Will Eno News

Third Rail opens our season with a play we have been dying to produce since it was the hit of Portland Center Stage's 2009 JAW Festival, MIDDLETOWN by Will Eno. The residents of Middletown lead lives that are probably not too different from ours. They wake up, go to work, say hello to their neighbors, fix the plumbing, seek advice on parenting, and try to live lives that are as rewarding as possible. It's all fairly ordinary. And yet...ordinary doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of this quirky, word-frenzied, refraction of OUR TOWN. MIDDLETOWN is a quizzical fable about life in all its sweetness and pain, joy and wonder, beginnings and endings.

Due to critical acclaim and popular demand, The Flea Theater announces the extension of the World Premiere of Kim Davies' SMOKE, directed by Flea Resident Director Tom Costello. Extension performances will run October 9- November 9.

Slightly Altered States Theater Company presents the World Premiere of MR. LANDING TAKES A FALL, an absurdist comedy by Sari Caine, directed by Sherri Eden Barber. Inspired by Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, the play was a PlayPenn 2013 semi-finalist and short-listed for both the 24/7 (UK) and the Ronald Duncan Award (UK). Previews begin tonight, September 12 at The Flea Theater with opening slated for Monday, September 22.

Billy Magnussen joins his previously announced chums - Kristine Nielsen, David Hyde Pierce and Sigourney Weaver - for a reading of Noel Coward's A SONG AT TWILIGHT. The VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE friends are reuniting for a benefit performance to kick off the 2014/2015 season of The Flea Theater. The performance will take place on Monday, September 15. A cocktail reception begins at 6 pm followed by the reading at 7pm and then a talkback with the actors. Flea Artistic Director, Jim Simpson directs the event at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center (199 Chambers St).

Kathryn Rossetter, who appeared on Broadway opposite Dustin Hoffman in Death Of a Salesman and is currently head of the MFA Acting Program at the New School for Drama, will join Adam LeFevre (Broadway's Footloose, Mamma Mia, Guys and Dolls) in the World Premiere of MR. LANDING TAKES A FALL, an absurdist comedy by Sari Caine. Inspired by Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, the play was a PlayPenn 2013 semi-finalist and short-listed for both the 24/7 (UK) and the Ronald Duncan Award (UK). It is produced by Slightly Altered States Theater Company and directed by Sherri Eden Barber. Previews begin September 12 at The Flea Theater with opening slated for Monday, September 22.

'Mad Men' star Vincent Kartheiser and Broadway's Larry Pine (CASA VALENTINA) will play Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler, respectively, in BILLY & RAY, Mike Bencivenga's new play -- directed by the legendary director/writer/producer Garry Marshall -- being given its NY premiere this fall at the Vineyard Theatre (108 E. 15 St.), with previews scheduled to begin October 1 prior to an official opening on October 20, it has been announced by Vineyard's Artistic Directors Douglas Aibel and Sarah Stern.

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Sarah Benson and Executive Director Cynthia Flowers, Soho Rep. has continually produced work by bold artists who harness the intimate power of a 73-seat black box theater to create transformative experiences. Soho Rep.'s 2014-15 season, announced today, comprises three new works that each speak to the civic power of theater through their own distinctive form.

Staircase Theatre presents Movin' On Up-Staged Readings. In its inaugural year, Movin' On Up will feature two brand new one act plays by two local, emerging (and very talented) playwrights, Scott Button and CR Packer. Scott Button's play, Better is a claustrophobic thriller and a dissection of class in our contemporary world. Better features Vancouver theatre veterans, Dawn Petten and Katherine Venour. CR Packer's play, Avril, Finally revolves around a funeral and three men brought together in unlikely circumstances. Avril, Finally features the talents of Sebastian Kroon, Byron Noble and Robert Salvador. The two plays will be directed by local directing star, Chelsea Haberlin. Movin' On Up-Staged Readings takes place at the CBC Studio 700 today, August 23rd, 2014.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) has announced fall programming at OBERON, featuring limited engagements of exciting work by groundbreaking artists. The lineup for October and November includes POOL (NO WATER) by Mark Ravenhill, created by One Year Lease Theater Company and directed by Ianthe Demos; SHIDA, a new musical in development, written and performed by Broadway powerhouse Jeannette Bayardelle and directed by Andy Sandberg; and RUBY WAX: SANE NEW WORLD, written and performed by the incomparable comedienne and actor Ruby Wax.

