Past Readings
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
6:45pm
THE OFFICE
By MARIA IRENE FORNES
Directed by Melissa Attebery
Dramaturgy by Morgan Jenness
The New School, Wollman Hall, 65 West 11th Street
6:45pm
THE OFFICE
By MARIA IRENE FORNES
Directed by Melissa Attebery
Dramaturgy by Morgan Jenness
The New School, Wollman Hall, 65 West 11th Street
Fornés on Broadway. As oxymoronic as that might sound for this leading figure of the Off-Off Broadway movement and 9-time OBIE winner, Fornés was once on Broadway with an unpublished, little-known gem called The Office. The play previewed in 1966, but closed before opening. It was directed by Jerome Robbins; Hal Prince was one of the producers according to the available record. Set in, well, an office, Fornés brilliantly sends up office etiquette and routines. Understanding the darkest secrets of her characters, she launches a motley crew of officemates—from the lowliest maintenance man to the CEO—on personal quests for love and glory. Hi-jinks, mayhem, and magic ensue. On Her Shoulders is thrilled to present this unique opportunity for audiences to experience this forgotten treasure.
MARIA IRENE FORNÉS is a pivotal figure in Hispanic-American and experimental theatre, both for her unique vision as a writer and for her dedication as a director and teacher. She wrote more than 40 stage works and directed her own, as well as classic drama. Her plays include:Tango Palace (1963), The Successful Life of 3 (1965), Promenade(1965), The Office (1966), A Vietnamese Wedding (1967), Dr. Kheal, Molly's Dream (1968), Fefu and Her Friends (1977), Evelyn Brown(1980), The Danube (1981), Mud (1983), Sarita (1984), The Conduct of Life (1985), Abingdon Square (1987), Enter The Night (1993), andLetters From Cuba (2000). She is the recipient of nine OBIE Awards for both playwriting and direction of her plays including Promenade and The Successful Life of 3. She was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for And What of the Night? and recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. Her work continues to be performed around the world, both professionally and at many universities and colleges.
ALICE REAGAN (Director) has directed several plays by Maria Irene Fornés: Abingdon Square (Bates College), Drowning (Williamstown), Summer in Gossensass (Fornés Festival), What of the Night? (Barnard College) and will direct Enter THE NIGHT (Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble) in January 2015. Other recent work includes Nomads by Julia Jarcho (Incubator Arts), Blown Youth by Dipika Guha (New Georges/Barnard), I Came to Look for You on Tuesday by Chiori Miyagawa (La MaMa), and a new version of Caucasian Chalk Circle (The Chocolate Factory). Upcoming: The Miser by Molière with Brave New World Rep. She is Assistant Professor of Professional Practice at Barnard/Columbia.
MORGAN JENNESS (Dramaturg) is a freelance dramaturg based in New York City. For over 10 years, Jenness worked at the Public Theater, under both George C.Wolfe and Joseph Papp in roles ranging from literary manager to Director of Play Development to Associate Producer of the NY Shakespeare Festival. She was also Associate Artistic Director at the New York Theater Workshop, and an Associate Director at the Los Angeles Theater Center in charge of new projects. She has worked with the Young Playwrights Festival, the Mark Taper Forum, The Playwrights Center/Playlabs, The Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Double Image/New York Stage and Film, CSC, Victory Gardens, Hartford Stage, and Center Stage as a dramaturg, workshop director, and/or artistic consultant. She has participated as a visiting artist and adjunct in playwriting programs at the University of Iowa, Brown University, Breadloaf, Columbia and NYU and is currently on the faculty at Fordham University at Lincoln Center, where she teaches Theater History. In 2003, Ms. Jenness received an Obie Award Special Citation for Longtime Support of Playwrights.
