blog by arwen

Like a proud mom, I can’t stop gushing about the show I’m producing. Vision Disturbance is a new play written by Christina Masciotti, presented by the New York City Players and directed by Richard Maxwell.

Folks in the media are starting to comment now that we’ve completed our first week. There is a great profile written about Christina, our playwright. I am also happy to thank Culturebot for its love and share what is officially my first NY Times review.

Two more weeks of shows are running at Abrons Arts Center from Wed – Sat at 8pm through Sept 18. Tickets available here for $18.

In my own words, I would describe the show as “an understated and heartfelt meditation on perception & transformation”.

Other people’s words include:

“A lovely, resourceful and unexpected coup de theatre…inspired and inventive…a showcase for Ms. Masciotti’s gift for writing.”- Ben Brantley, The New York Times

“a thoroughly enjoyable evening in the theater and a reminder that, sometimes, all you need is…strong actors and good, insightful writing”- Andy Horwitz, culturebot.com

You can read more about the show here.

Seating is limited so if you plan to attend, I suggest you get tickets sooner than later. You will understand why when you see it…and that is all I will say about that.

Blog silence of late is the result of a super-hectic producing schedule. I’ve been busy working with Richard Maxwell’s New York City Players to produce a new play opening next week at the historic playhouse in Henry St. Settlement’s Abrons Arts Center.

From our press release:

A new play by Christina Masciotti, Vision Disturbance is about two people whose structured lives suddenly fall apart and who are vehemently looking to find new ground and belonging.

In Vision Disturbance, Mondo, a middle-aged Greek immigrant woman living in smalltown Pennsylvania, is going through a divorce from her traditional, Greek husband. The resulting stress detonates an eye disorder that features a loss of depth perception among other perplexing symptoms. She seeks treatment from Dr. Hull who uses an unorthodox approach involving music therapy to help her regain her eyesight.

Vision Disturbance features Linda Mancini as Mondo and Jay Smith as Dr. Hull. The set and lighting design is by Adrian W. Jones, costumes by Victoria Vazquez, and sound design by Ben Williams.

The play starts September 1st and runs through September 18, Wed-Sat, 8pm at Abrons Arts Center, located 466 Grand Street in New York City. Tickets are $18 and may be purchased by calling 212.352.3101 or at www.theatermania.com.

Vision Disturbance
Written by Christina Masciotti
Directed by Richard Maxwell
80 minutes, without intermission

Wed- Sat, September 1- 18, 2010, 8:00pm
Abrons Arts Center, 466 Grand Street, NYC
Tickets: $18 | For tickets call: 212.352.3101 or www.theatermania.com

I know Christina from my days at Fractured Atlas and I was thrilled when NYCP asked me to produce the show, which has been in development for about two years. We had a reading at New York Theatre Workshop last May, after being featured in CUNY’s 2009 Prelude Festival.

I love this play, we have an amazing cast & crew and I am so proud to be working on it. There are production elements that excite me so much I want to spill the beans about them here & now, but I won’t. To do so would ruin the experience, so you’ll just have to come down and see for yourself. We have limited seats available (hint hint) so don’t miss it!

Through a master stroke of fate, I’ve ended up as the Lead Producer for East River Commedia’s 2010 undergroundzero festival opening next week at P.S. 122.

What is undergroundzero you ask? Why, an experimental theater festival of course! More specifically…

undergroundzero festival offers a unique flying repertory of innovative performance by renowned local and international theater makers. Over twenty artists and companies from the US, Australia, Catalonia (Spain), Germany, Ireland, Italy, Romania, and Wales are participating.

The 4th Annual undergroundzero festival will run July 6-25 at Performance Space 122 (150 1st Avenue at East 9th Street). Tickets ($20) may be purchased online at www.PS122.org  or via phone at (212) 352-3101.

According to Time Out NY, we are a great deal and you can read a bit about the history & philosophy here.

playgroundzero is the Laboratory Division of the undergroundzero festival featuring a series of bold and innovative works-in-progress, followed by feedback sessions with the artists. All playgroundzero readings are downstairs at PS 122 with a $5 suggested donation. The line-up can be found here.

Not content with presenting daring new work by some of downtown’s favorite theater-makers, we are also hosting  weekly special events.

Each Tuesday (July 6, 13, & 20) from 8pm – 10pm in the Upstairs venue at PS122, commonground will introduce the festival artists and highlight our international guests.

commonground is a meta-theatrical talk show in which attendees will comprise a live studio audience for the first hour while special guests interview participating artists and cultural experts. The second hour will be an open gathering for participants, special guests, and audience-goers to mix and mingle.

And everyone knows it ain’t a festival without a dance party somewhere in the mix, so…

Each Friday, the festival presents latenightzero, a downtown dance party that welcomes everyone in the arts community and beyond to shake off the work week by getting down.

latenightzero happens every Friday (July 9, 16, & 23) from 11pm – 1am in the Upstairs venue at PS122. On Friday, July 16 latenightzero hosts the League of Independent Theater, the membership, advocacy and business league for the independent theater community in New York City.

