2014 SOLO COLLECTIVE to Feature THE STORYTELLER and More; Runs 9/7-28

After a wildly successful first year, Paul Stein and THE SOLO COLLECTIVE (L.A.'s only Solo Collective company) in residence at VS. THEATRE COMPANY is thrilled to announce its second annual SOLO COLLECTIVE, with three solo shows performing this Fall: Opening with the World Premiere of Antonio Sacre's THE STORYTELLER; a special return engagement of Drew Droege's BRIGHT PATTERNS AND BOLD COLORS and closing with the world premiere of Carla Cackowski's GAL INVINCIBLE. Antonio Sacre in THE STORYTELLER, directed by Paul Stein, will preview on Sunday, September 7 and will open on Friday, September 12 at 8pm and run through Sunday, September 28 at the new home of VS. Theatre Company, 5453 W. Pico Blvd. in Los Angeles.

For twenty years, on three continents, in ten countries, in 45 states, and for over two million people, Antonio Sacre has told stories. He has published four books, six plays, and four audio recordings, many award winners and critically lauded by magazines, newspapers, and other media worldwide.

Simultaneously, he has created ten full length solo performances, performed around the world, but mostly in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, to critical and popular acclaim. He show THE NEXT BEST THING was nominated for an LA Weekly Theater award for Best Solo Performance, and was chosen as one of their Top 10 L.A. Theater Experiences in 2011. His 2013 show LET THEM EAT MEAT is being developed for television by a major literary agency with a proven Emmy award winning show runner attached.

In his latest solo performance, THE STORYTELLER, and fourth in collaboration with renowned theater director Paul Stein, he brings all that experience together for one fearless show. With his signature mix of contemporary storytelling and poetry, impeccable character acting, and retelling of ancient myth, Sacre examines what it means to be an artist, storyteller, and human in today's world. Blisteringly funny, uncompromisingly honest, and surprising its point of view, THE STORYTELLER reveals what solo performance and exotic dancing have in common, how Cuban families communicate, and how Irish-American families don't communicate. Impeccable stagecraft, compelling stories, and meaningful writing come together to create a night of theater that won't soon be forgotten.

PAUL STEIN (Director) is the Founder and Artistic Director of The Solo Collective. Mr. Stein has directed numerous one-person shows in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Aspen and Toronto including productions for soloNova at P.S. 122, Summer Works Theater Festival, Symphony Space, U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, and Hollywood and NYC Fringes. A few solo directing highlights: Leonard Nimoy's one-person playVincent starring Jean- Michel Richaud at theatres in L.A. San Diego, New York (and upcoming in Paris, France and for UCLA's Center for the Art of Performance in 2015); Antonio Sacre's Let Them Eat Meat, winner of "Best Storyteller" at the 2012 United Solo and LA Weekly Award nomination for Best Solo Performance; Alan Aymie'sA Child Left Behind at the Beverly Hills Playhouse; and W. Kamau Bell's The Bell Curve: Ending Racism in about an Hour at various theaters across the country.

Additionally, Paul is the Artistic Producer and Conceiver of The Car Plays, a site- specific event recently mentioned in Time Magazine, American Theatre and The New York Times, and named by Broadway World.comin their "Best of Southern California Theater". Presented by Moving Arts Theatre, past Car Plays shows include:The Car Plays: San Diego at La Jolla's Playhouse's Without Walls Festival 2013; The Car Plays: L.A. Stories at RADAR L.A. Festival (REDCAT & Public Theater, Producers); for the Segerstrom Center's Off Center Festivalsin Costa Mesa; and The Car Plays: San Diego for the La Jolla Playhouse's WoW Series which received the 2012 Craig Noel Award for "Outstanding Special Event" by the San Diego Theater Critics Circle. Currently, Paul is the Executive Producer of the Comedy Central Stage, a development venue sponsored by the television network. As an instructor, he enjoys teaching his Solo Writing and Performance Workshops around town and on the road. He is a graduate of L.A.C.C. Theater Academy, holds a B.A. in Theatre from Cal State University, Los Angeles and is a proud member of the Dramatist Guild and SDC.

DREW DROEGE (Bright Colors and Bold Patterns) has been playing Chloe Sevigny on stage (The Groundlings, Upright Citizens Brigade, Comedy Central Stage) and on the internet for over 10 years. His videos have been called "compulsively watchable" by The Advocate, and featured on EW's Popwatch, PerezHilton.com, Jezebel.com, New York Times, New York Post, and Huffington Post. His podcast, Glitter In The Garbage, was deemed "lowbrow and brilliant" in New York magazine's Approval Matrix. He's the recipient of Outfest Film Festival's Special Programming Award for Emerging Talent, one of OUT magazine's Out 100, and one of LA Weekly's Top Comedy Acts to Watch in 2012. The Los Angeles Times recently called Drew "the high priest of parody", for his work as a sketch comedian, director, and theatre performer. His TV credits include Baby Daddy, Hot In Cleveland, Key & Peele, Drunk History, How I Met Your Mother, Up All Night, New Girl, Jon Benjamin Has A Van, Nick Swardson's Pretend Time, Glory Daze, The Sarah Silverman Program, Halfway Home, Campus Ladies, Reno 911!, and Logo's Scandalicious and New Now Next Awards. He can be seen in the films Eating Out: Drama Camp, Sassy Pants, Freak Dance, Ass Backwards, Mr. Christmas, and I'm Afraid Of Virginia Wolf.