KRISTIN SKYE HOFFMANN (Assist Director) Directing credits include Animals by Sam Byron (WINNER: Outstanding Direction FringeNYC 2012), Red Light Winter by Adam Rapp, The Old Forever New Things by Dan Kitrosser, The ‘You Knows’ Know by Derek Ahonen, Leah in Vegas by Kara Ayn Napolitano and a the short film ISOLATION by Matt Herzfeld. For Wide Eyed Productions: My Daughter Keeps Our Hammer by Brian Watkins, Being Late by Judith Goudsmit, Outstanding by Bekah Brunstetter, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Much Ado About Nothing and The Medea. Kristin holds an MFA in Directing from The New School for Drama. She is the Founding Artistic Director of Wide Eyed Productions. This fall Kristin will direct Dead Special Crabs by Dan Kitrosser at The Barrow Group Theatre. www.kristinskyehoffmann.com
CAST:
Pfancoo - Brennan Lowery NS
Princess - Valerie Lonigro NS, AEA
Shirley - Alexandra Gellner NS
Lois, The Minister - Katie Repman NS, AEA
Miss Punk - Melody Gray NS
Joe - Edward Chin-Lyn
Gucci, The Man - Velson D'Souza NS
The Portrait - Peter Judd AEA
Stage Directions, Voices - India Choquette
BRENNAN LOWERY (Pfancoo) completed his MFA at The New School for Drama (2014). NY Theater: Kelpie/Bogle in The Skriker (dir. Pitr Strait), Male B in Get Me a Guy (dir. John Clancy, Moonlight Productions). New School: Jaques/Charles the Wrestler (As You Like It, dir. Stephen Fried), Griever (Blue Window. dir. Kai Hsiang-Tu), and Drew (The Ladder, dir. Paul Takacs). Film/TV: YouTube commercial First Moon Party, National Geographic's Brain Games. He is also part of Central Park Conservancy's Sandbox Stories.
VALERIE LONIGRO (Princess) Theater: New York: The Private Life of the Master Race (59E59), The Tutor (NYC International Fringe Festival), Extinction (NSD, developed, performed, published), Our Lady of 121st Street (dir. Crystal Dickinson), Macbeth (dir. Bryn Manion). Film: Peace After Marriage (winner of Tribeca Film Festival (All Access) Creative Promise Award, Best Narrative and Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival 2013 Audience Award) TV: All My Children, One Life To Live. Web Series: Math Warriors (winner of Best Narrative Webisode Winnipeg Film Festival 2013). MFA in Acting, New School for Drama, BA in Theatre Performance WMU. www.ValerieLonigro.com.
ALEXANDRA GELLNER (Shirley) is a graduate of The New School for Drama where she received her MFA in Acting. She is also a puppeteer, teaching artist and co-founder of New Dance Theatre, a movement-based theatre collective. NYC credits: Coffee & Biscuit (NYC Fringe); Born Liars (italytheater); Family Business (HB Studios); Hamlet as Ophelia, The Spider & The Wasp, The Trojan Women, Execution of Justice (New School for Drama); The Lower Depths (Double Down Productions). Other credits: Same Time Next Year, Wait Until Dark as Suzy Hendrix (Ferndale Rep); Oleanna (Article 19: Birmingham, UK). Film: Turncoat, Escape in Time, The Premier, Reunion 108. www.alexandragellner.com
KATE REPMAN (Lois, The Minister) graduated from The New School for Drama with a M.F.A in acting and has recently been seen in in her self-produced web series Barbie Kong, which can be seen here: www.youtube.com/user/katiemcconaghy. Other credits include:Dark Times (The Peoples Improv Theater, Ensemble), Naturally Delicious (Under St. Marks, Ensemble), 3! (P.S 122, Mary), Sick (Samuel French Festival, Cheerleader), Space (The New School for Drama, Amanda), Appetite (The New School for Drama, Tia). Katie has also performed at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater and is a regular featured background actor on Saturday Night Live.
MELODY GRAY (Miss Punk) is a New York based actor who received her MFA in Acting from The New School for Drama in 2013. She was last seen on stage at the Playhouse on Park (Hartford, CT) as Gin Chance inThe Trestle at Pope Lick Creek by Naomi Wallace. At the New School, Melody played Hecuba (lead) in the First Looks production ofThe Trojan Women. She recently made her TV debut as the murdered Ida Strouth in the crime re-enactment show, The First 48. She will be performing next in R+J by Erin Breznitksy on Oct. 18th. Visit www.melodygray.com for more information.
