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Presentations Past
Linda Kuriloff
An Interview with Linda Kuriloff
Writer and Performer of Marcia's Words
based on interviews with Marcia A. Richard
Stu Richel


An Interview with Stu Richel
Writer and Performer of Vietnam...through my lens
Love Letters from the Cold War
Nikita Krushchev and John F. Kennedy meet in
                  Vienna in 1961by Joseph Ryan
Khrushchev and Kennedy on the brink of the end of
 the world told through their personal letters.


Directed by
Frank Kuhn

Featuring
Jed Peterson ~ Elisabeth Ahrens ~ Sam Kitchin

Musical Arrangements by Jonathan Allentoff
Video Arrangement by Alex Roe

Aired 12/25/22
Talkback: The Sea Lady
Join a talkback with Neith Boyce's biographer
Carol DeBoer-Langworthy and director Alex Roe.





Aired 10/9/2022
Artist Interview: The Sea Lady
Join the cast and director of The Sea Lady for
a window into the process.

Dexter McKinney II ~ Laura Pruden ~ Alex Roe



Aired 10/1/22
Artist Interview:
East Side Stories, Actually


Join the playwrights and director of East Side Stories, Actually
for a peek into the process!
Rachael Langton ~ Tom Lavagnino ~ Natalina Lopez
Christian Missonak ~ Bara Swain ~ Jonathon Ward





Aired 5/23/22
The Moon is DownThe Moon is Down
by John Steinbeck
Benefit Reading for


 Directed by Alex Roe

Featuring
David L. Carson ~ Erwin Falcon ~ Andrew Firda ~ David Fraioli ~ Ian Gould ~ Jeffrey Grover ~ Michael Hardart ~ Cynthia Hewett ~ Bonita Jackson
David Murray Jaffe ~ Brandt Johnson ~ Beethovan Oden
Jammie Patton ~ Alex Roe ~ Zenon Zeleniuch

Graphic Art by Medusa Studio

Benefit Reading of
The Moon is Down raised over $4000 for
Direct Relief,
providing aid in Ukraine and the region.

Aired April 23 & 24
EpisodeEpisode
by Eulalie Spence
with post-show talk by
Jennifer Burton, PhD
and

Monica White Ndounou, PhD

Newlyweds Mamie and Jim Jackson have a
fine apartment and a happy marriage
if only Jim would stay in more and go out less.
But when he finds a new passion to keep him at home,
she finds she might have to be more careful what she wishes for.

Directed by
Linda Kuriloff

Featuring
Léoh Hailu-Ghermay, SJ Hannah, Eliott Charles Johnson
Monique Paige
, Rahmell Peebles, Marlaina Powell

Aired 2/12/22
A Christmas StockingA Christmas Stocking
Three Tales Well-Told by
Michèle LaRue
“A Christmas Sing in Our Village,” by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman (1898)
“Their Dear Little Ghost,” by Elia W. Peattie (1895)
An excerpt from Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott

Aired 12/18/21
Sea LadyThe Sea Lady
by Neith Boyce
with post-show talk by
Carol De-Boer Langworthy, PhD
Directed by Alex Roe

Featuring
Elisabeth Ahrens ~ Kevin Bernard ~ Bryson Bruce ~ Matt Daniels ~ Sidney Fortner
Erin Leigh Schmoyer ~ DeAnna Supplee ~ David Murray Jaffe ~ Brad Makarowski
Florence Marcisak ~ Kim Yancey Moore ~ Kendall Rileigh ~ Colin Wulff

Post-Show Commentary by
Carol DeBoer-Langworthy, PhD
Senior Lecturer, Nonfiction Writing Program, Brown University
at work on a literary biography of Neith Boyce

Graphic Art by Medusa Studio

Aired 12/11/21
 
Leadlights Ensemble
Live Onstage at Metropolitan Playhouse






11/15/21

An Interview with DW Gregory
An interview with DW Gregory,
Radium Girls playwright

An Interview
An interview with actors and the director
of DW Gregory's Radium Girls
in honor of its long-delayed arrival on the Metropolitan stage
With Olivia Killingsworth, Laura Livingston,
Kyle Maxwell, and Alex Roe

A Year and a Half in Review
Alex Roe on Making Theater on a Virtual Stage
excerpted from the Eugene O'Neill Society's Panel
for the American Literature Association  Conference
July 8 - 11, 2021

My Wife's MirrorMy Wife's Mirror
by Edward G. P. Wilkins

with post-show talk by
Shane Breaux, PhD

When Susan Racket's five-days new husband reveals vices
that had been hidden during their courtship,
only by adopting the manner of the Devil can she reform him.
Imitation proves no form of flattery at all.