American Theater Company (ATC) kicks off its 30th Anniversary season with two Chicago premieres exploring healthcare in America: Anna Deavere Smith's documentary Let Me Down Easy featuring ATC Ensemble Member Usman Ally, and Mercy Strain by Michael Milligan, top prize winner at the 2013 Edinburgh Festival. ATC's production is the first time Let Me Down Easy will be performed by an artist other than Deavere Smith.

The Flea Theater will present the World Premiere of Kim Davies' SMOKE, directed by Flea Resident Director Tom Costello (The Wundelsteipen) and featuring members of The Bats, the resident acting company at The Flea. Previews begin tonight, August 22 with opening slated for September 7. Says Producing Director Carol Ostrow, 'where 50 Shades of Grey dances on the surface of BDSM, Smoke cuts to the core.

The Flea Theater will present the World Premiere of Kim Davies' SMOKE, directed by Flea Resident Director Tom Costello (The Wundelsteipen) and featuring members of The Bats, the resident acting company at The Flea. Previews begin August 22 with opening slated for September 7. Says Producing Director Carol Ostrow, "where 50 Shades of Grey dances on the surface of BDSM, Smoke cuts to the core.

#serials@theflea is a raucous late night play competition featuring The Bats and some of NYC's hottest young playwrights and directors. This event, which runs Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 11pm*, includes 1 FREE beer with the purchase of a ticket. All tickets are only $12.

Third Rail is beyond thrilled to announce that we are taking our first steps towards finding a permanent theatre to call our own! When we leave the Winningstad Theatre for the CoHo Theatre in January of 2015, it will be for the last time as we go searching for the brick and mortar space that will be our home for years to come.

Slightly Altered States Theater Company presents the World Premiere of MR. LANDING TAKES A FALL, an absurdist comedy by Sari Caine, directed by Sherri Eden Barber. Inspired by Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, the play was a PlayPenn 2013 semi-finalist and short-listed for both the 24/7 (UK) and the Ronald Duncan Award (UK). Previews begin September 12 at The Flea Theater with opening slated for Monday, September 22.

Sundance Institute and the LUMA Foundation today announced that the two organizations will again collaborate to host the second Sundance Institute | LUMA Foundation Theatre Directors Retreat in Arles, France, July 29 through August 11. The Retreat is one of 10 residential programs hosted by Sundance Institute this summer, collectively representing 15 weeks of support and mentorship for promising independent artists in theatre and film from the United States and around the world.

Legendary director/writer/producer Garry Marshall will direct the Vineyard Theatre's New York debut of Mike Bencivenga's comedy BILLY & RAY this fall, with performances set to begin October 2 and an opening night scheduled for October 20 at The Vineyard, it has been announced by Douglas Aibel, Artistic Director, and Sarah Stern, Co-Artistic Director.

Rubicon Theatre Company is offering a special three-hour acting master class with guest instructor Conor Lovett of Gare St. Lazare Ireland on Thursday, July 24, 2014 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. Students 20 or older may make a reservation by visiting www.rubicontheatre.org or calling (805) 667-2900, ext. 234. Tuition is $50. Those who wish to audit may do so for $30. All participants should memorize a short contemporary monologue.

The Playwrights Foundation's 37th Annual Bay Area Playwrights Festival (BAPF) will take place today, July 18-27, 2014 at the Thick House Theater in San Francisco.

The work of playwright Will Eno is one of the most discussed and debated subjects in the theatre world today. Eno, a Brooklyn-based artist whose work is more often produced in Europe than it is in the U.S., is the creator of such controversial plays as Thom Pain (based on nothing), Middletown and, most recently The Realistic Joneses starring Toni Collette, Michael C. Hall, Tracy Letts and Marisa Tomei.