan Harrison to illustrate the form of their plays in interpretive visual portraits.
The Almanac team also includes Jordan Best (Graphic Design Manager), Adam Greenfield (Artistic Director), Teresa Bayer (Director of Marketing), Alison Koch (Director of Communications), Billy McEntee (Editor), Fiona Selmi (Editor), and May Treuhaft-Ali (Editor).
RSVP Information
RSVPs are required, and must be done here. Attendees must submit a COVID rapid test result from (at most) twenty-four hours prior to the party - and will be sent a link to submit to after sending an RSVP. Identification will be checked at the door; guests who are 21+ will receive a wristband to present at the bar.
About Playwrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons is a writer's theater dedicated to the development of contemporary American Playwrights, and to the production of innovative new work. In a city rich with cultural offerings, Playwrights Horizons' 51-year-old mission is unique among theaters of its size; the organization has distinguished itself by a steadfast commitment to centering and advancing the voice of the playwright. It's a mission that is always timely, and one that's necessary in the ongoing evolution of theater in this country.
Playwrights Horizons believes that playwrights are the great storytellers of our time, offering essential contributions to civic discourse and illuminating life's greatest paradoxes. And they believe in the singularity of a writer's voice, valuing the broad, eclectic spectrum and diversity of American writers. At Playwrights Horizons, writers are supported in every stage of their growth through commissions (engaging several of today's most imaginative playwrights each year), New Works Lab, POP Master Class series, Soundstage audio program, the Lighthouse Project, and Almanac, the organization's magazine.
Playwrights Horizons presents a season of productions annually on their two stages, each of which is a world, American, or New York premiere. Much like Playwrights Horizons' work, their audience is risk-taking and adventurous; and the organization is committed to strengthening their engagement and feeding their curiosity through all of its programming, onsite and online.
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