Directed by
Alex Roe
With Andrew Firda, Charles Jeffries, Greta Quispe,
David Logan Rankin, and Barbra Wengerd

Artwork by Medusa Studios

Aired 6/26/21
East Side Stories: UnmaskedEast Side Stories Unmasked
Stick Around

The Second in a Two-Night Festival
Celebrating the Life and Lore of the
Lower East Side
Izzy Sticks With It
by Rex McGregor

Ava Astor meets a vocal young Irving Berlin
on a sidewalk of New York


Directed by Michael Hardart
With Aidan Eastwood, Jamahl Garrison-Lowe,
Michelle Geisler, Sarah Hankins

Artwork by Jason Simms


Carmen Pabon, Presente!
by Nina Howes
Reflections from the Life and Works of
the "Social Worker from the Lord" 

Directed by Gloria Zelaya
with
Marisol Carrere

Aired 6/19/21


East Side Stories: UnmaskedEast Side Stories Unmasked
Welcome to the Neighborhood

The First in a Two-Night Festival
Celebrating the Life and Lore of the
Lower East Side
The Tall Blonde with the Toy Giraffe
By Armand Ruhlman
A dark and sultry night at Avenue B and East 9th.

Directed by Rachael Langton
With Amanda Jones, Michael A. Jones, and Jed Peterson

Art by James Romberger

Poppyseed
By Michael Dinwiddie
The Ninth St Bakery in the 1976. Welcome home.

Directed by
Linda Kuriloff
With Adrian Baidoo and Rosina Fernhoff

aired 6/12/21

Together, Apart
A Benefit for MetropolitanTogether, Apart

Two Plays by Peter Sagal

with special guest
Peter Sagal
host of NPR's Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me
Directed by
Alex Roe

With Elisabeth Ahrens, John D. McNally,
Michael Turner

Tucker McCrady & Julie Pham

Aired 5/22/21
Her Opinion of His StoryHer Opinion of His Story
by William Dean Howells

with special guest speaker
Brenda Murphy, PhD
Professor Emerita at University of Connecticut

In this comedy of manner and misguided courtship,
the only thing that matters more than her opinion of him
is her opinion of his story


Directed by John Long

With Whitney Andrews Wendy Merritt, and
Benjamin Russell

Artwork by Martha O'Connell

Aired 5/15/21
TriflesCareful What You Wish For
by Susan Glaspell

post-show talk by
Linda Ben Zvi, PhD

professor emerita of Colorado State University and
Tel Aviv University

As a death at a remote, Midwestern farmhouse is investigated by
a sheriff, a neighbor, and an ambitious attorney,
their wives are charged with tidying up the kitchen.
As they do, household "trifles" literally bring to hand the
who, what, and why of a bitter domestic conflict, a passionate crime.
But will the truth need to come out?

Directed by Laura Livingston

With Quinlan Corbett, Michael Durkin, Anne Fizzard,
Susanna Frazer, Peter Tedeschi

Graphic Art by Pamela Lawton and Danny Licul

Aired 5/9/21
Careful What You Wish ForCareful What You Wish For
Two Tales Well Told
by Michèle LaRue

with post-show talk by
Heather Ostman, PhD
State University of New York: Westchester Community College
President of The Kate Chopin International Society


Michèle LaRue returns to the Playhouse—this time with a pair of vintage Tales Well Told:
 
Careful What You Wish For is an unlikely pairing of offerings
by humorist O. Henry

(author of “The Ransom of Red Chief” and about 400 other stories)
and Kate Chopin (best known for her feminist novel The Awakening).

 
In  “The Rathskeller and the Rose” (1908), an enterprising actor is a little too convincing.
In “A Pair of Silk Stockings” (1894), best-laid plans ....

Aired 5/1/21

BerthaBertha, the Sewing Machine Girl
PART II


by Charles Foster

Part Two Talkback with:
Michelle Granshaw, PhD
Associate Professor of Theatre Arts
and Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Pittsburgh
The trials continue to the shocking conclusion!

Directed by
Alex Roe

Featuring

Becca Ballenger, Craig Anthony Bannister, John Blaylock,
Diego Carvajal, Margaret Catov, Linus Gelber,
Tyler Kent, Peter Loureiro, Beethovan Oden,
Madelynn Poulson, David Logan Rankin, Jay Romero,
Hannah Sharafian, and Tom Staggs

Art by Medusa Studios

Aired 4/24/21
BerthaBertha, the Sewing Machine Girl
PART I

by Charles Foster

Part One Talkback with:
Kim Miller
, PhD
Associate Professor of Theatre Arts
at The University of the Cumberlands

A proud and virtuous working woman
cannot get a break in the envious, avaricious, and lascivious world.
But that's nothing new.