EDWARD CHIN-LYN (Joe) NY Theater: Lee in True West (Isaac Bryne, Curious Frog), Hunter in Reconstruction (Josh Fox, Ohio Theater), Leviticus (Bekah Brunstetter, Soho Think Tank),The Brig *Best Ensemble (The Living Theater) and Father in Wake (Mei Ann Teo, Connelly). Film/TV: Sky, Cold War, Waiting for Tomorrow, A Day in the Life, Mysteries at the Museum. He is also part of the Writopia Lab Ensemble. www.edwardchinlyn.com.
VELSON D'SOUZA (Gucci, The Man) NYC Credits include: Yakov in THE SEAGULL (Dir. Elinor Renfield), Falstaff in HENRY IV Part 1 (Dir. Pitr Strait),Silvius in AS YOU LIKE IT (Dir. Stephen Fried), and, Norry in CLEAN, Cal Donovan in ATALANTA K.O. and Lord of the Underworld in EURYDICE (The New School for Drama). BRAZIL Credits include: William in CHATROOM, Cleante in THE IMAGINARY INVALID, Oberon in MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, and others. TV & FILM Credits include: Caua in VENDE-SE UM VEU DE NOIVA, Bruno in REVELACAO and Marcel in CRISTAL (SBT PRIMETIME).
PETER JUDD* (Portrait) This year he was in three new plays, his own Gilt on the Gold about Frederick Law Olmsted in his late years, Joseph Mosse’s’s Stealing Secrete at the Planet Connection Festival, and You Haven’t Changed a Bit. Other recent productions include Antigone, Oedipus a Colonus, An Ideal Husband, From Rags to Riches, The Devil’s Disciple, The Inheritors, Margaret Fleming, The Changing Room, You Never Can Tell, The Cherry Orchard, The Night of Iguana, You Can’t Take It with You, The Master Builder. For his role in the film, The Forgery he was nominated Best Actor, Angeleno Film Festival, 2011). www.peterhjudd.com.
INDIA CHOQUETTE (stage directions) is a graduate of Barnard College and also the Prague Film School where she studied film acting and was awarded Best Actor of the 2012-13 by the faculty. She is a company member of The Viewpoints Workshop. Recent theater credits: The Four Seasons by Charles M. Mee, Blown Youth by Dipika Guha, and Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom by Jennifer Haley. She will play Rosemary West in My Life Among The Serial Killers this October. Her web series, TABS, will be released in January 2015. More information available at www.indiachoquette.com.
MARIA IRENE FORNÉS is a pivotal figure in Hispanic-American and experimental theatre, both for her unique vision as a writer and for her dedication as a director and teacher. She wrote more than 40 stage works and directed her own, as well as classic drama. Her plays include:Tango Palace (1963), The Successful Life of 3 (1965), Promenade(1965), The Office (1966), A Vietnamese Wedding (1967), Dr. Kheal, Molly's Dream (1968), Fefu and Her Friends (1977), Evelyn Brown(1980), The Danube (1981), Mud (1983), Sarita (1984), The Conduct of Life (1985), Abingdon Square (1987), Enter The Night (1993), andLetters From Cuba (2000). She is the recipient of nine OBIE Awards for both playwriting and direction of her plays including Promenade and The Successful Life of 3. She was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for And What of the Night? and recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. Her work continues to be performed around the world, both professionally and at many universities and colleges.
ALICE REAGAN (Director) has directed several plays by Maria Irene Fornés: Abingdon Square (Bates College), Drowning (Williamstown), Summer in Gossensass (Fornés Festival), What of the Night? (Barnard College) and will direct Enter THE NIGHT (Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble) in January 2015. Other recent work includes Nomads by Julia Jarcho (Incubator Arts), Blown Youth by Dipika Guha (New Georges/Barnard), I Came to Look for You on Tuesday by Chiori Miyagawa (La MaMa), and a new version of Caucasian Chalk Circle (The Chocolate Factory). Upcoming: The Miser by Molière with Brave New World Rep. She is Assistant Professor of Professional Practice at Barnard/Columbia.
