Stage Left Studio Kicks Off 2014 WOMEN AT WORK Festival Today

Cheryl King, Artistic Director at Stage Left Studio, announces the line-up for the 9th Annual Women at Work Festival, a benefit for the Girl Effect, taking place at Stage Left Studio, today, September 17-27, 2014.

This year's festival features authors Audra Lord, Allison Flom, Malia Nicolini, Annette Guarrasi, Don Nigro, Ronna Levy, Alisa Zebrina, Cheryl Smallman, Adriana Jones and Tim Collins.

With one or two shows on weeknights, and matinee and evening shows on the weekends, this festival has something to offer everyone. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Senior and student discounts are available (ID required at door). For more info or tickets, visit www.stageleftstudio.net.

The schedule includes two sets of multi-shows: Allison Flom's Everything is White, My Lips are Sealed, by Malia Nicolini and Annette Guarrasi's "It Ain't Pretty; and Alisa Zebrina's American Tour Guide paired with Cheryl Smallman's "Dreamless".

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SEPTEMBER 17 AT 7:30 PM AND SEPTEMBER 20 AT 8:30 PM

This is not the End, a staged reading

Written by Audra Lord, directed by JK Musser

Performed by Jonny Maldonado, Tyler Altomari, Stephanie Bunch, Django Palty and KC Weakley

"I just hope you never forget. To look up." At Brio Shelter and Resort, spacious lounges, fitness centers and sleek bars are engineered to withstand the worst that man or nature can dish out. But does this underground haven harbor victims, or survivors? Which side of the door would you rather be on? Running time: 60m

SEPTEMBER 18 AND 21 AT 7:30 PM

THREE SOLO SHOWS BY ALLISON FLOM, MALIA NICOLINI, AND ANNETTE GUARRASI

Everything is White

Written and performed by Allison Flom

EVERYTHING IS WHITE is a one-woman show that deals with the social construction of mental illness in a society that claims to value difference. The play is set in a support circle at a mental institution, where various patients engage in a storytelling activity, highly mediated by a condescending psychologist. The actress plays six drastically different characters, all of which were carefully constructed through research, interviews, and weeks of editing in Matt Hoverman's Solo Show class. This show is a continuation of a project that I began three years ago, and I feel strongly that it embodies ideas, issues, and voices that need to be shared through the endlessly powerful medium of solo performance. Running time: 23m

My Lips Are Sealed

Written and performed by Malia'Kekia Nicolini, directed by Mark Della Ventura

China the Vagina Whisper is back this year at the 17th Annual Gathering of the Birds and the Bees Conference. Through her workshop we discover that she is just as fragile as the patients she helps. China doesn't know all the answers but what she might know is a key for further understanding. Running time: 20m

"It Ain't Pretty"

Written and performed by Annette Guarrasi, directed by Nina Morrison

Anna Lee knows what she wants, but while she comes to terms with pregnancy, it ain't pretty. Running time: 30m

SEPTEMBER 19 AND 25 AT 7:30 PM

Marina

Written by Don Nigro, Directed by Ivette Dumeng

Performed by Tatyana Kot

"Marina Tsvetayeva, a complex and compelling woman and one of the greatest of Russian poets, a creative soul who gets caught up in and ultimately destroyed by the violent political upheavals of the early twentieth century."
Nytheatre.com has called Tatyana Kot "a truly formidable presence". Running time: 45m

SEPTEMBER 20 AT 6:30 PM AND SEPTEMBER 27 AT 9 PM

'This Gonna Be on the Test, Miss?'

Written and performed by Ronna Levy, directed by Kel Haney

"'This Gonna Be on the Test, Miss?" is a solo show based on Ronna's 20 years teaching remedial English in community college classrooms both in Los Angeles and Brooklyn. Ronna presents her real classroom situations and characterizations of the academically underprepared socio-economically disadvantaged students who are often misunderstood, depicted as ghetto characters, or just plain ignored. This show gives a voice to an adult student population that is virtually voiceless and makes visible an academic environment that is virtually unknown, through stories not of statistics and caricatures, but of real students, real lives. Running time: 60m

SEPTEMBER 21 AT 5 PM AND SEPTEMBER 27 AT 7 PM

TWO SOLO SHOWS BY ALISA ZEBRINA AND CHERYL SMALLMAN

American Tour Guide - a monologue from "Other"

Written and performed by Alisa Zebrina

American Tour Guide is taken from Alisa Zebrina's semi autobiographical larger work in progress , Other. ATG satirically explores racism and cultural affirmations through the eyes of a white "liberal" artistic director. Running time: 15m

Dreamless

Written and performed by Cheryl Smallman, Directed by Cheryl King

Dreamless is a comedy about the "tragedies" of motherhood. "I can't recommend this one woman show highly enough. Hilarious, Poignant,Tragic and Triumphant". Denis Hamill, The Daily News Running time: 50m

SEPTEMBER 22 AT 7:30 PM AND SEPTEMBER 26 AT 9 PM

An Anonymous Contributor

Written and performed by Adriana Jones, directed by Christine Zagrobelni

She's the most prolific writer you've never heard of. She's written hundreds of papers, but her name won't be found on a single one. At turns darkly comic and piercingly vulnerable, An Anonymous Contributor is a richly imagined journey into the morally ambiguous world of an academic ghostwriter. Running time: 50m

SEPTEMBER 26 AT 7 PM

THE SCRIPT, a one-man show about Sexual Assault

Written and performed by Tim Collins

A one-man show that depicts four young men at the "edge of an incident"-- a female classmate has been involved in an episode of sexual assault. Over the course of this electrifying and timely play, the four characters grapple with their attitudes and beliefs about gender roles, sexuality, and relationships, making dramatic choices that forever change their friendships and lives. Winner of the "Best Educational Piece" Award at the 2013 United Solo Theater Festival, NYC. Running time: 50m

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