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| Playwrights Kate Cortesi, Brenda Withers, Emily Zemba Announce Details for THE POOL, 3 New Plays in Rep Nov 1-20 at New Ohio Theatre | |
| Posted by: Official_Press_Release 04:39 pm EDT 09/29/21 | |
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| PLAYWRIGHTS KATE CORTESI, BRENDA WITHERS, AND EMILY ZEMBA ANNOUNCE DETAILS FOR THE POOL Artist-Led, Pop-Up Theater Company Presents Three Bold New Plays Running in Rep November 1-20 at New Ohio Theatre Playwrights Kate Cortesi, Brenda Withers, Emily Zemba, and producer victor cervantes jr. are pleased to announce details for the 2021 edition of The Pool, a temporary consortium of playwrights producing their own plays in rep at the New Ohio Theatre from November 1-20, 2021. The Pool's vision is to create a sustainable model where playwrights lead their own processes and by-pass the slow gatekeeping of institutional American theater. Cortesi, Withers, and Zemba inherited this pop-up theater company from The Pool's founders, Susan Bernfield, Lynn Rosen, and Peter Gil-Sheridan, who produced their own plays at The Flea in 2017. Sliding scale tickets for the 2021 edition are now on sale at www.thepoolplays. org . The 2021 edition of The Pool includes the World Premiere of Is Edward Snowden Single? by Kate Cortesi and directed by Kate Bergstrom; the New York Premiere of The Ding Dongs, or What is the Penalty in Portugal? by Brenda Withers and directed by Daisy Walker; and the World Premiere of Superstitions by Emily Zemba and directed by Jenna Worsham. The Pool is an Equity Approved Showcase. The acting company for The Pool includes Celeste Arias*, Latoya Edwards*, Jonathan Fielding*, Rebecca S'Manga Frank*, Nicholas Gorham, David Greenspan*, Iliana Guibert*, Rebecca Jimenez, Elise Kibler*, Robert Kropf*, Brian Miskell*, Ricardo Vázquez*, Naren Weiss*, and Brenda Withers*. The artist-led production model of The Pool puts playwrights at the helm of the producing process. Once the 2021 edition of The Pool has closed, the playwrights will pass the company onto another cohort of writers. At a time when theater makers are asking not just IF they can return to work in person but HOW, The Pool offers an empowering, sustainable model that centers artists and their vision. "In 2003, our heroes at the great 13P came together and said: we don't develop plays, we do them. We hear that as a call to action," playwrights Cortesi, Withers, and Zemba commented. "The three of us envision a theater where playwrights guide our own processes and speak directly to audiences with immediacy and integrity. You don't need permission to make your art. All you need is a fierce community and the will to do it. So, we're doing it. As producers, we are honored to support our peers' visions. As playwrights, we're ready to get to work. It's hard to exaggerate how profound it feels, in 2021, to say, 'rehearsal starts in October.' The Pool is a proud testament to our belief in each other's work and our own." The creative team for The Pool includes scenography design by Masha Tsimring & Tuçe Yasak, sound design by Brian Hickey, costume design by Riw Rakkulchon, and props design by Vinny Mraz. The three plays in The Pool run in rep from November 1-20 at the New Ohio Theatre, located at 154 Christopher Street in Manhattan. Critics are welcome as of November 5 for an official opening on Sunday, November 7. The Pool is all about expanding access to the stage, for artists and audiences alike. Sliding scale tickets starting at $5 can be purchased at www.thepoolplays.org or by calling OvationTix at 212-352-3101. A $75 Pool Plays Pass includes reserved seating to all three productions. Standard ticketing fees apply. The Pool will require proof of full vaccination for all artists and audience members for these in-person performances. Masks and/or CDC-recommended face coverings will be required for audiences and employees inside the theater at all times. Details on each production of the 2021 edition of The Pool, along with a complete performance schedule can be found at www.thepoolplays.org . The Pool is made possible by the