The Resident Acting Company Announces Fall 2022 Benefit Series at The Players

The Resident Acting Company, formed four years ago by the actors of the Pearl Theater Company, recently announced their fall lineup for 2022. They will be presenting three Script In Hand Performances at the historic Players Club on Gramercy Park in New York City, followed by a benefit event in January.

The Resident Acting Company is known for presentations of classics as well as new plays that are somehow rooted in the tradition of the classics. Each evening will offer a cash bar at 6PM with a live piano player, and then a performance at 7PM. The company says that the purpose of this series is to raise enough money to mount a full production.

The RAC launched a GoFundMe campaign a few weeks ago and intends to raise $100,000 by March 1st, 2023.

Things kick off with A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare on September 19th.

Artistic Director Bradford Cover, who is directing, says, "What could be more fun than this play? We've got some very beautiful poetry, magic potions, fairies, lovers, and an amateur theatre group rehearsing a play! I think it's time to have some fun."

The second evening on the schedule is a performance of Sonnets For An Old Century - Written and Directed by José Rivera on October 17th. Rivera is known for being nominated for an Oscar for best adapted screenplay of The Motorcycle Diaries in 2005, making him the first Puerto Rican writer nominated for an Academy Award. He co-created and produced "Eerie, Indiana," (NBC) and was a staff writer on "Penny Dreadful: City of Angels" (Showtime). He has written 16 episodes of the upcoming Netflix series based on One Hundred Years of Solitude. He was a Fulbright Arts Fellow and Rockefeller Grant recipient. Rivera is also an accomplished playwright, and will give a talk following the performance.

The final show in this series will be Macbeth by William Shakespeare on November 21st. Cover says, "I have been reading and working on this play for many years, and I think it is time for The RAC to put it on its feet. The language contains such power and elegance, while also having the ability to make you jump out of your seat. Whenever I hear the lines spoken the hairs on my arms stand up a little."

Casting for these shows will be announced in the coming weeks.

The Resident Acting Company will cap things off on January 23rd with a special benefit party at The Players Club. It is named the RAC Poetry Smack Down Party, and will celebrate poetry and language. There will be performances, a live band, a raffle, and other activities. More details to be announced. Tickets go on sale soon.

Although The Players is a private club, it will be open to ticket buyers for all these events. The club was founded by Edwin Booth, with the help of Mark Twain and others, in 1888, as a place for actors and lovers of the arts to congregate.

To post a comment, you must register and login.