NEW YORK CITY: 59E59 Theaters has announced its fall and winter 2015 lineup of shows, presenting productions from numerous not-for-profit theatres and ensembles around the country. On the roster includes I and You by Lauren Gunderson, from Merrimack Repertory Theatre; Ideation by Aaron Loeb from San Francisco Playhouse; and an evening of Tennessee Williams short plays.
Opening the season will be DESIRE An evening of Plays Based on Six Stories by Tennessee Williams, adaptations of six Williams short stories by John Guare, Beth Henley, Marcus Gardley, Rebecca Gilman, David Grimm, and Elizabeth Egloff (Sept. 2–Oct. 11). Michael Wilson will direct; the cast will include Kristen Adele, Megan Bartle, Juliet Brett, Brian Cross, Liv Rooth, John Skelley, Derek Smith, Mickey Theis, and Yaegel T. Welch.
Fishamble: The New Play Company‘s production of Little Thing, Big Thing by Donal O’Kelly will be next (Sept. 2–27). The play follows an ex-con and a nun (played by Sorcha Fox and O’Kelly), who get involved in the world of international energy skullduggery.
Following will be Gúna Nua Theatre Company and Ramblin Man‘s production of Pondling, written and performed by Genevieve Hulme-Beaman (Sept. 8–Oct. 4). The play, which won Hulme-Beaman the Best Actress Award at the 2013 Dublin Fringe, tells the story of a girl with a big imagination growing up in rural Ireland.
Next is PLEASE EXCUSE MY DEAR AUNT SALLY by Kevin Armento (Sept. 30–Oct. 24), from One Year Lease Theater Company, about a taboo affair between a high school math teacher and a student.
Monk Parrot‘s production of Welcome to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, by Like Leonard, Katie PEral and Peter Stopschinski, will follow (Oct.8–25). This dark musical comedy looks at the barriers between genders and cultures through the lives of American expatriates in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
Following that will be Songbird, a musical adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull (Oct. 20–Nov. 29). Songbird, with a book by Michael Kimmel and music and lyrics by Lauren Pritchard, will be presented by special association with Less Than Rent Theatre. It is also produced by Allison Bressi and Diana Buckhantz. The cast will include Ephie Aardema, Kate Baldwin, Erin Dilly, Adam Cochran, Kacie Sheik, and Andy Taylor.
Mark Thomas makes his American debut with his one-man show Cuckooed (Oct. 29–Nov. 1). The show, a true story, tells about Thomas’s discovery that his close friend has been spying on him for Britain’s largest arms dealer. Cuckooed is produced by All for One.
Next, 59E59 will present Scripts Up!’s production of Widow of Tom’s Hill by Aleks Merilo (Oct. 29– Nov. 15). The play takes place in a small American town that is put under armed quarantine during the 1918 influenza pandemic. Rachel Black Spaulding will direct.
Following will be Gluten!, written and directed by Stephen Kaliski (Nov. 19–Dec. 5). It tells the story of a couple who are desperate to find a way to have a baby. Gluten! is produced by Adjusted Realists and will feature Roger Manix, Jeremiah Maestas, Maggie Low, and Shawna Cormier in the cast.
Ground UP Productions will produce H2O by Jane Martin (Nov. 2–Dec. 13). The play follows a movie star, who is casted in a Broadway production of Hamlet and whose Ophelia turns out to be an evangelical Christian. The cast will include Diane Mair and Alex Podulke.
Next will be Al Dente Productions’ How Alfo Learned to Love by Vincent Amelio (Dec. 16–Jan. 3), which tells the story of Alfo, whose late grandfather is helping him learn to find love. The production will be directed by Brad Raimondo and feature actors Mike Basile, Joanna Bonaro, Kelli K. Barnett, Armen Garo, Elaine Del Valle, Robert Funaro, Sylvie Preston, and Christian Thom.
The new year will open with Merrimack Repertory Theatre’s production of I and You by Gunderson (Jan. 19–Feb. 28, 2016). The two-hander follows two teenagers, a girl and a boy, as they work through a Walt Whitman homework assignment.
The final show that has been announced is Ideation by Loeb (March 5–April 7), produced by San Francisco Playhouse. The dark comedy follows a group of corporate consultants work together on a mysterious and ethically ambiguous project. The cast will include Carrie Paff, Mark Anderson Phillips, and Michael Ray Wisely.
