EAST SIDE STORIES Begins Next Week At Metropolitan Playhouse

Obie Award winner Metropolitan Playhouse presents a festival of five one-acts by Tom Lavagnino, Natalina Lopez, Christian Missonak, Bara Swain, and Jonathon Ward. The limited run from May 19 through May 29, 2022, plays at the Playhouse home at 220 E 4th Street.

The cast is anchored by Joan Porter (Broadway's The Inspector General; Paul Schwartz's award winning film A New York Story; TV's Chicago Med, Gotham) and includes ALEXANDER M. COLE (The Flea, Law and Order SVU), HANNAH HAKIM, CASEY KILLORAN(Viral Beauty) , RHASSAN OYOSABA MANNING (The Living Theatre), Ron Moreno (Night Over Taos at INTAR; The Controversy of Valladolid and The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel at The Public; Indians at Metropolitan) , REBECCA ANA PEÑA (The Bacchae at Classical Theater of Harlem and Times Square with The Civilians), and Ryan Wright.

This year's collection of new plays features five new works connected by their celebrating a yearning for authenticity in a world of brave postures and broken promises.

COOPERATIVE by Christian Missonak
Lucas is a progressive crusader for tenant's rights, living in a squat-turned-coop in Alphabet City. But this social justice warrior doesn't always see eye-to-eye with the tenants who actually built his home.

I'M WAITING FOR MY MAN by Tom Lavagnino
Tad and Elliot wait at Venus Records on St. Marks Place for Lou Reed's signature on their albums. Soon enough, they have to face what that prize is really worth.

LENIN IN LOVE ON THE LOWER by Jonathon Ward
Matt's come East from Colorado to help Eugenia renovate her newly inherited walk-up, and maybe their old love affair, too. But in the company of radical characters from her novel-in-progress, as well as the famous statue of Lenin, this business-minded contractor may find the East Village is the wrong marketplace.

THE PLAN by Bara Swain
The time has come for Marge to leave her apartment for assisted living, but her daughter's plan doesn't have to mean losing EVERYthing.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING THE ODD EVENTS IN THE FIRST AVE L STATION ON TUESDAY NIGHT by Natalina Lopez
Callie all but lives in the L station where her father owns a flower shop. A second generation American teen with her eye on the horizon wants to see above the sidewalk, but her heart knows flowers draw their life from their roots.

This year's program features work by TOM LAVAGNINO; NATALINA LOPEZ, CHRISTIAN MISSONAK, Bara Swain, and JONATHON WARD. The program is directed by RACHAEL LANGTON (Rising Sun Collective), with Set Design is by JACOB BROWN; Costumes by SABRINNA FABI (NY Classical Theater), Lighting by NICHOLAS PALATELLA (Minetta Lane, Delbarton Abbey); Sound by Josh Samuels (Associate with POTUS on Broadway).

EAST SIDE STORIES, ACTUALLY is the 17th collection of new works based on the rich history and eclectic character of New York's East Village and Lower East Side. 2022 marks a return to the theater for the series, which took place online in 2020 and 2021. Conceived to celebrate the theater's neighborhood and develop new theatrical voices, it has given birth to over 100 new plays by such authors as Qui Ngyuen, Renée Flemings, Adrian Blanco, Alberto Bonilla, and Robin Rothstein. Several plays premiered in the festival have gone on to publication, including Ward's 2015 contribution BHoys Do Macbeth, published in Applause Books' THE BEST SHORT PLAYS 2014-2015, and Rothstein's 2020 contribution Grassroots and Carlos Jerome's 2019 Counting Pedestals, both published in Smith & Kraus's BEST TEN-MINUTE PLAYS 2021.

METROPOLITAN PLAYHOUSE, in its 30th season, explores America's diverse theatrical heritage through lost plays of the past and new plays of American historical and cultural moment. The theater received a 2011 OBIE Grant from The Village Voice for its ongoing productions that illuminate who we are by revealing where we have come from. Called "invaluable" by the Voice and Back Stage, Metropolitan has earned further accolades from The New York Times and The New Yorker. Other awards include a Victorian Society of New York Outstanding Performing Arts Group, 3 Aggie Awards from Gay City News, 20 nominations for NYIT Awards (3 winners), and 6 AUDELCO Viv Award nominations.

In March 2020, Metropolitan responded to the COVID-19 shutdown by creating the VIRTUAL PLAYHOUSE, producing over 100 readings of one-act and full length plays, as well as stories, panel discussions, and programs of music, poetry, and dance online. The Virtual Playhouse continues, and has so far reached 20,000 audience members and offering financial support to over 200 artists and scholars during a trying time for live venues.


Learn more and purchase tickets at www.metropolitanplayhouse.org/tickets.