Directed by
Alex Roe

Featuring
Becca Ballenger, Craig Anthony Bannister, John Blaylock,
Diego Carvajal, Margaret Catov, Linus Gelber,
Tyler Kent, Peter Loureiro, Beethovan Oden,
Madelynn Poulson, David Logan Rankin, Jay Romero,
Hannah Sharafian, and Tom Staggs

Art by Medusa Studios


Aired 4/17/21
The Chipwoman's FortuneThe Chipwoman's Fortune
by Willis Richardson

Post-show talk by
Michael Dinwiddie
Playwright and Associate Professor at NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study

Directed by
Linda Kuriloff

Featuring
Smeralda Abel, China L. Colston, Brenda Crawley,
SJ Hannah, Roland Lane, and David Rankin


Aired 4/10/21
The GirlThe Girl
by Edward Peple
Directed by
Michael Hardart

Featuring
Timothy C. Goodwin, Luke Hofmaier, Perri Yaniv

Graphics by Vincent Gunn

Aired 4/3/21
He Said and She Said
(Revisited)
He Said and She Said
by Alice Gerstenberg

Directed by Alex Roe

Featuring
Erin Beirnard, Kelly D. Cooper, Teresa Kelsey, and Alyssa Simon
with special guests:
John Long and the Virtual Playhouse Early Adopters

Aired 3/27/21
Winter's NightWinters Night
by Neith Boyce


followed by a post show talk with
Carol DeBoer Langworthhy, PhD
Senior Lecturer, Nonfiction Writing Program, Brown University
Editor-in-Chief, Lifewriting Annual: Biographical and Autobiographical Studies
Directed by Rachael Langton

Featuring
Erinn Holmes, Eric Emil Oleson, Jammie Patton

Art by Katie McGeorge

Aired 3/20/21
The Silent WaiterSilent Waiter
by Alfred Kreymborg

Post-Show talk led by
Brenda Murphy, PhD
Professor Emerita at University of Connecticut
The beginning is just the end...

Directed by Laura Livingston

Featuring
Kyle Maxwell and Kevin Melendez


Graphics by Anne Fizzard

Aired 3/13/21
Not SmartNot Smart
by Wilbur Daniel Steele

with a post show talk by
Jeffery Kennedy, PhD
Professor of Arts and Cultural Studies at Arizona State University
and author of the forthcoming
Staging America: The Artistic Legacy of the Provincetown Players

On vacation, Fannie and Milo want to open their marriage and elevate the locals, but when their housekeeper tells them she is "not smart" (pregnant in the local idiom), it's anyone's guess where they put their sense.

Directed and Designed by Mark Harborth

Featuring
Victoria Bundonis, Ryan Halsaver, Clara Kundin,
Maria Silverman, Matthew Trumbull

Aired 3/6/21
The ValiantDeceivers
by Holworthy Hall and
Robert Middlemass

with a post show talk by
Cheryl Black, PhD
Professor of Theatre at the University of Missouri

A murderer with a secret, ready to face society's demands,
until the arrival of a girl claiming to be his long-lost sister....


Directed by Cheryl Black

Featuring
Bryson Bruce, Dewey Caddell, Joseph J. Menino,
John Ottavino, and DeAnna Supplee

Artwork by Vincent Gunn


Aired 2/27/21

DeceiversDeceivers
by William C. DeMille

with a post show talk by

Michael Schwartz, PhD
Assistant Professor of Theatre, Dance, and Performance
Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Nothing brings a couple together like a little honesty.
And a mugging
.

Directed by John Long
with Alberto Bonilla, Deanna Gibson, and Todd Lawson

Graphic Art by Danny Licul


Aired 2/20/21
EnemiesEnemies Poster
by Neith Boyce and
Hutchins Hapgood


with a post show talk by
Carol deBoer-Langworthy, PhD
Senior Lecturer at Brown University
at work on a literary biography of Neith Boyce
A reflection of the 1916 Battle of the Sexes
Just in time for Valentine's Day.


Directed by Laura Livingston
with Kersti Bryan and Nate Washburn

Artwork by Medusa Studios


 Aired 2/13/2021
The OutsideOutside Poster
by Susan Glaspell

with a post show talk by
Sharon Friedman, PhD
Associate Professor at
The Gallatin School of New York University

At the lands end, a drowned sailor, a woman adrift, and
an expressionist farewell to the ties that bind. 

Directed by Rachael Langton
 
Featuring
Lluvia Almanza, David Patrick Ford,
Jonathan Horvath, Teresa Kelsey, James Ross

Settings by Liz Engelhardt


Aired 2/6/2021
Magical CityThe Magical City
by Zoë Akins


Post-show talk with Alan Kreizenbeck
Associate Professor of Theatre, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Author of
Zoë Akins: Broadway Playwright
A story of love and lust, of rumor and envy,
of raging emotions and irreversible decisions.
A play in verse about poetry itself.