The special events are free and open to the public with a $5 suggested donation and refreshments served.

If you find yourself in the East Village during July, be sure to check it out!

I am excited to announce two events I have coming up in the next few weeks.

First, I am moderating a discussion that is part of a salon series presented by The Performance Project at University Settlement and the Ontological-Hysteric Theater Co‘s Incubator program. These legendary downtown organizations have teamed up to host a series of salons for artists and the public, free of charge.

Scheduled for Monday, March 29, 7p.m. at University Settlement located at 184 Eldridge Street (corner of Rivington), the salon is titled:

The Long Haul – Defining and creating a sustainable career-path.

Artist participants: Alec Duffy of Hoi Polloi, Jules Gimbrone and Elliot Montague of WREST, and Sandi Carroll of MUD/BONE.

Join us to discuss how independent artists think about their careers in the long term. Hear from a variety of participants how they sustain themselves during the feast & famine cycles affecting not only income, but also creative inspiration. Does thinking about the long term matter? Is it better to only worry about the next 12 months? What are some of the benefits of planning ahead and making strategic investments for your future and how does one go about it? Is goal setting important or does it restrict flexibility and opportunity? Artist participants will share thoughts, tips and tactics about how they have managed to survive and thrive over the course of their career so far and how they plan to continue it in future years.

Second, I am teaching another new workshop at The Field – this time on individual appeal letters. If you have ever wondered about or wanted to improve your skills in the area of soliciting donations via the written word, this workshop is for you. If interested, you can sign up here.

Individual Giving Letters – April 10, Saturday, 11am-1:30pm

Appeal letters are the primary tool artists use to raise funds for their work by soliciting friends, family, and audience members to donate money, goods and services. This workshop focuses on writing effective individual appeals and their integral position within the spectrum of fund raising efforts. Participants are encouraged to bring in past letters for discussion and attendees will work on crafting potential letters for future use.

I’m pleased as punch to announce that I will be serving as Associate Producer for Tisch School of the Arts‘ 2010 hotINK International Play Reading Festival. The festival runs during the last two weekends of January on 1/23 – 1/25, and 1/30, 1/31.

A completely FREE festival of plays from around the globe, this year features playwrights hailing from Uganda, Ireland, Canada, Russia, France, Romania, Finland, Austria and Japan.

Now in its ninth year, hotINK is an annual, international festival of play readings, presented by the Department of Drama, that brings together playwrights from around the world with distinguished actors and directors from the New York theatre, as well as students, alumni and faculty from the Tisch School of the Arts.

The many distinguished U.S. playwrights, directors and actors who have taken part in hotINK include Bill Camp, Kathleen Chalfant, Migdalia Cruz, Liz Diamond, Kathryn Erbe, John Gallagher, Jr., Joe Grifasi, Kathryn Grody, Rinne Groff, Stephanie Roth Haberle, Jeffrey Hatcher, Jessica Hecht, Marin Ireland, Len Jenkin, Francis Jue, Arthur Kopit, Michael Laurence, Paul Lazar, Robert Lyons, Joan MacIntosh, Heather McDonald, Steve Mellor, Itamar Moses, Victor Pappas, Keith Reddin, Henry Stram, Caridad Svich, Mac Wellman, B.D. Wong, Frank Woods and Janet Zarish.

As an alumni of Undergrad Drama, I am thrilled to be working again with some of my favorite people on staff at 721 Broadway. Full details for the festival can be found here. Tickets will be available after January 4th through Smarttix and more information will be forthcoming after the New Year.

A gigantic, free theater orgy in Union Square is happening this Thursday Oct 15th from noon – 6pm as part of TCG’s Free Night of Theater program. Information on all the Free Night NYC events can be found here.

For those of you outside NYC, don’t fret – you can probably get your theater freak on as well – just visit the main Free Night website to see if your city has joined the party.

There are over 120 sites and over 600 theaters participating and it’s all FREE, so you have no excuse not to get your butt out to the theater on Thursday night!

I’ve been sick with a terrible flu for the past week. Now that I am finally better, I am excited to have a reason to be out and about all day Thurday. I will be in Union Square for most of the day – if you see me, please say hello!

I am thrilled to announce that I am working in collaboration with this year’s Prelude Festival, presented by The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center (MESTC), The Graduate Center, CUNY. Now in its 6th year, this annual festival previews work-in-progress by some of NYC’s most exciting artists and features symposium and artist talk-back sessions daily.

It is FREE and open to the public on a first-come, first-serve basis and only lasts four days: Sept 30 – Oct 3.

I am moderating a panel discussion on the subject of citizenship and serving as Associate Producer. I will post again with more details as the festival approaches, but for now I encourage you to follow the festival on Twitter: @preludenyc and become a fan on Facebook.