Looking Glass Theatre Presents Plays by Women, 5/25-6/25

The Spring 2006 Writer/Director's Forum, a festival of workshop productions of plays featuring new writers and directors, will run Thursday, May 25 – Sunday, June 25 at The Looking Glass Theatre (422 West 57th Street). There will be no performances the weekend of June 1-4.

"The Looking Glass Theatre's Writer/Director Forum is part of the company's mission to reflect life on the stage with truth and theatricality while exploring a female vision/aesthetic," according to press notes. The festival is held twice a year at The Looking Glass Theatre. This year's spring festival features the work of 10 emerging female directors tackling both classic and new works. "Throughout the four-week festival, directors will present a wide range of styles, from the classic prose of Shakespeare to a new work by Melissa Fendell, Dick 'n Spooner, which follows the lives of one sitcom-perfect couple's quest for happiness in the form of eternal popularity."

The full performance schedule is as follows:

Week 1, from May 25-28, will feature Euripides' Medea in a production directed by Candace O'Neil Cihocki. "A modern and even creepier version of the tragic Greek tale of a woman scorned and the revenge that will be taken. A show not for the faint of heart."

Hollywood Lights by Suzanne Wesley, directed by Emily Plumb, will also be presented that week. "Hollywood Lights is an unpredictable evening where the lines between what we expect from horror, and how we actually experience it, are blurred."

Week 2 will be from June 8-11. Population Growth by Aoise Stratford, directed by Nikki Rothenberg, will be performed. "Dating is awkward. The exponential growth of the world's population is really not helping things."

Muncie & Mayhem in 'Tea' and 'Rats' by Laylage Courie, directed by Rose Ginsberg, is about two best friends/enemies (who) engage in an impassioned battle of wits and domestic prowess, as they struggle with an infestation of strangely scholarly rodents.

Aquarium by Lila Rose Kaplan, directed by Aliza Shane, is "the story of wondrous and strange creatures - a fishy family of high achievers. In here, to keep from drowning in gourmet algae and filtered water, all you can do is write."

Week 3 is from June 15-18. Things That Go Hump in the Night by Peggy Dougherty, directed by Ain Rashida Sykes, will be performed. "Phyllis just wants her night, but being a single mother, she is torn between the child and the man who makes her feel like a woman."

Shakespeare's Richard III will be directed by Kelly Haydon. "Revenge is sweet...and highly entertaining! A ragged band of outlaw thespians gleefully perform the famous hunchback's violent campaign to win the crown of England."

Week 4 is from June 22-25. The Patriots by Kate Marks, directed by Tzipora Kaplan, concerns "Peace! Peace! Peace on Earth! ...or not."

Dick 'n Spooner by Melissa Fendell, directed by Jill Landaker is a satire that "follows the lives of one sitcom-perfect couple's quest for happiness in the form of eternal popularity."

Swimming in the Ocean by Kato McNickle, directed by Elizabeth Sturrus, is about "two sisters (who) struggle against the current that pulls Gai toward the future, Becca to the past. Gai must decide between the love of a simple man or her sister and their childhood memories together.

The cast of the plays include Francile Albright, Enid Cortés, Carolyn Demisch, Drummond Doroski, Sofia Dubrawsky, Rob Esris, Leigh Feldpausch, Dain Geist, Lara Gold, Dayna Graber, Robert Grossman, Annette Guarrasi, M. Alan Haley, Tara Henderson, Erin Holmes, Kelly Hummert, Don Jeanes, Lane Keogh, Sarah Kozinn, Margot Littlefield, April Grace Lowe, Lauren Maxwell, Katie Mazzola, Tom McCartan, Carolyn Morrison, Heidi Niedermeyer, Christie Oakes, Glenn Peters*, Kirsta Peterson, Patrick Pizzolorusso, Gretchen Poulos, Candice Renee, Andrew Rothkin, Aaron Sandler, Josh Silverman, Scott Simpson, Frank Tamburin, Shane Wallis, Bradley Wells, Akilah Williams, Lindsay Wolf*, Rob Yang and Nick Zelletz (*--appears courtesy of Actors' Equity Association).

Tickets are $15. For reservations, call (212) 352-3101 or visit www.theatermania.com. TDF vouchers are accepted. Visit www.lookingglasstheatrenyc.com for more information.