Directed by Michael Hardart

Featuring
Kelly D. Cooper, Thomas Daniels,
Pete Feliz, Cliff Miller, Brian Ott,
Brian Richardson, Danielle Stanek,  Barbra Wengerd

Settings by Anne Fizzard


Aired 1/30/2021
Sleeping CarThe Sleeping Car
by William Dean Howells


Post-show talk with Paul Petrie, PhD
Editor of The Howellsian and Professor of English at Southern Connecticut State University

Visit these links for more on
William Dean Howells
Learn
                      More
or the Railway Car Plays
Learn
                                                          More

A comedy of multiply mistaken identity
among a group of unlikely traveling companions:
another of Howells's Railway Car Farces exploring his fascination with class, status, and society.

Directed by Alex Roe

Featuring
Dylan Brown, Kelly Cooper, Ken Ferrigni,
Andrew Firda, Sidney Fortner,
Ben Gougeon, Michael A. Jones, Bex Odorisio,
and Peter Tedeschi

Artwork by
Medusa Studios

Aired 1/23/2021

AftermathAftermath
by Mary P. Burrill

with post-show talk with
Koritha Mitchell, PhD

Learn
                      More
A family harbors a dark secret;
 a hero soldier returns unexpectedly from war
.


Directed by
Timothy Johnson

Featuring
Ryan Vincenti Anderson, Anthony T Goss,
Linda Kuriloff, Nia Akilah Robinson,
Lawrence Winslow, Kim Yancey-Moore

Settings by Pamela Lawton


Aired 1/16/2021

Will and Testament 
A tribute to Christina Crosby, PhD
and

A commemoration by Eugene O'Neill

Excerpts from A Body Undone:
Living On After Great Pain
read by Lianne Kressin
and
"The Last Will and Testament of Silverdene Emblem O'Neill"
read by Alex Roe

Aired 1/9/21
Holiday Tales


 


Four Holiday Tales
by
O. Henry, Sholem Aleichem, Carrie Jane Thomas,
and Augustus M. Hodges
Read by

Michèle LaRue, Kim Yancey-Moore, and Suzanne Toren

Aired 12/12/20
The Widow's Veil
by Alice Rostetter

with post show commentary by
Cheryl Black, PhD
Professor Emeritus of Theater History, Dramaturgy, and Acting
at the University of Missouri



With neighbors who delight in gossip and a deep, dark fascination with the glamour of grieving,
it's difficult to say whether death is a tragedy... or an opportunity.

A peek inside a New York tenement building during the Influenza epidemic of the early 1900s.

Directed by
Laura Livingston
with
Michael Durkin
•  Erica Knight •  Noelle McGrath • Barbra Wengerd

Settings by Vincent Gunn

Aired 12/5/2020

Thanksgiving Feast 2020
The Downfall of Justice
and
Aunt Betsy's Thanksgiving

Post Show commentary by
Timothy H. Breen,
historian at the University of Vermont

and

Michael Dinwiddie, Playwright and
Associate Professor at NYU
Downfall of Justice
Directed by Alex Roe

with
Ken Ferrigni
Regina GibsonSJ HannahMelissa Hurst
Jon Lonoff
Ron MorenoErin Leigh Schmoyer


Aunt Betsy
's Thanksgiving
by Katherine Davis Chapman Tillman
Directed by
Linda Kuriloff
with
Marie Louise Guinier • SJ Hannah • Michael Hardart
Lauren Marissa Smith • Lily Santiago

Aired 11/28/20   
Self-Sacrifice
By William Dean Howells


with post show talk by
Paul Petrie, PhD
Editor of The Howellsian
and Professor of English
at Southern Connecticut State
University
How far will one woman go to prove herself unworthy of the man she loves?
And what if she can't?
A comedy of the best intentions by the Dean of American Letters!

Directed by John Long

Featuring
Viena Aiello, Taylor Alden, Dylan Brown. amd Kim Fischer

Settings by Martha O'Connell

Aired 11/21/20
The Rector
By Rachel Crothers
featuring a post-show talk with
Anna Andes, PhD
Associate Professor of Theatre and Women's Studies Coordinator
The rector is the most eligible bachelor in the parsonage, but he will not be bullied into a union by the town's grand dames. He will reveal his heart only to one, whose acceptance of his proposal is as great and small as the fall of a sparrow.

Directed by Alex Roe
with Cynthia Hewett - Helen Highfield - Michelle Geisler - Florence Anne Marcisak - Alice Rothman-Hicks - Sheila-Joon Azim - Michael Turner

Artwork by Medusa Studios

Aired 11/14/2020
Shell Shock
By Eugene O'Neill
featuring a post-show talk with
Eric Fraisher Hayes
Artistic Director of the Eugene O'Neill Foundation
A desperate act of battlefield heroism,
a tortured memory of selfish recklessness:
Which is the truth?
A probing play of memory, motive, and true heroism
with a Hitchcockian twist
as a stricken soldier confronts
his history and humanity.


