Project Y Launches Its Inaugural NEW YORK NEW PLAYWRIGHT FESTIVAL

Project Y Theatre Company (Andrew Smith and Michole Biancosino, Co-Artistic Directors) is proud to present the NEW YORK NEW PLAYWRIGHT FESTIVAL, a one week festival of three new plays by three exciting new playwrights. Running from Monday, October 10 - Sunday, October 16, the festival features HOW. WHAT. NOW, written and performed by Michael Warner and directed by Campbell Scott; GIDION'S KNOT, written by Johnna Adams and directed by Michole Biancosino; and I'M FROM DRIFTWOOD, a new stage adaptation of stories from the newly published book, edited by Nathan Manske and directed by Luke Harlan.

The NEW YORK NEW PLAYWRIGHT FESTIVAL takes place at Access Theater (380 Broadway at White Street in Tribeca). Tickets are $15 for advanced ticket purchase and $20 at the door and can be purchased through Brown Paper Tickets at www.brownpapertickets.com.

The festival presents "an incredible mix of strikingly engaging and diverse plays" says Co-Artistic Director Andrew Smith. "Project Y hopes to support these new playwright voices and give them the opportunity to see their plays on their feet with professional actors and a supportive audience," adds Co-Artistic Director Michole Biancosino. "We are excited to give these new plays the space to come alive, and these playwrights the chance to grow."

HOW. WHAT. NOW., written by and performed by Michael Warner and directed by Campbell Scott
Monday, October 10th at 7:30pm, Wednesday, October 12th at 8pm, and Saturday, October 15th at 7pm
A wildly funny look at a sobering situation, HOW. WHAT. NOW. Is the story of recovery. It is through the prism of alcohol and drug recovery, however, as playwright/performer Michael Warner describes, "everyone is recovering from something." An official selection of the 2011 New York Fringe Festival, it was performed at The Williamstown Theater Festival as a part of its Fridays @3 Reading Series last summer.

Michael Warner is both an actor and playwright who has appeared on TV, Film, and the stage including most recently Engaging Shaw (Old Globe) and Arthur Kopit's Wings (Second Stage).

Campbell Scott has made over 50 appearances in Film and TV including Rodger Dodger (National Board of Review-Best Actor), The Secret Lives of Dentists, Singles, Dying Young, The Sheltering Sky, among many others. Theater appearances include Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in many of the great Regional Theaters in the country.

GIDION'S KNOT, written by Johnna Adams, directed by Michole Biancosino.
With Lisa Velten-Smith and Amy Lynn Stewart
Tuesday, October 11 at 7:30pm, Thursday, October 13 at 8pm, and Sunday, October 16 at 3pm.
GIDION'S KNOT offers a fly-on-the-wall perspective of a conference between a mother and a teacher discussing an 11-year-old boy who is being bullied. A devastating new play that asks, "who is ultimately responsible for the actions of children?"

Johnna Adams is a recent Princess Grace Award recipient. Her play Sans Merci was the 2008-2009 Reva Shiner Award winner, and was produced by the Bloomington Playwrights Project in October of 2008. Johnna's plays have been read or produced by theatres all over the country, including The Alliance Theatre Lab (Miami, FL), The New Group (New York, NY), and Flux Theatre Ensemble (New York, NY).

I'M FROM DRIFTWOOD adapted by Nathan Manske, directed by Luke Harlan
Friday, October 14th at 8pm and Saturday, October 15th at 9pm
Both a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and online community, I'M FROM DRIFTWOOD (IFD) collects and shares first-person LGBTQ stories from all different communities, cultures, races and backgrounds to send a simple yet life-saving message to queer youth around the globe: You Are Not Alone. The IFD Theater Project is an experiment in taking these stories and creating a live theatrical event: an intersection of wildly different experiences and beliefs, a snapshot of queer life across the country and the world. These humorous, courageous, and incredibly heartfelt stories will be brought to life by an ensemble of actors.

Nathan Manske is the Founder and Executive Director of ImFromDriftwood.com. In the Fall of 2010 he embarked on a 50-state Story Tour collecting stories from towns and cities across the country. Having already amassed an impressive number of written and video stories since I'm From Driftwood's inception, Manske hopes to tell the queer community's stories in other formats, such as podcasts, live readings, Theater Productions and television.

 

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