Food for Thought Announces Spring Season

FOOD FOR THOUGHT, the lunch-time play reading series, under the Artistic Direction of its founder, Susan Charlotte, will celebrate its Fifth Anniversary when it opens its Spring 2005 season on Wednesday, February 23 with the New York premiere of a new Tennessee Williams' work Me, Vashya. FOOD FOR THOUGHT will continue its opening week the following day on Thursday, February 24 with the New York premiere of Cigarettes and Chocolate by Anthony Minghella, the Academy Award winning writer-director of The English Patient. The lunchtime play readings begin at 1:30pm, preceded by a light-sandwich lunch beginning at 12:30pm at the National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South (20th Street).

The Spring 2005 FOOD FOR THOUGHT season will feature a slate of over 25 play readings over 14 weeks through Thursday, May 26. The fifth anniversary season will feature eleven works by an array of writers including Arthur Miller, Ellen M. Violett, Thornton Wilder, August Wilson, Tom Stoppard, Susan Charlotte, Mark O'Donnell, Steve Martin and Nöel Coward, performed by some of New York's finest actors. Casting for FOOD FOR THOUGHT's Spring 2005 season is to be announced.

In addition to its lunchtime reading series FOOD FOR THOUGHT will continue its Friday Cocktail Hour Theatre series which will feature four play readings beginning at 6:30pm, preceded by cocktails at 5:30pm.

Sponsored by the National Arts Club, FOOD FOR THOUGHT was founded five years ago as a venue for the often-neglected one-act play. During its five-year history, FOOD FOR THOUGHT's audiences have enjoyed lunch followed by a performance of a one-act play by some of New York's finest stage actors. The roster of FOOD FOR THOUGHT casts include such noted performers as Kathleen Turner, Judd Hirsch, Christine Baranski, Judd Hirsch, Christine Baranski, Matthew Modine. Eric Stoltz, Marcia Gay Harden, Rosie Perez, Treat Williams, Elaine Stritch, Frances Sternhagen, Marian Seldes, Campbell Scott, Kyra Sedgwick, Bob Dishy, Anne Jackson, Eli Wallach, Tony Roberts, Christine Ebersole, Kathleen Chalfant, Lynn Redgrave, Simon Jones and Earle Hyman.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT will also present two special events as part of its Fifth Anniversary celebration.

On Friday, February 18, FOOD FOR THOUGHT will feature a reading of the play that launched the series, Love Divided By (by Susan Charlotte), which will be followed by a screening of a film adaptation of the work. The film, which features a score by Philip Glass opened the MOMA film theatre Titus II and has been shown in film festivals around the country.

On Monday, April 18, FOOD FOR THOUGHT will officially celebrate its Fifth Anniversary with its Annual Playwrights Fellowship when a playwriting grant will be awarded to a deserving playwright. The celebration will also feature a panel discussion titled Women and The Men They've Acted With during which a panel of acclaimed actresses will discuss their experiences acting in notable films and plays. Those scheduled to participate include Elizabeth Wilson (discussing Dustin Hoffman and The Graduate) and Louise Lasser (discussing Woody Allen and Bananas and Take The Money and Run), as well as long time Daily News film critic Kathleen Carroll who will discuss some of the men she's interviewed, including Robert Redford, Federico Fellini and John Cassavetes.

Tickets priced at $49 as well as subscriptions to multi-play series which include table seatings for lunch, can be purchased by calling (212) 362-2560. For additional information please visit www.foodforthoughtproductions.com.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT SPRING 2005 LUNCHTIME SCHEDULE (Please note: all readings begin at 1:30pm preceded by lunch at 12:30pm):

Wednesday, February 23/Thursday, March 31/Monday, May 9: Me, Vashya (Tennessee Williams)

Thursday, February 24/Wednesday, May 4: Cigarettes and Chocolate ( Anthony Minghella)

Monday, February 28/Wednesday, March 30/Thursday, April 28: I Can't Remember Anything (Arthur Miller)

Thursday, March 3/Wednesday, March 23/Monday, April 25/Monday, May 23: Present Perfect (Susan Charlotte) &

Dorothy Parker Gets The Last Word (adapted by Ellen M. Violett)

Thursday, March 10/Monday, April 11/Thursday, May 12: Still Life (Nöel Coward)

Friday, March 11/Wednesday, April 6/Monday, May 2: Marred Bliss (Mark O'Donnell) & The Boundary (Thornton Wilder)

Thursday, March 17/Monday, April 4/Wednesday, May 18: The Zig-Zag Woman (Steve Martin)

Monday, March 21: Testimonies (August Wilson) & Infancy (Tom Stoppard)

Thursday, May 26: Closing party of the season with a preview of the Fall 2005 season

FOOD FOR THOUGHT 2005 SPRING COCKTAIL HOUR THEATRE SCHEDULE:

(Please note all readings begin at 6:30pm, preceded by cocktails at 5:30pm):

Friday, March 18: Hands Across The Sea (Nöel Coward)
Friday, April 22: If Men Played Cards As Women Do (George S. Kaufman)
Friday, May 20: The Actor's Nightmare (Christopher Durang)
Friday, June 17: Overruled (George Bernard Shaw)