Directed by Eric Fraisher Hayes
With Rafael Jordan ~ Willem Long  ~ Jed Peterson

Aired 11/7/20
The War of the Worlds:
The 1938 Radio Script
by Howard E. Koch
based on the novel by H.G. Wells
A series of explosions on Mars, and an unidentifiable object falls to earth in Grover's Mill, NJ.
What follows would be impossible...in this World.

Directed by Mark Harborth

Featuring
Joshua Nicholson, David Patrick Ford, Gilly Caulo,
Ryan Vincent, Anderson Mitch Tebo, and Matthew Trumbull

Produced by special arrangement with Playscripts, Inc.
(www.playscripts.com)


Aired 10/31/20
Vote the New MoonVote the New Moon
by Alfred Kreymborg
featuring a post-show talk with
Kreymborg scholar Drew Eisenhauer


It is time for a new moon, and the citizenry must vote!
One for the red, one for the blue... over and over and over.
From election year 1920,
a "toy play," indicting a whole dysfunctional system!
In honor of our own, of course....


Directed by Alex Roe

Featuring Matt Daniels, Chris Harcum, Lisa Barnes,
Ivanna Cullinan, Mark Hofmaier, and Marty McDonough

Artwork by Medusa Studio

Aired 10/24/2020
Representing T.A. Buck
a short story by Edna Ferber


with post-show disucssion
with Julie Gilbert

author of
Ferber: Edna Ferber and
Her Circle
Emma McChesney, a woman in the man's world of traveling sales, sits in another dreary small-town hotel room; facing another solitary, predictable supper; skirting another male-filled lobby. Her daydreams of a home and domesticity take shape before her.  . . . Will she or won’t she?


read by Michèle LaRue
 
 
Aired 10/17/20
XinguXingu
by Edith Wharton
adapted by Kimberly Wadsworth

with post-show discussion led by
Ute DeFarlo and Laurie Foote
of The Mount Edith Wharton's
Berkshire home
The members of the Hillbridge Ladies' Cultural Club have their petty disagreements, but they are united in their enthusiasm for today's guest: the renowned and provocative author, Osric Dane. That none of them have read her latest book--the subject of today's meeting--should hardly stand in the way of their showing off their wit and insight.  When Mrs. Dane arrives, her disdain for the small town ladies is palpable, and it is only the newest, frankest member who navigates a comeuppance as none but Edith Wharton could so deliciously conceive.

Directed by Suzanne Toren

Featuring
Rachel Botchan ~ Kersti Bryan
Allyson Johnson ~ Emily Jon Mitchell
Carol Monda ~ Romy Nordlinger
Greta Quispe ~ Gabra Zackman



Aired 10/10/20
The Clod
by Lewis Beach


Followed by a talkback with guest scholar Erin Stoneking. Assistant Professor of Gender & Race Studies at the University of Alabama

Read More About the Play.
Dramaturgy by Jon Lonoff


Late at night on the Mason-Dixon Line, a desperate, wounded Union spy sneaks into the home of Mary and Thad Trask.
Close behind are a two Confederate soldiers, bent on forcing the Trasks to give
up a man they don't know they're hiding.
The lives of the soldier, the couple, and 30,000 soldiers lie in the balance
as the tension builds.
But with a long day behind her and another one about to start,
Mary just wants to get to bed.

Directed by Alex Roe

Featuring
Brad Fraizer, David Logan Rankin,
Suzanne Savoy, Joshua David Scarlett and Thomas Vorsteg



Aired 10/3/20

Woman's Honor
by Susan Glaspell



Followed by a talkback with guest scholar
J. Ellen Gainor,
Longtime leader in the International Susan Glaspell Society and Professor of Performing and Media Arts at Cornell University


Read More About the Play.
                        Dramaturgy by Jon Lonoff:
The Prisoner faces a long sentence, but he could cheat it if only he would say where he was and whom he was with.
He refuses, committed to preserving "a woman's honor."
But who wants him to?
Not The Shielded One, not The Scornful One, not The Silly One,
not The Motherly One, not The Cheated One, not even The Mercenary One.
But will he believe it's not about him?
Glaspell's experimental play of personified icons broke new ground and popped the bubbles of men's arrogance in 1918.
It is not done yet.


 Directed by Rachael Langton

Featuring

Viena Aiello, Kathy Christal, Christina Eskridge,
Maggie Anne Gillete, Zarra Kaahn, Jacob Shipley,
Rebecca Simpson-Wallack, Danielle Stanek,
and Lawrence Winslow

Virtual settings by Rifka Milder

Aired 9/26/20
Eugenically Speaking
by Edward Goodman




With a post-show talk by Dr. Kim Miller
Associate Professor of Theatre Arts at
The University of the Cumberlands

Una Braithewaite, daughter of a railcar magnate and convinced of her superiority, independence, and the privileges they afford,
has a plan to live up to her ideals by marrying below her station.
Driven to flout social conventions and follow her "natural" inclinations,
she brings George Coxey, a conductor from her father's own line, to come to her home. There, she proposes, to both men at the same time,
that she and the George join in matrimony.
But the conductor has a secret that foils her plans,
and leads to a surprising challenge to the status quo.


