Thursday, December 16, 2010

THE LAW OF THE MONKEYS by Ken Scarborough


Dani has a lot of love to give, and she gives it freely in this dark comedy by former SNL writer Ken Scarborough.

Ken Scarborough has won four Emmys for his television writing—as a staff writer for Saturday Night Live, as the Head Writer for the PBS series Arthur, and as a writer for Between the Lions. Ken served as Head Writer for the Nickelodeon series Doug and currently serves as Head Writer and Creative Producer for Martha Speaks, a children’s television series he developed for PBS.

Directed by John Pietrowski and featuring Eilis Cahill, Daniel Sullivan, Stacie Lents, Clark Carmichael, David Mason.

Tickets $10 or $25 for a FORUM pass and see all the readings through Sunday. Order online or by phone 973.514.1787 X10.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

ARTIST AS A MAN by Joe Sutton


Author Joe Sutton explores the tangled relationship between an author and his agent. Not based on a true story, or is it?

Directed by James Glossman and featuring Paul Murphy, David Mason and Evelyn McGee Colbert.

Joe Sutton’s plays include Voir Dire, As It is in Heaven, Complicit, and Restoring the Sun. They have been produced by such theatres as the New York Theater Workshop, BAM and the Old Vic. Joe is a recipient of fellowships from NYFA and the NEA, and has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Last season Joe developed his mystery television show Scales of Justice for the USA network. Joe resides in Montclair, NJ with his wife Anne and their sons James and Nicholas.

$10 for tonight's reading for buy a FORUM pass for $25 and see all the readings this week.

To secure your seat, order online or call the box office at 973.514.1787 X10.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

JACKASS FLATS by John Simon & C.C. Lovehart


Tuesday, December 14 at 7pm

It's Las Vegas, 1951, and an unusual trio of women take a road trip to a sunrise picnic at the dawn of the Nuclear Age. Funny and relevant, JACKASS FLATS is a heart-warming story of survival in a time and place both mythical and real.

C.C. Loveheart Jackass Flats was first inspired by the personal reminiscences of C.C. Loveheart who grew up in Las Vegas. In her checkered career, she has acted on stage and screens of all sizes from coast to coast. She is a Clio award winner and created the character of Coco for Nickolodeon’s Pinwheel House for which she still gets fan mail. She is a Lifetime Member of The Actors’ Studio. In New Jersey, she appeared in The Gin Game.

John Simon C.C.’s husband and frequent collaborator, is a self-described “compulsive musician”. As a record producer and performer, he has worked with Janis Joplin, Leonard Cohen, The Band, Taj Mahal, Gil Evans, Marshall McLuhan and many others. He has released several albums of original songs. John and C.C. have appeared in a self-penned cabaret act called Alone Together For The First Time Again.

Directed by Brendan Burke

Kay..................................................Denise Lute
Ginny...............................................Olivia Gilliatt
Lana Dee..........................................Lucy Eller

The reading will be held at:
Playwrights Theatre
33 Green Village Road
Madison, NJ 07940
Need directions?

$10 for the reading for reserve a FORUM pass and see all the remaining readings for $25. Purchase your tickets online or by calling the box office at 973.514.1787 X10.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Week Three of FORUM

The third and final week of FORUM begins tomorrow. $10 for one reading or $25 for a FORUM pass. Order online or by calling the box office at 973.514.1787 X10.

Tuesday, December 14 - 7:00pm
JACKASS FLATS by John Simon & C.C. Lovehart
It's Las Vegas, 1951, and an unusual trio of women take a road trip to a sunrise picnic at the dawn of the Nuclear Age. Funny and relevant, JACKASS FLATS is a heart-warming story of survival in a time and place both mythical and real

Wednesday, December 15 - 7:00pm
ARTIST AS A MAN by Joe Sutton
Author Joe Sutton explores the tangled relationship between an author and his agent. Not based on a true story, or is it?

Thursday, December 16 - 7:00pm
THE LAW OF THE MONKEYS by Ken Scarborough
Dani has a lot of love to give, and she gives it freely in this dark comedy by former SNL writer Ken Scarborough.