MORGAN JENNESS (Dramaturg) is a freelance dramaturg based in New York City. For over 10 years, Jenness worked at the Public Theater, under both George C.Wolfe and Joseph Papp in roles ranging from literary manager to Director of Play Development to Associate Producer of the NY Shakespeare Festival. She was also Associate Artistic Director at the New York Theater Workshop, and an Associate Director at the Los Angeles Theater Center in charge of new projects. She has worked with the Young Playwrights Festival, the Mark Taper Forum, The Playwrights Center/Playlabs, The Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Double Image/New York Stage and Film, CSC, Victory Gardens, Hartford Stage, and Center Stage as a dramaturg, workshop director, and/or artistic consultant. She has participated as a visiting artist and adjunct in playwriting programs at the University of Iowa, Brown University, Breadloaf, Columbia and NYU and is currently on the faculty at Fordham University at Lincoln Center, where she teaches Theater History. In 2003, Ms. Jenness received an Obie Award Special Citation for Longtime Support of Playwrights.
KRISTIN SKYE HOFFMANN (Assist Director) Directing credits include Animals by Sam Byron (WINNER: Outstanding Direction FringeNYC 2012), Red Light Winter by Adam Rapp, The Old Forever New Things by Dan Kitrosser, The ‘You Knows’ Know by Derek Ahonen, Leah in Vegas by Kara Ayn Napolitano and a the short film ISOLATION by Matt Herzfeld. For Wide Eyed Productions: My Daughter Keeps Our Hammer by Brian Watkins, Being Late by Judith Goudsmit, Outstanding by Bekah Brunstetter, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Much Ado About Nothing and The Medea. Kristin holds an MFA in Directing from The New School for Drama. She is the Founding Artistic Director of Wide Eyed Productions. This fall Kristin will direct Dead Special Crabs by Dan Kitrosser at The Barrow Group Theatre. www.kristinskyehoffmann.com
CAST:
Pfancoo - Brennan Lowery NS
Princess - Valerie Lonigro NS, AEA
Shirley - Alexandra Gellner NS
Lois, The Minister - Katie Repman NS, AEA
Miss Punk - Melody Gray NS
Joe - Edward Chin-Lyn
Gucci, The Man - Velson D'Souza NS
The Portrait - Peter Judd AEA
Stage Directions, Voices - India Choquette
BRENNAN LOWERY (Pfancoo) completed his MFA at The New School for Drama (2014). NY Theater: Kelpie/Bogle in The Skriker (dir. Pitr Strait), Male B in Get Me a Guy (dir. John Clancy, Moonlight Productions). New School: Jaques/Charles the Wrestler (As You Like It, dir. Stephen Fried), Griever (Blue Window. dir. Kai Hsiang-Tu), and Drew (The Ladder, dir. Paul Takacs). Film/TV: YouTube commercial First Moon Party, National Geographic's Brain Games. He is also part of Central Park Conservancy's Sandbox Stories.
VALERIE LONIGRO (Princess) Theater: New York: The Private Life of the Master Race (59E59), The Tutor (NYC International Fringe Festival), Extinction (NSD, developed, performed, published), Our Lady of 121st Street (dir. Crystal Dickinson), Macbeth (dir. Bryn Manion). Film: Peace After Marriage (winner of Tribeca Film Festival (All Access) Creative Promise Award, Best Narrative and Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival 2013 Audience Award) TV: All My Children, One Life To Live. Web Series: Math Warriors (winner of Best Narrative Webisode Winnipeg Film Festival 2013). MFA in Acting, New School for Drama, BA in Theatre Performance WMU. www.ValerieLonigro.com.
