April 7-8, 2018
@ Stages Repertory Theatre
Gwendolyn Rice
Madison, WI
The Bargain I Have Made by Gwendolyn Rice
Directed by Jonathan Gonzalez
Saturday, April 7, 2018 @ 1pm
Synopsis:
Otto Kannenberg is an aged recluse, living in a tiny apartment in Munich. Although he has very little human contact, he is not lonely — he immerses himself in the worlds of hundreds of paintings that fill his dingy flat, many by masters of Modernism, Expressionism, Cubism, Impressionism and Dadaism including Klee, Kirchner, Picasso, Monet, and Chagall. When the German government begins investigating how Otto acquired so many rare and wonderful pieces, his world is thrown into turmoil. He and the authorities must decide how to make peace with the past and make amends for Hitler’s war on “Degenerate Art.”
Biography:
Gwendolyn Rice is a professional writer and playwright based in Madison, Wisconsin. Gwen’s plays, monologues, and staged readings have been produced by Life Jacket Theater Company, the QC Theater Workshop, Civic Theatre of Greater Lafayette, Yellow Rose Productions, Acadia University, Dayton Playhouse FutureFest, Princeton Theater Group New Works Festival, Great Plains Theater Conference, Bellarmine University, the Samuel French Off- Off- Broadway Short Play Festival, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Renaissance Theaterworks, Theatre LILA, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Riverside Theater, Barrington Stage Company, Shakespeare & Co., Forward Theater Company, First Stage Milwaukee, Polarity Ensemble, Metropolis Performing Arts Center, Nova Theater FreshWorks, and the Wisconsin Wrights New Play Development Project. Gwen is also the recipient of the Henley-Rose Playwriting Award. She is a member of Chicago Dramatists, the American Theater Critics Association, and the Dramatists Guild. Gwen has worked in marketing, communications, and fundraising for a variety of corporations and non-profit organizations over the course of her career. Among other freelance projects, she currently reviews theater and performing arts events for Isthmus, OnMilwaukee.com, and The Capital Times, and has also taught dramatic literature and playwriting workshops for Edgewood High School, Children’s Theater of Madison, The Greater Madison Writing Project, Renaissance Theaterworks, and the Milwaukee Rep.
Fengar Gael
New York, NY
The Forbidden Fruits of Honey Frost by Fengar Gael
Directed by Troy Scheid
Saturday, April 7, 2018 @ 7pm
Synopsis:
On the stage of the operating theatre of the Wards Island Hospital, a seriously ill estate lawyer speaks to an audience of medical specialists, attempting to fathom the origin of her affliction. She relates the arrival from London of Honey Frost, the sole heir of an American antiquities dealer who made his fortune looting the buried treasures of the Middle East. Honey’s inheritance includes an apple orchard that’s infested with worms; however, the wormy pulp can be brewed into a cider, which has a euphoric effect, is highly addictive, and proves to be extremely profitable. When the cider is later exposed as the cause of a potential pandemic, thousands of victims are quarantined on Wards Island and forced to face the catastrophic possibility of species extinction.
Biography:
Fengar Gael has had workshops and productions of her plays at The New York Stageand Film Company, the Sundance Playwrights Lab, Utah Shakespearean Festival, the InterAct Theatre of Philadelphia, the Landing Theatre of Houston, New Jersey Repertory, Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey, the Salt Lake Acting Company, the Moxie Theatre of San Diego, The Kitchen Dog Theatre of Dallas, The Seanachai Theatre of Chicago, the Botanicum Seedlings of Topanga, California, the Athena Project of Denver, and in New York City: MultiStages, Urban Stages, the Abingdon Theatre, The Secret Theatre, Collaborative Arts Project 21, Turn to Flesh Productions, The Resonance Ensemble Theatre, Medicine Show Theatre, The Identity Theater, Project Y Theatre, and Playwrights Gallery. She is a recipient of the Craig Noel Award (for Devil Dog Six), the Playwrights First Award (for Opaline), Manhattan Theatre Works Excellence in Playwriting Award (for The Drapers Eye); and commissions from South Coast Repertory, The Hangar Theatre, New Jersey Repertory, and the InterAct Theatre (through the National New Play Network); and a playwriting fellowship from the California Arts Council. Most recently, The Usher’s Ball was given a showcase at the CAP 21's Shop Theatre; The Cantor's Tale was produced at the Hunger Artists Theatre Company; The Gallerist was produced at the Rorschach Theatre in Washington D. C.; Gift of Forgotten Tongues at The Venus Theatre in Laurel, Maryland; The Island of No Tomorrows was produced by MultiStages of New York; Devil Dog Six was produced at the Landing Theatre Company of Houston, the Spiral Theatre of New York, and Detroit Repertory Theatre; Opaline was produced at The Secret Theatre in New York and The Garage Theatre of Long Beach, California. March On! was produced by the Hangar Theatre of Ithaca and The House on Poe Street was produced at the14th Street Theatre in New York City November, 2017, and Touch of Rapture was given a staged reading at Theater Sounds in Kingston, New York in January 2018.
Shelli Pentimall Bookler
Philadelphia, PA
Pieces of the Pie by Shelli Pentimall Bookler
Directed by Lauren Hance
Sunday, April 8, 2018 @ 1pm
Synopsis:
Carole and Dan have been married for over 30 years. Carole is a strong, dutiful wife and mother, and Dan is a recently retired police officer. They are looking forward to spending their “golden years” together, with their daughter Sarah, son in law Kevin, and their dog Puddles. But Dan begins to forget things. It starts out as little details but progresses quickly. Dan has vascular dementia. Carole struggles to take care of him on her own, but as Dan becomes more confused, and at times aggressive, she feels pressure from her sister Diane and son in law to put him into a long term care facility, and pressure from Sarah to get home health care. Carole is adamant about keeping him at home, having watched Dan’s mother’s dignity and desire to live wither away in a facility, but his violent behavior may be too much for her to handle. A terrifying decision that no family wants to make, but in this case is forced to make.