Friday, December 17 - 7:00pm
NUMBER OF PEOPLE by Emilie Beck
In this one person show, a Holocaust survivor whose encounter with a German family after his release from the camps comes to define the essence of his life.

Saturday, December 18 - 7:00pm
MARLOWE by James Glossman
An ensemble adaptation of Raymond Chandler's classic film-noir tales of iconic private eye Philip Marlowe, among the sun burnt, violent streets of 1940s Los Angeles.

Sunday, December 19 - 7:00pm
THE EXCEPTIONALS by Robert Clyman
In a new version of last year’s reading, and prior to it’s production at Merrimack Theatre in Massachusetts, this play takes place in the Coordinator for Parent Liaison’s office of a donor insemination research program for “exceptional” children and their parents.

Friday, December 10, 2010

A User’s Guide to Hell, Featuring Bernie Madoff by Lee Blessing


Staged reading tonight at 7:00pm, part of the FORUM reading series.

Directed by John Pietrowski and featuring Al Mohnmann, Jim Ligon, Daniel Sullivan, Andrea Bianchi.

In the time after his downfall, Bernie Madoff is taken on a tour of hell (New York City) by Verge and encounters its various denizens before he learns the truth.

$10 for tonight's reading or purchase a FORUM pass for $25 and see all the remaining readings in the series. Purchase online or call the box office at 973.514.1787 X10.

Lee Blessing has written for stage, film and TV for over thirty years. His play A Walk in the Woods ran on Broadway and in the West End. He’s had roughly a dozen plays produced off-Broadway, including A Body of Water and Going to St. Ives in recent years. Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey produced his play Whores in their 2004-05 season, in conjunction with the New Jersey Repertory Theatre.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

THE LAST DAYS OF MICKEY AND JEAN by Richard Dresser


A “retired” American couple on the lam in Paris reach the end of the line. A new play from the author of Rounding Third.

Reserve your ticket online or by calling the box office at 973.514.1787 X10.


Richard Dresser’s plays have been produced in New York, regional theater, and Europe. His recently published trilogy of plays about happiness in America includes AUGUSTA (working class), THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS (middle class), and A VIEW OF THE HARBOR (upper class). Other plays are: ROUNDING THIRD, which started in Chicago and appeared off-Broadway and has had over one hundred productions, BELOW THE BELT and GUN-SHY, started at the Humana Festival before moving off-Broadway. His most recent play is THE HAND OF GOD.

Directed by John Pietrowski and featuring Eli Ganias, Bonnie Black, Dan Domingues.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

TRESPASSER IN A PROMISED LAND by Russell Davis


Tonight kicks off the 2nd week of the FORUM reading series with a new play from Russell Davis, "Trespasser In A Promised Land."

The reading begins at 7pm with an intimate discussion with Russell immediately following. $10 for the reading or get a FORUM pass for $25 and see all the remaining readings in the FORUM series. Tickets available online or by calling the box office at 973.514.1787 X10.

From the author of Mahida’s Extra Key to Heaven, Karnik has gone to the house of a cult in a remote countryside to retrieve a friend who has ended up there. Here he comes face-to-face with the elusive cult leader.

Russell Davis’ plays have been produced previously at Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey. He is a 2008-10 recipient of a Pew Fellowship in the Arts. He was resident playwright at People’s Light & Theatre for the NEA/TCG Theatre Residency Program. He has received grants and fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, McKnight Foundation, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, as well as two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Directed by John Pietrowski and featuring Ryan Shams, Prentiss Benjamin, Mariam Habib, Daniel Sullivan.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Join Us for Week Two of FORUM


FORUM
Roundtable Reading Series
Week Two: December 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12

FORUM brings playwrights, actors and audience members together to enjoy the creative process of bringing a play to life. Staged readings of 17 innovative new plays by some of the country's best writers with intimate discussions between author and audience following each performance.

$10 per reading or get a FORUM Pass for $25 and attend all the readings.

