PTP/NYC Presents Anniversary Event 25 ON 25, 7/25

PTP/NYC, formerly known as The Potomac Theatre Project, in association with Middlebury College, presents "25 on 25", a special 25th Anniversary celebration featuring the work of Middlebury College artists. "25 on 25" takes place on Monday, July 25 at The Atlantic Stage 2, located at 330 West 16th Street between 8th & 9th Avenues in New York City. "25 on 25" begins at 1pm and runs until 11pm, and features 10 hours of readings, presentations and panel discussions of works written, directed and performed by Middlebury artists. Talkbacks with company members will follow each performance. The event is free of charge and open to the public. No reservations are required. For more information visit http://www.PotomacTheatreProject.org or email Cheryl Faraone at faraone@middlebury.edu.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

1pm
Brakeman's Light - Written by Noah Mease, directed by Rebecca Wear, with Ele Woods, Christo Grabowski, Cori Hundt and Mike Kessler.

A group of not-quite-adults in a nowhere town search for the mysterious light they may have seen in the woods when they were childhood friends.

2pm
Playing At War - Created and performed by David Malinsky.

The year is 1776. New York City. A small garrison-town is under occupation by the British Army after years of fighting amongst the City's political factions...the occupiers show a particular kindness by reopening the City's old theatre. The soldiers say their plays are for a charitable cause. But is there a more sinister purpose? And what does General George Washington think of all this?

2:45pm
House Improvements - Written by Emily Feldman, directed by Alec Strum, with Lucas Kavner, Andrew Zox, Julia Proctor, Rishabh Kashyap, Adam Milano and Sasha Hirsch.

When President Rutherford B. Hayes welcomes the first telephone to the White House, the possibilities for bringing his states and citizens closer together seem limitless. To everyone but him.

Emily Feldman's recent NYC credits include House Improvements in the Playwrights Horizons Resident Workshop and Tiny Geniuses in the 2010 NY International Fringe Festival.

3:15 pm
Matilda and the Bald Man - Written by Willie Orbison, directed by Alec Strum, with Peter B. Schmitz and Meghan Nesmith.

When Matilda wakes up in the afterlife, all she finds is a bald man.

Alec Strum is the Associate Literary Manager at Playwrights Horizons and Co-Producing Artistic Director of Down Payment Productions, for whom he recently directed the World Premiere of Daniella Shoshan's Yes We Can.

4:30pm
The Rwandans' Visit - Written by Daniel Sauermilch, directed by Michole Biancosino (Artistic Director of Project Y Theatre Company), with Aidan Sullivan, Michael Wrynn Doyle, Cassidy Freeman (Smallville) and James Matthew Ryan.

When two dysfunctional married couples at a dinner party discuss the fate of two Rwandan exchange students who disappeared earlier that day, the conversation takes a hilarious turn for the worse. A play about social class, race, and diversity, The Rwandans' Visit is a darkly comic look at what it means to be authentic.

6pm
It's Not Easy Being... - Written by Jake Jeppson, directed by Kate Pines, with Lucas Kavner, Dana Yeaton and Lily Balsen.

On the eve of a massive protest in Washington, DC, a troubled man welcomes the ghost of Jim Henson to his house to help him with a new arts and crafts project.

Jake Jeppson is in his final year of the MFA playwriting program at the Yale School of Drama. Kate Pines is the Associate Director on The Ride and Godspell on Broadway.

7:30 pm
Selections from The Marriage Play - Written and directed by John Kolvenbach (Love Song, Gizmo Love), with Alex Draper (Terrorism with New Group, Territories and Lovesong of the Electric Bear with PTP), Lynn Hawley, Lilli Stein and Mat Nakitare.

A backstage comedy about a veteran actor trying to keep his marriage from falling apart.

8:45pm
Selections from Just for Now - Written by Daphne Francesca Gil, with Vanessa Branch (Pirates of the Caribbean 1-3).

9:15pm
Selections from The Watershed Examinations - Written by Andy Mitton and Jesse Holland, with Ana Reeder (Top Girls on Broadway).

9:45 pm
Selections from The Body of an American - Written by Dan O'Brien (The Cherry Sisters Revisited, The Dear Boy, Voyage of the Carcass), directed by Christian Parker, with Alex Draper and Andrew Zox.

War reporter Paul Watson, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his photograph of a fallen American soldier in the streets of Mogadishu in 1993, has witnessed some of the most devastating scenes in modern history. As the ghosts of the tragedies he's recorded bear down on him, he crosses paths with playwright Dan O'Brien, who's battling ghosts of his own. In locations as varied as Kabul, Los Angeles, and the Canadian High Arctic, the two men form a tentative friendship in a quest for absolution.

Christian Parker is the Associate Artistic Director at the Atlantic Theater Company and the head of the MFA program in Dramaturgy at Columbia University.

10:30pm
How I Saved America - Parts 1-4 - Written and directed by Dana Yeaton.

A solo show featuring Sheyenne Brown as the young firebrand who declares her own "One-Woman March" to fix what's wrong with this damned country.

Dana Yeaton is the author of Midwives (New Voice in American Theatre Award), Mad River Rising (Moss Hart Award) and Redshirts (Helen Hayes, Best New Play Nomination). He teaches playwriting at Middlebury College.

Panels will be scheduled throughout the day.

PTP/NYC continues its 25th repertory season through July 31 at The Atlantic Stage 2. This season's Off-Broadway line-up includes: the U.S. Premiere of Howard Barker's Victory: Choices in Reaction, starring Jan Maxwell and directed by Richard Romagnoli; the U.S. Premiere of Steven Dykes' Territories, directed by Cheryl Faraone; and a revival of Neal Bell's Spatter Pattern: or, How I Got Away With It, directed by Jim Petosa. Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for students/seniors and can be purchased online at http://www.TicketCentral.com or by calling 212-279-4200.

PTP/NYC continues to redefine political theatre for the 21st century with an annual month long repertory season. The company's mandate is the presentation of highly theatrical and thought-provoking work of contemporary social and cultural relevance. In its 24 seasons the voices of PTP's writers have addressed art, pornography, AIDS, homelessness, censorship, totalitarianism, apartheid and gender wars.

PTP was founded in 1987 by the artistic team of Cheryl Faraone, Jim Petosa and Richard Romagnoli. Since moving to New York in 2007, PTP/NYC has produced 10 main stage productions and 36 late evening readings, workshops and experimental theatre pieces in their After Dark series. PTP/NYC has been the recipient of 5 NY Innovative Theatre Award nominations and their production of Howard Barker's Scenes From An Execution earned Jan Maxwell a 2009 Drama Desk nomination.

During its 20 seasons (1987-2006) in Washington DC and Maryland, the company received 7 Helen Hayes Award nominations and produced 75 main stage productions, along with numerous new play readings, late night experimental productions and a variety of ancillary events. PTP/NYC is affiliated with the Theatre Program of Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont.

 

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