Ensemble Studio Theatre Announces Casting For Marathon Of One-Act Plays

Series A will begin on Sunday, October 16 and Series B will begin on Sunday, October 23.

By: Oct. 05, 2022
Ensemble Studio Theatre Announces Casting For Marathon Of One-Act Plays
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Ensemble Studio Theatre Announces Casting For Marathon Of One-Act Plays

Ensemble Studio Theatre (EST) has announced complete casting for the 38th Marathon of One-Act Plays, which will be fully comprised of work from artists who identify as Black, Indigenous & People of Color (BIPOC). This year's selection of eleven plays was curated by Co-Artistic Directors Mike Lew (Teenage Dick) and Colette Robert (Behind the Sheet). Ten plays will be presented across two different series from Sunday October 16 through Sunday November 13 at EST (545 West 52nd Street). An eleventh play, Yan Tután, will be streamed October 23 to November 13 in collaboration with Perseverance Theatre in Alaska.

Series A will begin on Sunday, October 16. Series B will begin on Sunday, October 23.

The cast for SERIES A features Catalina Chang, Brenda Crawley, José Espinosa, Daniela Gonzalez y Perez, Ethan Joseph, Denise Manning, Marcus Naylor, Ashley Marie Ortiz (amo), Roudlerson Calvin Pierre, Cristina Pitter, Justin Rodriguez, Deandre Sevon, Mark Vaughn, Ed Ventura, Eric R. Williams, Jo Yang and the voice of William Jackson Harper.

The cast for SERIES B features Biko, Ashley Bufkin, David Cork, Sydney Lolita Cusic, Will Dagger, Alisha Espinosa, Fernando Gonzalez, Sarah Nina Hayon, Kai Heath, Kendyl Ito, Margaret Odette, and Monique Robinson.

The cast of Yan Tután, that will be streaming in collaboration with Perseverance Theatre, features Chloey Kiawk Shaa Cavanaugh, Davina Cole, Ernestine Hayes, Jared Olin, Alfie "Shiggoap" Price, Jamiann S'eiltin, Andrew Tripp, Xáalnook Erin Tripp.

The biennial Marathon of One-Act Plays has been a landmark New York theatre festival since 1977. Praised by critics and beloved by audiences, it launched an industry-wide revival of the short play form, breaking new ground by putting emerging and established writers together on one stage. In its earliest days, the Marathon was key to sustaining the careers of writers like Horton Foote and Romulus Linney, while providing essential early opportunity for then-new voices like Christopher Durang, Richard Greenberg and Aaron Sorkin.

That mix of ages and cultures remains at the Marathon's core, with each subsequent generation - now including Julia Cho, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Amy Herzog, Qui Nguyen, Taylor Mac, and many others - taking their turn on the festival's Hell's Kitchen stage. Recently produced Marathon playwrights include Clare Barron, Leah Nanako Winkler, Anna Ziegler and Lloyd Suh. Martyna Majok was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Cost of Living, a play which originated in the 2015 Marathon of One-Act Plays.

General admission tickets are $25 and student/senior tickets are $20. A Marathon Pass is available for $40, which includes a ticket to each series bundled together. Tickets can be purchased at ESTnyc.org or ensemblestudiotheatre.org/marathon.

THE 38th MARATHON OF ONE-ACT PLAYS ARE:

SERIES A BEGINNING OCTOBER 16:

Still...

By Harron Atkins

Directed by Cameron Knight

Cast: Ethan Joseph, Marcus Naylor, Roudlerson Calvin Pierre, Deandre Sevon, Mark Vaughn, and Eric R. Williams

Noah and Jeremy bonded over music, fell in love over music, then fell apart over music. Can music bring them back together? Still... is a play that follows two people over 50 years as they struggle to love two things at once: each other and their dreams.

Intro To

By Vivian J.O. Barnes

Directed by Keenan Tyler Oliphant

Cast: Brenda Crawley, Denise Manning and Cristina Pitter

Three very different women take a writing class.

Prospect Avenue or The Miseducation of Juni Rodriguez

Written and Directed by Dominic Colón

Cast: Ashley Marie Ortiz (amo), Justin Rodriguez, Ed Ventura, and the voice of William Jackson Harper

Two young men from the Bronx meet on a downtown number 2 train. This brief encounter sparks a meditation on life, love, and McDonald's.