generous support of The Venturous Theater Fund of Tides Foundation; the Artists Patron Fund; the City Artists Corps Grant from New York Foundation For The Arts and The New York City Department Of Cultural Affairs; the Trinity Rep Launch Grant; and the Bret Adams and Paul Reisch Foundation. About The Pool Plays and Performance Schedule Is Edward Snowden Single? By Kate Cortesi Directed by Kate Bergstrom Featuring Rebecca S'Manga Frank*, Elise Kibler*, and Brian Miskell* November 4, 6, 7, 12, 19 at 8pm; November 10, 14, 17 at 2pm, November 20 at 5pm Much like the U.S. government, a pair of interracial BFFs find themselves in a crisis of integrity. Two virtuosic actresses play all nineteen roles in this volcanic comedy about pretty lies, ugly truths, and the complications of sisterhood. The Ding Dongs or What is the Penalty in Portugal? By Brenda Withers Directed by Daisy Walker Featuring Jonathan Fielding*, Robert Kropf*, and Brenda Withers* November 3, 5, 10, 13, 15, 18 at 8pm; November 7, 12 at 5pm; November 20 at 2pm When a sweet-faced couple shows up on a suburban doorstep, an unsuspecting homeowner finds himself the victim of a surreal home invasion. An offbeat look at the cycle of violence that fuels our system of private property. Superstitions By Emily Zemba Directed by Jenna Worsham Featuring Celeste Arias*, Latoya Edwards*, Nicholas Gorham, David Greenspan*, Iliana Guibert*, Rebecca Jimenez, Ricardo Vázquez*, and Naren Weiss* November 1, 11, 14, 17, 20 at 8pm; November 5, 19 at 5pm; November 7, 13 at 2pm A stranger finds a penny on the ground, unleashing an absurd day of unsettling interactions, puzzling connections, and plain bad luck. An ensemble cast of eight navigates personal and national terrors in this unconventional dark comedy about what happens when we believe in the unknown. *Equity Member appearing with the permission of Actor's Equity Association without the benefit of an Equity contract in this Off-Off Broadway production. About the Artists Kate Cortesi (playwright, Is Edward Snowden Single?) is a Brooklyn and Boston based playwright from Washington, D.C who writes about women, young people, liars, and the American psyche. Full-length plays include Great Kills (Princess Grace Award), A Patron of the Arts (Cherry Lane Theatre Mentor Project), ONE MORE LESS (NYFA award, Relentless Award finalist, Playwrights Horizons New Works Lab), Love (Sky Cooper New American Play Prize, Marin Theatre Company, Ojai Playwrights Conference, Kilroys List) and Is Edward Snowden Single? (The Jungle Theater, Single Carrot Theatre, Dorset Theatre Festival, The Pool). This past year, Cortesi wrote two quarantine theater works: an audio play called Radio Nowhere, produced by Keen Company, directed by Taylor Reynolds, starring George Salazar, and a short monologue play called "I love parties," which raised money for The Homebound Project and went on to win first place in the 2021 Hear Me Out Monologue Competition. Commissions from Playwrights Horizons, Keen Company and South Coast Rep. Cortesi is a resident playwright at New Dramatists, a Huntington Playwriting Fellow, and a New Georges Affiliated Artist. www.katecortesi.com Brenda Withers (playwright, The Ding Dongs or What is the Penalty in Portugal?) is a writer, actor, and co-founder of the Harbor Stage Company (The Kritik, DinDin). Her full-length plays include The Lodger, JORDAN (Northern Stage), String Around My Finger (Portland Stage, Clauder Grand Prize), Northside Hollow (Amphibian Stage, Urbanite Theatre), Cyrano (Hudson Valley Shakespeare, Two River, Gloucester Stage) and Matt & Ben. She has enjoyed fellowships and residencies with the Huntington, the Camargo Foundation, and New Georges and had her work developed at places like Hudson Stage Company, Firelight Theatre Workshop, Juvenilia, and Square Product Theatre . She studied theater and religion at Dartmouth College. www.bwithers.com Emily Zemba (playwright, Superstitions) is a playwright, screenwriter, and occasional puppeteer. Her full-length plays include: Deer and the Lovers (First Floor Theater), Clockwork (Local Lab), On Loss and Mice and Monsters and Love (LPAC),and Have You Been There? (Rattlestick F*ck!ng Good Plays Festival);. She has developed work with: Boston Court Pasadena, Local Theater, Rattlestick Theater, Ars Nova's ANT Fest, Exquisite Corpse Company, Great Plains Theater Conference, The Adam Mickiewicz Institute (Poland), and Williamstown Prof. Training Company. Commissions & Memberships: Theater Masters Visionary Playwright Commission, Two River Theater Emerging Playwright. Zemba is an affiliated artist with The Playwrights Center, New Georges, and she is currently developing a play with Society Theatre Company. Zemba and collaborator Emma Wiseman's short film Out Of Office was an official selection of the 2021 Chattanooga Film Festival. MFA: Yale School of Drama. www.emilyzemba.com Kate Bergstrom (director, Is Edward Snowden Single?) Recent: Brilliant Mind by Denmo Ibrahim, Noura by Heather Raffo (Marin Theatre Co.), A Christmas Carol (Trinity Rep.), The Absentee by Julia Doolittle (Know Theatre). Affiliated Artist at Ojai Playwrights Conference, New Georges, and Marin Theatre Company. UPCOMING: The 39 Steps (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis), Letters That You Will Not Get (American Opera Projects). Central Coast BroadwayWorld's 2017 Best Director. Founding Artistic Director, On The Verge Festival. www.katebergstrom.com Daisy Walker (director, The Ding Dongs or What is the Penalty in Portugal?) has directed around the country including La Jolla Playhouse, The Guthrie Theater Lab, Keen Company, Classic Stage Company, Berkshire Theatre Group, New Georges, Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater, Harbor Stage Company, Payomet PAC, Cape Rep, Adirondack Theatre Festival, and others. She has directed new work by artists such as Kristoffer Diaz, Duncan Sheik, David Auburn, Boo Killebrew, Jimmy Tingle, Emily Zemba, Eric Lane, Courtney Baron, Julia Jordan, and Melanie Marnich. For the past three years, Walker served as Executive Artistic Director of Theater Masters. Favorite Assistant Director credits: Jersey Boys Broadway, National Tour, and Regional productions, Aaron Sorkin's The Farnsworth Invention and Sinatra, His Voice, His World, His Way at Radio City Music Hall. Usual Suspect NYTW. Affiliated Artist New Georges. MFA from UCSD. Jenna Worsham (director, Superstitions). Upcoming: At the Wedding by Bryna Turner (Lincoln Center Theater). Recent: The Siblings Play by Ren Dara Santiago (Rattlestick); Summer's Soldier by Boo Killebrew (Williamstown); The Climb by C.A. Johnson (Cherry Lane); Our Town for Pride Plays; AGNES by Catya McMullen (59E59 Theaters, NY Times Critics' Pick); Amy Herzog's Belleville (Pasadena Playhouse); Street Children (Vertigo Theater, NY Times Critics' Pick). 2019 O'Neill National Directing Fellow, Williamstown's 2017 Drama League & Sagal Fellow, and recipient of MTC's Jonathan Alper Award. Broadway: The Heidi Chronicles; The Parisian Woman; Picnic. Co-creator of The Homebound Project, and co-founder of Creative Solutions at SPACE on Ryder Farm. https://jenna-worsham-stage-director.squarespace.com/ victor cervantes jr. (producer) is a theater maker, educator, and community organizer from Phoenix, AZ. He aims to support and uplift BIPOC Queer and Trans artists and stories to more visible platforms, and to reach communities that have been pushed to the margins. Recently, he was the Creative Producer for The Homebound Project, a fundraiser for No Kid Hungry that raised over $150,000 during the COVID pandemic. He is the former Associate Producer at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater (Season 23 + 24), former Co-Artistic Producer of Middle Voice at Rattlestick (the apprentice company of Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, from 2013 - 2018). Awards + Acclaims: Arthur Laurents Centennial Grant Recipient, Greenhouse Residency at SPACE on Ryder Farm, 3-Time NYTimes Critics' Pick. 1st-Gen. College Graduate: BFA NYU/Tisch, Lee Strasberg Centennial Scholar + Martin Luther King Jr. Scholar. |
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| Link | http://www.thepoolplays.org |
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