CARLA CACKOWSKI (Gal Invincible) is an actor, improviser, and writer currently living in Los Angeles. She is a graduate of The Second City LA, Upright Citizens Brigade, and iO West and has played on mainstage improv teams at all three theaters. She toured the Caribbean, Canada, Alaska, and Europe performing with The Second City aboard Norwegian Cruise Lines. Carla has performed in festivals across the country, including the San Fran Sketchfest, Out of Bounds Comedy Fest (Austin, TX), Phoenix Improv Festival, Chicago Improv Festival, Del Close Marathon (NYC), United Solo Fest NYC, Hollywood Fringe Festival, and LA Improv Festival. Carla has written and performed four solo shows in the past four years that have toured Los Angeles, San Diego, Austin, and New York City. Monologues from one of these shows have been published by Applause Books in an anthology titled, Women's Comedic Monologues That Are Actually Funny (2014). She has been a member of SAG-AFTRA since 2002 and is currently on faculty as an improv teacher at The Second City in Hollywood.

SCHEDULE

Antonio Sacre - THE STORYTELLER (World Premiere)
Sun 9/7 (preview)
Fri 9/12 at 8pm (Opening night)
Sundays 9/14, 9/21 & 9/28 at 7pm
Additional Friday 9/26 at 8pm

Special Return Engagement of
Drew Droege's BRIGHT COLORS AND BOLD PATTERNS
Three nights only!
Sunday October 12 at 7p
Tuesday, October 14 & Thursday October 16 at 8pm

Carla Cackowski - GAL INVINCIBLE (World Premiere)
Four dates, Sundays at 7pm
November 16 & 23 and December 7 & 14

Ticket prices are $17.00 for all performances. Preview Tickets are $14.00. Tickets are available online at www.thesolocollective.com or www.brownpapertickets.com or by calling 323-739-4411.

Under the leadership of Paul Stein, The Solo Collective unites acclaimed solo artists to form an innovative company devoted exclusively to one-person performance. These 7 writer/performers are dedicated to supporting one another and delivering one-of-a-kind theater experiences. In residence at VS. Theatre in Los Angeles, The Solo Collective realizes one-person productions created by its' members with assistance from its' members. In their first season in 2013, The Solo Collective produced four World Premiere Solo Plays: Antonio Sacre's "Let Them Eat Meat", Brendan Hunt's "Five Years Since Amsterdam, Carla Cackowski "Sweatlodged" and Drew Droege's "Bright Colors and Bold Patterns". Additionally, The Solo Collective hosted 'six first-time soloists' and gave them the opportunity to perform original monologues in the company's development series called "LA VOICES".

VS. Theatre Company, a Not-For-Profit 501c-(3) Public Benefit Corporation, is a small, dedicated group of passionate artists devoted to producing original works and Los Angeles Premieres by the best contemporary playwrights in America. VS. was founded in 2004 based on a passion for riveting stories and live performance in an intimate setting. Recently named "one of the top theatre companies of the last decade" by the LA Weekly, VS. has produced or co-produced major contemporary playwrights including John Patrick Shanley, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Adam Rapp, Itamar Moses, and Neil LaBute. To date, VS. has produced or co-produced fourteen plays. Standouts include: the West Coast Premere of Keith Bunin's The Credeaux Canvas, which ran for nearly six months and played to sold out houses every night; In Arabia We'd All Be Kings (a co-production with The Elephant Theatre Company), named Best Production by the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle in 2008; On An Average Day, produced in Los Angeles and Chicago, garnering Critic's Choice in the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Backstage, and won or was nominated for several Ovation, Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, and Joseph Jefferson Awards; Blackbird by Adam Rapp which was nominated for three Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards including two for Best Lead Actor and three LA Weekly Awards including Best Production.

Most recently, The Los Angeles Premiere of Neil LaBute's The Mercy Seat, a co-production with the Ford Theatre as part of the Ford's prestigious 2011 [Inside] The Ford Winter Partnership Program. The Mercy Seat won two Backstage Reader's Choice Awards for Outstanding Performance and Production, won or was nominated for several LA Weekly Awards, and was voted a "Top Ten of The Year" by the Los Angeles Times. For more info, visit www.vstheatre.org.