Directed by John Long

Featuring
Bob Mackasek ~ Tammy McNeill ~ Eric Williams

Backgrounds by Medusa Studio





Aired 9/19/20

Cocaine   
by Pendleton King



with post-show discussion
led by Jeffery Kennedy, PhD
Professor of Arts and Cultural Studies at Arizona State University
and author of the forthcoming
Staging America: The Artistic Legacy of the Provincetown Players




Nora and Joe have hit bottom. 
A failing prostitute and a washed-up prize fighter, living in a one-room attic off The Bowery, they are hopelessly in love.  They are also out of money, food, and the "stuff" they're addicted to.  The landlady offers Joe a temporary way out;
Nora has another, more permanent proposal.




Directed by Michael Hardart

Erin Beirnard ~ James Ross

Settings by Vincent Gunn
 

Read More About the Play.
Dramaturgy by Jon Lonoff:







Aired 9/12/20

AUGUST SURPRISES

Four performances, pre-recorded, from the
Alphabet City Series of East Village Oral Histories
August 8, 15, 22, and 29, 2020

PUNKS and PIPES

The Fabulous LuLu LoLo as
Lucille Consorti, owner Veteran Pipe Covering
and
Karl O'Brian Williams as
Hilly Kristal, the creator of famed rock club CBGB's


HUGH and the ART
of MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE



Alex Roe as
Motorcycle Repairman
Hugh Mackie
 

BOUNCING BACK

Cate Weinberg as
Guitar Doctor, Richie Baxt




THE POOR MAN'S BUTCHER



 Jared Houseman as
Essex Street Market butcher
Jeffrey Ruhalter

In the Season
by Langdon Mitchell


Young love in old London is too delicate to last.
A surprisingly modern play from just before the Modern era, featuring tender hearts, missed opportunities, misunderstandings, and just a glimmer of hope.

Aired 8/1/20

Directed by Alex Roe

Tess Frazer

Timothy C. Goodwin
Benjamin Russell

Settings by Pamela Lawton

Read More About the Play.
Dramaturgy by Jon Lonoff:

The Smoking Car
by William Dean Howells





with post-show discussion
led by Andrew Ball, PhD

Mr. Roberts is entrusted with a priceless package
by a stranger on his train: her infant child.
She is particularly anxious, and her tale is not particularly
convincing, but he's barely paying attention.
What could possibly go wrong.

Directed by John Long

Howard Pinhasik
Marlaina Powell
Jen Reddish
Hannah Sharafian
Blaine Smith
Settings by Martha O'Connell


Aired 7/25/20

Read More About the Play.
Dramaturgy by Jon Lonoff:

THE PEOPLE
by Susan Glaspell

Michele LaRue

This reading benefits the



Click here to make a contribution
"The People" may be on their last legs.
The alternative, radical journal of news, arts, and letters faces declining readership, dwindling funding, and a depressed editor, whose enthusiasm for the people is waning as fast as "The People's" resources.  Confronting a devoted but leery staff--themselves idealistic and cynical at the same time--he is ready to throw in the towel.  But when everyday readers from across the country show up in the office, perhaps The People can rise to the challenge.

A paean to the valiant effort to reach across our physical and cultural divides to connect and inspire the solitary is as  energizing and hopeful as it was 100 years ago--maybe only moreso.

Aired 7/18/20

Directed by Alex Roe

Craig Anthony Bannister, Adam Bradley, Quinlan Corbett,
Erinn Holmes, Teresa Kelsey, Jon Lonoff, Tod Mason,
Beethovan Oden, Madelynn Poulson, Jack Sochet, Diane Tyler, and Terrell Wheeler

Backgrounds by Danny Licul
Music by Michael Kosch
Video Operator  Rachael Langton

with post-show discussion
led by Cheryl Black, PhD


Read More About the Play.
Dramaturgy by Jon Lonoff:

THE APPLE TREE
by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman

AppleBlossomsMichèle LaRue

Popular storyteller Michèle LaRue
"returns" to Metropolitan with one of her signature
Tales Well Told.