ALEXANDRA GELLNER (Shirley) is a graduate of The New School for Drama where she received her MFA in Acting. She is also a puppeteer, teaching artist and co-founder of New Dance Theatre, a movement-based theatre collective. NYC credits: Coffee & Biscuit (NYC Fringe); Born Liars (italytheater); Family Business (HB Studios); Hamlet as Ophelia, The Spider & The Wasp, The Trojan Women, Execution of Justice (New School for Drama); The Lower Depths (Double Down Productions). Other credits: Same Time Next Year, Wait Until Dark as Suzy Hendrix (Ferndale Rep); Oleanna (Article 19: Birmingham, UK). Film: Turncoat, Escape in Time, The Premier, Reunion 108. www.alexandragellner.com
KATE REPMAN (Lois, The Minister) graduated from The New School for Drama with a M.F.A in acting and has recently been seen in in her self-produced web series Barbie Kong, which can be seen here: www.youtube.com/user/katiemcconaghy. Other credits include:Dark Times (The Peoples Improv Theater, Ensemble), Naturally Delicious (Under St. Marks, Ensemble), 3! (P.S 122, Mary), Sick (Samuel French Festival, Cheerleader), Space (The New School for Drama, Amanda), Appetite (The New School for Drama, Tia). Katie has also performed at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater and is a regular featured background actor on Saturday Night Live.
MELODY GRAY (Miss Punk) is a New York based actor who received her MFA in Acting from The New School for Drama in 2013. She was last seen on stage at the Playhouse on Park (Hartford, CT) as Gin Chance inThe Trestle at Pope Lick Creek by Naomi Wallace. At the New School, Melody played Hecuba (lead) in the First Looks production ofThe Trojan Women. She recently made her TV debut as the murdered Ida Strouth in the crime re-enactment show, The First 48. She will be performing next in R+J by Erin Breznitksy on Oct. 18th. Visit www.melodygray.com for more information.
EDWARD CHIN-LYN (Joe) NY Theater: Lee in True West (Isaac Bryne, Curious Frog), Hunter in Reconstruction (Josh Fox, Ohio Theater), Leviticus (Bekah Brunstetter, Soho Think Tank),The Brig *Best Ensemble (The Living Theater) and Father in Wake (Mei Ann Teo, Connelly). Film/TV: Sky, Cold War, Waiting for Tomorrow, A Day in the Life, Mysteries at the Museum. He is also part of the Writopia Lab Ensemble. www.edwardchinlyn.com.
VELSON D'SOUZA (Gucci, The Man) NYC Credits include: Yakov in THE SEAGULL (Dir. Elinor Renfield), Falstaff in HENRY IV Part 1 (Dir. Pitr Strait),Silvius in AS YOU LIKE IT (Dir. Stephen Fried), and, Norry in CLEAN, Cal Donovan in ATALANTA K.O. and Lord of the Underworld in EURYDICE (The New School for Drama). BRAZIL Credits include: William in CHATROOM, Cleante in THE IMAGINARY INVALID, Oberon in MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, and others. TV & FILM Credits include: Caua in VENDE-SE UM VEU DE NOIVA, Bruno in REVELACAO and Marcel in CRISTAL (SBT PRIMETIME).
PETER JUDD* (Portrait) This year he was in three new plays, his own Gilt on the Gold about Frederick Law Olmsted in his late years, Joseph Mosse’s’s Stealing Secrete at the Planet Connection Festival, and You Haven’t Changed a Bit. Other recent productions include Antigone, Oedipus a Colonus, An Ideal Husband, From Rags to Riches, The Devil’s Disciple, The Inheritors, Margaret Fleming, The Changing Room, You Never Can Tell, The Cherry Orchard, The Night of Iguana, You Can’t Take It with You, The Master Builder. For his role in the film, The Forgery he was nominated Best Actor, Angeleno Film Festival, 2011). www.peterhjudd.com.
INDIA CHOQUETTE (stage directions) is a graduate of Barnard College and also the Prague Film School where she studied film acting and was awarded Best Actor of the 2012-13 by the faculty. She is a company member of The Viewpoints Workshop. Recent theater credits: The Four Seasons by Charles M. Mee, Blown Youth by Dipika Guha, and Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom by Jennifer Haley. She will play Rosemary West in My Life Among The Serial Killers this October. Her web series, TABS, will be released in January 2015. More information available at www.indiachoquette.com.