Wednesday, December 8 - 7:00pm
TRESPASSER IN A PROMISED LAND by Russell Davis

Thursday, December 9 - 7:00pm
THE LAST DAYS OF MICKEY AND JEAN by Richard Dresser

Friday, December 10 - 7:00pm
A USER'S GUIDE TO HELL, FEATURING BERNIE MADOFF by Lee Blessing

Saturday, December 11 - 7:00pm
TEXAS BOOT by Jeffrey Sweet

Sunday, December 12 - 7:00pm
FURIES by Matt Bukovac

To reserve your tickets, visit our
website or call the Box Office at 973.514.1787 X10

Playwrights Theatre
33 Green Village Road
PO Box 1295
Madison, NJ 07940
973.514.1787 X10

http://www.ptnj.org/

Directions to our theatre





Friday, December 3, 2010

Good Things to Do

For the 7th year in a row, Playwrights Theatre will be collecting toys for the Marine Corps Reserve Toys For Tots, gently used coats for Jersey Cares and pet items for Randolph Township Municipal Pound.

In the lobby of Playwrights Theatre, there are three marked collection boxes. Items can be dropped off at 33 Green Village Road, Madison, NJ, Monday-Friday from 10am-6pm. The last day for donations is Wednesday, December 15, 2010.

Marine Corps Reserve TOYS FOR TOTS
The mission of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community in which the campaign is conducted. Please donate new and unwrapped toys.

14th Annual Jersey Cares Coat Drive
The goal of the 14th Annual Coat Drive is to collect and distribute 35,000 "gently used" winter coats to at-risk men, women, children and infants. Please donate your gently used winter coats.

Randolph Township Municipal Pound
The Randolph Township Municipal Pound makes every effort to find homes for their animals, including placing them with no-kill shelters. Items the shelter needs: dry or canned dog or cat food, dog runs, rabbit hutches, used clean blankets, towels and small rugs, toys for cats and dogs.

REVELATION by Samuel Brett Williams


Tired of the same old, same old holiday shows? Come see an exciting new play!

REVELATION by Samuel Brett Williams

From the author of Fraternity and The Revival, and a National New Play Network-commissioned play, this comic picaresque imagines the End Times as they might occur in New York City.

Performance is tonight at 7pm at Playwrights Theatre, 33 Green Village Road, Madison, NJ. Need directions?

Make your reservation online or call the box office at 973.514.1787 X10.

Samuel Brett Williams hails from Hot Springs, Arkansas, where he was raised in a strict Southern Baptist environment. He received his BA in English and Political Science from Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, and his MFA in Playwriting from Rutgers University, where he studied under Lee Blessing. REVELATION is the fourth play he has been lucky enough to develop with Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey. In 2008, he was the resident playwright at PTNJ.

Directed by James Glossman and featuring Will Manning, Stacie Lents, Liam Joynt, Erin Mortensen.

We'll see you at the theatre!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

THE FALLEN by Yasmine Beverly Rana



Week One of the FORUM reading series: A Celebration of New Jersey Writers

continues this evening at 7pm with THE FALLEN by Yasmine Beverly Rana

Survivors of the atrocities in the former Yugoslavia confront their past and assess their future. An expanded version and further development of the play read in last year’s series.

Reserve your seat to tonight's reading online or by calling 973.514.1787 X10.


Performance takes place at:
Playwrights Theatre
33 Green Village Road
Madison, NJ 07940

Directions can be found here



Wednesday, December 1, 2010

HUNGRY by Lia Romeo

FORUM roundtable reading series continues tonight at 7pm with HUNGRY by Lia Romeo.

In this black comedy by the author of Green Whales and Super, a high school “misfit” trying out for the dance team takes on the dysfunction of her home and community, getting assistance from an unlikely source.

Tickets $10 or buy a FORUM pass and get into all the readings for only $25. To reserve your seat, call the box office at 973.514.1787 X10 or visit our
website.

Playwrights Theatre
33 Green Village Road
Madison, NJ 07940
Directions