In "The Apple Tree," the rigorous principles of the
disciplined homekeeper Sarah Blake are
pitted against the outright indolence
of her shiftless neighbors across the road.
But who keeps a happier home
is best measured by the life that flourishes under their care.

with post-show discussion led by
Louise Heller

Aired 7/11/20
East Side Stories:
Inside Edition

The 15th Celebration of the Life and Lore of the
Lower East Side
New plays inspired by the neighborhood we still call home


Part One: Arrival
Aired 6/26/20

Cola'o
by Paloma Sierra
Jorgé Luis Berrios and Yazmín Morales Vicente
directed by Gloria Zelaya

Fulltime Active
by William Jess Russell
Ako, Michael Basile, Randy Cordero, and Suzanne Toren
directed by Mark Harborth

Part Two: Evolution
Aired 6/27/20
 
Grassroots
by Robin Rothstein
directed by John Long
Maxwell Bartell, Alia Shakira, and Kim Yancey-Moore
backgrounds by Danny Licul

East Village Trader Joe's
by Jessica Moss
directed by Rachael Langton
Ollie Cochado, Lianne Kressin, Jammie Patton,
Sushma Saha, and Perri Yaniv
backgrounds by Randy Wong-Westbrooke


WHERE THE CROSS
IS MADE

by Eugene O'Neill


 Nat Bartlett is ready to give up on his father, grounded sea captain Isaiah, who cannot give up his fixation on a treasure lost years ago in the South Pacific.  Convinced the "treasure" was worthless, if it existed at all, and that it will surely never be found, he calls in a psychiatrist to justify committing the old man. But when his sister discovers the plan, and his father confronts him over his disbelief, the colliding forces of devotion, doubt, and obsession shock these helpless mortals into a whole new realm.

Like many of his early works, this 1918 play heralds O'Neill's later themes and craft.

Directed by Frank Kuhn

Joe Candelora, Michael Hardart,
John Ingle, Dena Miller, Julie Pham,
with additional characters painted by artist
Pamela Lawton
and backgrounds by artist Danny Licul

with post-show talk by
Alexander Pettit
Editor of the Eugene O'Neill Review
Professor of English
University Distinguished Teaching Professor
Affiliated Faculty in Women's and Gender Studies
University of North Texas

Aired 6/20/20

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COMPROMISE
by Willis Richardson


  Jane Lee has compromised with her white neighbor, Ben Carter, again and again.  When he accidentally shot her eldest son, she accepted the deal her husband made to compensate. When her husband drank himself to death with the money, she swallowed her resentment. When her second son set out to take revenge, she equivocated with him.
And now her daughter is pregnant by that same neighbor's son. 
And she is still willing to strike a bargain to get her children to a better place.
But it wouldn't take much to convince her she's compromised enough.

Directed by Timothy Johnson
 
  Anthony T. Goss
~ Linda Kuriloff, Al-nisa Petty
Lily Santiago, and George Sheffey

with post-show talk by
Rashida Z. Shaw McMahon
Associate Professor of English
Associate Professor of African American Studies
Wesleyan University

Aired 6/13/20


Read More About the Play
dramaturgy by Jon Lonoff:
EVER YOUNG
a ferocious comedy by
Alice Gerstenberg

The Poinciana

The lioness does the hunting in the pride, and the longer she lives, the fiercer she becomes.

Mrs. Payne-Dexter rules the veldt.
Mrs. Dorchester is a deferential, if muddled soldier;
Mrs. Blanchard roams afar, but within the rule;
and Mrs. Courtney-Page is the fearsome  queen of the coming generation.
The claws are always sharp  when these widows and divorcees meet,
but this afternoon at the Royal Poinciana Hotel (Palm Beach),
one reveals a broken heart  and a tender hope she's cherished for decades.

The instinct of these ready predators is keen...
and acting on it, they discover the secret to staying ever young.


Directed by Alex Roe
 
Rosina Fernhoff ~ Sidney Fortner

Wendy Merritt
~ Kim Yancey-Moore

Backgrounds by Pamela Lawton

Aired 6/6/20

Read More:

DRAMATURGY
by Jon Lonoff

CONSTANCY
by Neith Boyce


Dodge, Reed, Boyce
Rex literally knocks at the window of Moira, a lover he jilted months before. Hoping to fan the passionate flames of their affair back to a blaze, he's once again ready for anything--anything but to be seen for what he actually is.
The story of a woman who has learned bitter lessons from heartbreak, and is ready to give a little instruction of her own to a man who once had her heart, and now has her understanding.

Inspired by a real rendez-vous between
Mabel Dodge and John Reed.

with post-show conversation led by
J. Ellen Gainor
Professor of Performing and Media Arts
at Cornell University
 

Aired 5/30/20

Directed by Laura Livingston


Elisabeth Ahrens and Paul Bomba

Read More:
Dramaturgy by Jon Lonoff
THE POT BOILER
by Alice Gerstenberg

Prosperous and prolific playwright, Mr. Sud--an inveterate hack--offers to let a hopeful neophyte, young Wouldby, attend a first read and rehearsal of his new play. 
Mr. Inkwell pursues a desperate and dishonorable plot to sully Miss Ivory, cheat her father of a fortune,
and break her promises to the upright Mr. Ruler. 
But what of Mrs. Pencil, his former lover?
The plot thickens, Sud editorializes throughout,
and the actors strain to make something of the nonsense.
Then someone finds the revolvers.

