Photo Flash: 13P's 'Monstrosity' In Rehearsal

13P (Thirteen Playwrights, Inc), the OBIE Award-winning theater company made up of 13 playwrights, will present Lucy Thurber's (P#8) "MONSTROSITY," directed by Lear deBessonet. "MONSTROSITY," featuring a cast of 21, will be performed at The Connelly Theatre, 220 East 4th Street (between Avenues A and B), with performances running from July 9 through 19, 2009 for a total of twelve performances. (Evening performances will all be at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 9; Friday, July 10; Saturday, July 11; Sunday, July 12; Tuesday, July 14; Wednesday, July 15; Thursday, July 16; Friday, July 17; and Saturday, July 18. There will be three matinee performances at 1:00 p.m. on: Saturdays, July 11 and 18 and Sunday, July 19 (the final performance of "MONSTROSITY" will be the matinee on July 19). Running time is 3½ hours. Tickets are available through www.monstrositytheplay.com or 866-811-4111.

"MONSTROSITY" is a dark, epic tale of singing teenage fascists, magic, war, and love - a disturbing retelling of the hero's tale with a girl as the hero and an unheroic ending. This production will mark 13P's most ambitious production to date.

The "MONSTROSITY" cast of 21 is headed by: Carlo Alban (References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot at The Public; A Winter's Party with LAByrinth); Frank De Julio; J.D. Goldblatt (B'way: Les Miserables revival, and Iphegenia 2.0 at the Signature); Andy Grotelueschen; Ben Hollandsworth (MTC's From Up Here and The Keen Company's Tea and Sympathy); D.J. Mendel; Oppenheimer (Keen Company) and The Universe (Ontological-Hysteric); Cristin Milioti (B'way: Coram Boy and The Lieutenant of Inishmore and Off B'way: Some Americans Abroad at Second Stage); Robert Saietta; Samantha Soule (B'way: The Philanthropist and Dinner at Eight; a member of the Drama Desk Award-winning Outstanding Ensemble of The Keen Company's production of The Dining Room); Kristina Valada-Viars (B'way: August: Osage County; Off B'way: The New Group's The Music Teacher); Michael Warner (The Language of Trees at The Roundabout; Pullman Car Hiawatha with The Keen Company); and also features The Teen Army of Ten.

The set design will be by Peter Ksander (Othello with Theater for a New Audience and Theater of a Two-Headed Calf productions); the costume design by Emily Rebholz (13P's Have You Seen Steve Steven?; Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson at The Public); the lighting design by Justin Townsend (Epic Theatre's Palace of the End; Opus at Primary Stages); and sound design by M.L. Dogg (The Language of Trees). Movement will be by Tracy Bersley (Pericles at Red Bull). Producers for P#8 are George Spelvin and Rachel Karpf. Maria Goyanes serves as 13P's Executive Producer and Karina Mangu-Ward its General Manager.

Photos by Jim Baldassare