Westchester Collaborative Theater Showcases Brand New Short Plays

Brand New Shorts, Westchester Collaborative Theater's (WCT) latest 10-minute play festival directed by Ossining resident Nathan Flower, associate arts professor at NYU's Tisch Drama, will run weekends from Friday, July 19 through Sunday, July 28. An eclectic mix of zany, offbeat comedy and thought-provoking drama, the production will showcase nine never seen before plays by local playwrights, all members of Westchester Collaborative Theater. Performances will be at WCT's Black Box Theater, 23 Water Street in Ossining, New York.

"This festival goes to the heart of what WCT is all about, giving audiences an opportunity to view an assortment of the wonderful plays that emerge following our intensive development and dramaturge process," says WCT Executive Director Alan Lutwin of Ossining. WCT members Donna L. White of Pleasantville and Peter Andrews of Mahopac are co-producing the show with Lutwin; Julia LaVerde of Irvington is stage manager.

Showtimes are Fridays, July 19 and 26 at 8 pm; Saturdays July 20 and 27 at 2 pm and 8 pm; and Sundays, July 21 and July 28 at 3 pm. The July 21 performance will be followed by a talk-back with the playwrights and director. Tickets are $25; $20 discount tickets are available for WCT members, students, seniors and groups of 5+. Advance online purchase is strongly recommended: https://brandnewshorts.brownpapertickets.com/

The plays are:

• Pix by Peter Andrews - Choosing pictures from a photoshoot provides the opportunity to heal old wounds.
• Which Wildflower Are You? by Linda Bidwell Delaney - Meet Sam, an identity consultant for social media, who can resolve everything from job interview jitters to unrequited love with just a few short quizzes.
• Sunday in the Park with Will by Ed Friedman - A young woman tries to protect her family.
• Perspective by Albi Gorn - A married couple can't agree on anything, including reality.
• Viable by Stephen Hersh - A nightshift morgue worker wakes his wife with breaking news and a curious keepsake of a freshly dead celebrity.
• Alfred and Lily and their Marvelous Tank in the Forest by Tara Meddaugh - Moved to a mysterious tank in the woods, frogs Alfred and Lily must decide whether to trust their new benefactors or attempt a speedy escape.
• Daniel by Evelyn Mertens -A couple soul searches when forced to confront a decision that will irrevocably change their lives forever.
• All Life's a Zoo by Pat O'Neill - A donkey, a ferret, a goose, and burnt falafel dripping down the wall. Just another day in paradise.
• My Brother's Keeper by Misha T. Sinclair - Family bonds are tested when two brothers make a choice between self-preservation or being their brother's keeper.

Local actors and their hometowns include: Roberta Robinson, Somers; Maria Oppedisano, Harrison; Dimitri Dewes Jr., Nyack; Susan Ward, Ossining; Kurt Lauer, Beacon; Steve Allen, Suffern; Donna James, Ossining; and Missy Flower, Ossining.

This is Nathan Flower's fourth project with WCT. He has worked Off-Broadway, nationally and internationally, including: Shanghai Theatre Academy, BAM, Judson Church, Crossroads Theater, Center for Performance Research, Classic Stage Company, The Acting Company, Aquila Theatre Co, the Shakespeare Festival in Neuss-Germany, and the Festival at Syros-Greece. Flower is the associate chair of the Department of Drama at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. He teaches movement training throughout the country and across New York City (terryknickerbockerstudio.com) and was recently a guest teaching and directing artist at the Winter Theater Institute in Shanghai, China.

Westchester Collaborative Theater is a multicultural, cooperative theater company located in Ossining, NY, dedicated to developing new work for the stage and bringing live theater to the community. It is comprised of local playwrights, actors, and directors who employ a Lab approach in which new stage works are nurtured through an iterative process of readings, critiques, and rewrites. When work is ready for production, it is presented to the public at its new theater space.

WCT is committed to furthering theater arts in our community. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation and a recipient of production grants from ArtsWestchester and New York State Council on the Arts.

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