Another day in the theater.

with post-show conversation led by
Dorothy Chansky, PhD
Professor of Theatre History, Theory, and Criticism
at Texas Tech University

Aired 5/23/20

Directed by Alex Roe

Mike Durkin ~ SJ Hannah ~ David Murray Jaffe

Olivia Killingsworth ~ Jen Reddish ~ Jay Romero
Tom Staggs

Backgrounds by Vincent Gunn
Video Ops by Rachael Langton


Read More:
Dramaturgy by Jon Lonoff


SUPPRESSED DESIRES
by Susan Glaspell

Henrietta and Stephen were happily married, until Henrietta discovered psychoanalysis.  Now no stone 
-- dream, utterance, look, shrug --
will be left unturned on the quest for its hidden meaning.
But when sister Mabel, visiting them for a spell,
catches the disease herself, the couple are in a fight for their
wedded life.

A comedy of close quarters with two much time on our hands.

with post-show conversation led by
J. Ellen Gainor
Professor of Performing and Media Arts
at Cornell University

Aired 5/16/20

directed by Michael Hardart

Sarah Hankins ~ Lian Marie Holms ~ John Long
 
Read More:
Dramaturgy by Jon Lonoff


THE PARLOR CAR
by William Dean Howells


Miss Galbraith and Mr. Richards, recently separated lovers find themselves confined to the same compartment of a railway car on the way to Albany.   Mortifying though it may be, it is also a chance to look a little more closely at the reason for their spat.
And when the car is de-coupled from its train, stranded on the lonesome track ...well, who knows what may happen.

with post-show conversation with
Polly Howells

Aired 5/9/20

directed by Alex Roe

Melody Bates ~ Jed Peterson ~ Stu Richel

 
Read More:
Dramturgy by Jon Lonoff

MAYDAY!
DOUBLE FEATURE



love letter
Fourteen
by Alice Gerstenberg

A society grand dame, her eligible daughter, and their unflappable butler prepare for a dinner for fourteen.  But when one guest cancels, leaving a table of unlucky thirteen, the game is afoot!  A comedy of extreme disproportion.

directed by Laura Livingtson

Becca Ballenger ~ Brenda Crawley ~ Andrew Firda

backgrounds by Vincent Gunn

Criss Cross
by Rachel Crothers

A steel-tempered writer is asked to give her consent to the marriage of her ward to an artist of great promise and passion, but middling accomplishment and drive.  All she must consider is the true weight of her own love.

directed by Alex Roe

Erica Knight ~ Trevor St. John Gilbert ~ Erin Leigh Schmoyer

Aired 5/2/20
OLD LOVE LETTERS
by Bronson Howard

love letter

The time for burning old letters has come for a young widow,
yearning to put her past behind her.
But what if one of them came to life?
A tender and loving tribute to second chances
by the author of The Henrietta (Metropolitan Playhouse, 2013)

Aired 4/25/20
directed by Alex Roe

Eric Emil Oleson ~ Meredith Sweeney
OVERTONES
by Alice Gerstenberg
Unquestionably the author's most famous play.
Two women, one married to a wealthy man of affairs
the other to a struggling painter,
meet for tea.
If only they'd left their alter-egos at home.

Aired 4/18/20

directed by Alex Roe

Amanda Jones ~Tyler Kent
Clara Kundin ~ Kendall Rileigh

Hearts
by Alice Gerstenberg

A game of social distance, 1917 style.

It's a gamble for one of four card players,
seeking to be accepted into her small town's impenetrable Society, where the stakes are far higher than the wagers.
To win at hearts, you must give yours away....
or capture everyone else's.

Aired 4/11/20

directed by Alex Roe

Elisabeth Ahrens ~ Regina Gibson
Marie Louise ~ Alexandra O'Daly

hosted by Benjamin Russell
The Rope
by Eugene O'Neill
Gene
Abraham Bentley is a miserly farmer
whose son and son-in-law are set
on getting revenge for his ill treatment of them
and getting his fortune...if he really has one.
The only witness is a perfectly guileless 10 year old girl.

Aired 4/4/20

directed by Alex Roe

Noelia Burket ~ Talia Cuomo
 Jamahl Garrison Lowe ~ Marty McDonough ~ David Logan Rankin

He Said and She Said
by Alice Gerstenberg

Alice Gerstenberg

Set against the backdrop of the Great War, when a loyal husband and wife hear insinuations that their dearest unmarried friend has turned her sights from her young man overseas and is now set on breaking up their happy home, friendships foreign and domestic are strained to the breaking point.

Aired 3/28/30

directed by Alex Roe
Erin Beirnard ~ Kelly Dean Coopeer
Teresa Kelsey ~ Alyssa Simon
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