Los Complicados

By Cusi Cram

Directed by Rebecca Martinez

Cast: José Espinosa and Daniela Gonzalez y Perez

It is 1984 and 15-year-old Manca is having a truly abysmal day. Will her pot-smoking, free spirited god-brother, Pedro be able to lift her up out of the dumps? The jury's out because with these two everything is muy complicado.

Younger Battles the Possible Ghost

By Shannon Tyo

Directed by nicHi douglas

Cast: Catalina Chang and Jo Yang

There is almost certainly a ghost in Younger's bedroom. What to do, what to do...

SERIES B: BEGINNING October 23

Tr@k Grls (pt1)

By Bleu Beckford-Burrell

Directed by Elizabeth Van Dyke

Cast: Sydney Lolita Cusic and Monique Robinson

Raeni Bailey and Anita Gordon have four things in common right now: living in Far Rockaway, Queens; the High School Track team and being Black Girls. A homage play to the Lady Seahorses of Far Rockaway High School.

Brass Knuckles

By Yussef El Guindi

Directed by Sivan Battat

Cast: Sarah Nina Hayon

As Maysoon puts on her hijab she tries to steel herself against the possible verbal, even physical assaults she might have to endure during the course of the day for wearing a hijab.

Prepared

By Keiko Green

Directed by Jess McLeod

Cast: Will Dagger, Fernando Gonzalez and Kendyl Ito

Global warming, tidal waves, and tornadoes have destroyed all of humankind as we know it...well, all except Troop 4337. Set in the not-so-distant future, the only survivors of the apocalypse are a troop of boy scouts led by an eccentric Scoutmaster. They soldier on, fighting off the all-consuming cosmic loneliness, as they attempt to make peace with a vengeful Mother Nature.

Breath of Life: A choreoplay of Black Love

By Goldie E. Patrick

Directed by Jonathan McCrory

Cast: Biko, Ashley Bufkin, David Cork, and Margaret Odette

When Toni and Drew, both Black community activists, are hit with the double pandemic of COVID-19 and Police Brutality, the decision of whether to protest in their community or stay home becomes more than a political choice. Separated from each other for the first time in months, each has their own confrontation of the fears they've been holding onto about their new life.

blooms

By a.k. payne

Directed by Chika Ike

Cast: Alisha Espinosa and Kai Heath

Ten minutes before their shift at the grocery store, Leticia tries to prove to Kim that love exists; Kim wishes she could rearrange the world.

STREAMING Oct 23 - Nov 13:

Yan Tután

By Vera Starbard

Directed by Erin Tripp

*Streaming in collaboration with Perseverance Theatre

Cast: Chloey Kiawk Shaa Cavanaugh, Davina Cole, Ernestine Hayes, Jared Olin, Alfie "Shiggoap" Price, Jamiann S'eiltin, Andrew Tripp, Xáalnook Erin Tripp

An Alaska Native group faces a leadership crisis and must decide whether to continue their traditional practice at all.

ABOUT Ensemble Studio Theatre

The Ensemble Studio Theatre (EST) (Graeme Gillis, Interim Artistic Director) was founded by Curt Dempster in 1968 and led by William Carden since 2007. In over 50 years, EST has developed thousands of new American plays and has grown into a company of over 600 actors, directors, playwrights, and designers.

EST's mission is to develop and produce original, provocative, and authentic new work. A dynamic community committed to a collaborative process, EST is dedicated to inclusion across all aspects of identity and perspective, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, sexuality, physical or mental ability, physical or mental health, and recovery while acknowledging and working to end systemic marginalization and oppression at all levels of its organization. EST discovers and nurtures new voices and supports artists throughout their creative lives. This extraordinary support and commitment to inclusivity are essential to yield extraordinary work.

EST's primary programs include Youngblood, a collective of emerging professional playwrights; the EST/Sloan Project, a partnership that commissions, develops, and produces new works about science and technology; and the biennial Marathon of One-Act Plays, a landmark New York theatre festival since 1977.

For more information, visit ensemblestudiotheatre.org.

Photo Credit: Kevin Thomas Garcia




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