Biography:
Shelli Pentimall Bookler holds an M.A. in Theatre Arts from Eastern Michigan University as well as an M.F.A. in Playwriting from Temple University in Philadelphia. As a playwright several of her original plays have been produced including her original musical Snyder v Phelps, based on the controversial Supreme Court decision in the case against the Westboro Baptist Church, which premiered at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. Other plays produced include Addicted about young adults in recovery for drug addiction, Honeydew which tells the story of an exotic dancer who has to redefine her self worth after breast cancer, All the Dead Biddles, a dark comedy that take a unique view of how we grieve after a significant loss, and Bird in the Window, the story of a young woman who develops an eating disorder after a traumatic event. She also devised and directed Possessions, which was created for the Pennsylvania Red Cross Homeless Shelter 25th Anniversary gala and received an award of accomplishment from the Red Cross. Several short plays have been featured in play festivals including Committed at Montgomery Theatre and the Brick Playhouse, Decision at Village Players of Hatboro, Jugs at the Colonial Playhouse, Global at Heartlande Theatre Company, Vanity, featured in Seeds of Spring, A Night of Feminist Performance Art, and Rainbow, at the Brick Playhouse. She received a grant from The Puffin Foundation to present a reading of her play Incident, as well as the Bucks County Art for Change Grant to produce her original musical Snyder v Phelps, and the Fellowship of Merit from Eastern Michigan University, to write and direct Addicted. She was a finalist for the Belwether Award, for developing The ACTion Project, a collaboration of nursing and acting students to help understand and diagnose mental illness in patients. She is an Associate Professor of communication and theatre at Bucks County Community College in Newtown, Pennsylvania, and also the co-moderator of Philadelphia Dramatist Center’s Playwright Happy Hour, which fosters the development of new plays by local playwrights in a supportive and casual environment. In addition she is a member of The Dramatist Guild, and the Witherspoon Circle, as well as an actor, director, and choreographer in Philadelphia.
Juan Ramirez, Jr.
Bronx, NY
The American Dream by Juan Ramirez, Jr.
Directed by Stephen Miranda
Sunday, April 8, 2018 @ 7pm
Synopsis:
Corina is an immigrant from Guatemala who has smuggled her way across the border guided by Efren, her coyote aka human smuggler. Instead of finding freedom, she finds herself imprisoned by Efren, who now holds her inside a safe house, awaiting the final Western Union payment from her husband. Set in the last hour and twenty minutes, Corina begs for her freedom but letting her go is against everything Efren stands for.
Biography:
Juan Ramirez, Jr. is an internationally produced writer, actor and director. His latest play to be seen on stage is Stroke of Madness, part of the inaugural Ingenio Milagro 2017 Play Reading Series in Portland, Oregon. The Truth Theory was part of the Footlights with the Dramatist Guild in Mary Rodger's Room. Don Juan: A Work In Progress was produced at Dixon Place. The American Dream, part of the Broadway Bound Theatre Festival performed at the 14th Street Y. Truck Stop Queen was part of the LIC One-Act Festival and published in an anthology with the Secret Theatre. Honor Among Thieves was selected for the 2017 Downtown Urban Arts Festival and presented at The Cherry Lane Theatre. Love Diplomats was produced by the Raíces Theatre Company’s 2016 Desde El Puente. It was also selected for 2016 Short + Sweet International Festival Top 80 in Sydney, Australia and performed at the Top 10 NYU Abu Dhabi Arts Center. Love In All The Right Places produced at Ophelia Theatre Group and Manhattan Repertory Company, There’s A Wolf At The Door also at Manhattan Rep, The Safety of Strangers, a one-act festival of his various work at Theatre Row, At The Corner of Francis and Wolf with The Bronx Repertory Company and Red Light at Lehman College’s SUMMERWORX. Pro And Cons made Abstract Sentiment Theater Company’s Block and Talk series in October 2014, 2016 Fall 10 Minute Play Series and 2016 Playwright’s Showcase with Manhattan Repertory Company. His one-act play JUMP! was part of Lehman’s first annual playwright’s festival. American Culture was produced at NYU’s Blink of an Eye one-act festival. Dad & Son was produced at 2013 and To Speed Or Not To Speed at 2014 Gi60 One minute play festival in Halifax, UK. The former play is selected and published in One Minute Plays: A Practical Guide To Tiny Theatre, Routledge 2017. The American Dream was a semi-finalist for 2016 Stage Left Theatre’s Downstage Left residency, Walk The Bronx is a 2015 Downtown Urban Theater Festival Finalist, Villa Of Life is a NYU 2014 Graduate Screenplay Finalist and Jimmy’s Tab is a 2011 Princess Grace semi-finalist. Stroke Of Madness is part of the 2016 and Wall with 2017 Cimientos Play Program with IATI Theater. He was part of the first Playwright Sponsored National Winter Playwright’s Retreat in Pagosa Springs, CO with HBMG Foundation where he wrote the first of his tetralogy called The Chupacabra Play Cycle: The Ranch. Sailing Stones is part of the 2018 Downtown Urban Arts Festival and will be produced in April 2018. He is a Dramatist Guild member, founder of The PlayPen collective, R and R Production with his fiancee Cristy Reynoso, a producing member of The Bronx Repertory Company, a Broadway Bound Theatre Festival panelist, and feature playwright with MonologueBank.com. He received his B.A. from Lehman College and his MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU Tisch. www.JuanRamirezJr.com
@ Stages Repertory Theatre 3201 Allen Parkway Houston, Texas 77007