13th St. Rep Benefit to Include Works by Guare and LaBute

The Thirteenth Street Repertory Theatre (50 West 13th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues) will present "Five Story Walkup," a collection of new plays and monologues about the places we call home by John Guare, Neil LaBute, Laura Shaine Cunningham, Quincy Long, Daniel Frederick Levin, Clay McLeod Chapman, and Daniel Gallant.  Gallant directs the show, which runs from March 21st through April 14th, with all performances beginning at 7 PM.

The collection of plays "follows the travails of mismatched lovers, a webcam provocateur, small-town philosophers and urban pioneers as they strive to maintain or escape from their domestic situations.  These works cover wide narrative territory, exploring cityscapes and rural settings, but are tied together by an intimate focus on the bond between identity and home," state press materials. 

"Five Story Walkup" is a benefit to save the Thirteenth Street Repertory Theatre.  "As small theaters around Manhattan close their doors, The Thirteenth Street Repertory Theatre is engaged in a struggle against real estate developers.  The future of this historic arts organization is in danger, and the artists featured in 'Five Story Walkup' have donated their time and effort to benefit the Thirteenth Street Rep's Legal Fund.

It is fitting that a production mounted to save a theatrical home features plays and monologues focused on the theme of home.  New works by John Guare (author of the House of Blue Leaves, Six Degrees of Separation and the Tony-award-winning book of Two Gentlemen of Verona) and Neil LaBute (the writer and director of In the Company of Men, Bash: Latter-Day Plays and The Shape of Things) highlight the lineup, which also includes new short plays and monologues by the prolific Quincy Long (whose work has been staged at theaters including the Mark Taper Forum, the Atlantic Theater Company, E.S.T. and South Coast Rep); novelist, playwright and columnist Laura Shaine Cunningham (author of Sleeping Arrangements and Beautiful Bodies, as well as plays staged at Steppenwolf and Theater J); and monologue maestro Clay McLeod Chapman (creator of the downtown cult hit The Pumpkin Pie Show and author of the books Rest Area and Miss Corpus).  Playwright/librettist Daniel Frederick Levin (recipient of a Jonthan Larson Fellowship and the Richard Rodgers Development Award) and writer-director Daniel Gallant round out the evening with compelling pieces of their own."  Edith O'Hara produces.

Daniel Gallant (director) runs the theater program at the 92nd Street Y's Makor/Steinhardt Center.  His directing credits include premiers of three works by Tony-winner Mark O'Donnell and Laura Shaine Cunningham's Sleeping Arrangements (based on her celebrated memoir).  

Tickets are $17, $15 for seniors and $13 for students; visit www.TheaterMania.com or call 212 352-3101.  Visit www.13thstreetrep.org for more information.

Photo of John Guare by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.