RRP Sets First Annual One Act Festival For 5/11-19

THE RAILROAD PLAYHOUSE (RRP) will present the Box Car Play Series First Annual One Act Festival featuring all three RRP playwrights in residence, Alex Goldberg, Ashlin Halfnight, and Louise Schwartz, directed by Seth Soloway and James Phillips. The One Act Festival will play a limited engagement at the Railroad Playhouse (27 South Water Street, Newburgh, NY).). Performances begin Friday, May 11 and continue through Saturday, May 19.

?As we move RRP towards its first traditional regional theater season in the fall of 2012, I felt it was critical that the spring season include a culminating event that would utilize all of our Playwrights in residence, be fully produced with sets, costumes, and lights, create an opportunity to build our repertoire of local actors, designers, directors, and showcase the space in a unique and artistically fulfilling way,? states Seth Soloway, RRP Artistic Director. ?With all of these elements in mind I conceived this One Act Festival. It will include a play from each RRP Playwright in Residence, utilize 6 actors, and each play will take place in a different corner of the theater.?

The Nostalgia Cure
By Louise Schwarz
Directed by Seth Soloway
Starring Kerry McGann as Farrah, James Phillips as Will and Edward Crawford as Liam
Growing up is a funny thing. In the wake of his divorce, Will wants to turn back the clock and hopes that Farrah will help him recapture the old days. Can shame re-shape a memory?

Lying Naked
By Alex Goldberg
Directed by Seth Soloway
Starring Amanda Perez as Lilly and Edward Crawford as Carter
Lily and Carter seem to be quite the happy couple; that is until Carter suspects Lily is seeing another man. As the battle begins in Lily's darkened boudoir, the lights come up on all the hidden truths between these two, which are stripped from the sheets one by one. In a play in which even the title is double-sided, Lily and Carter wrestle, both with one another, and with the question, is it really a lie...if you believe it?

Good Pictures
By Ashlin Halfnight
Directed by James Phillips
Starring Michael Monasterial as Meat and Gregory L. Wilson as George
One bloody night in a small town jail, an ailing immigrant and a young hustler construct an uneasy alliance ? and a desperate escape plan. A night-shift guard lies shot and dead outside a county jail cell. Two criminals, impossibly different, are stuck inside for five claustrophobic, brutal hours. Using a loaded gun, a flute, and dime-store candy, they rush to construct an escape plan before the morning shift arrives ? if they can avoid killing each other during the night, one of them might go free, and live to settle a score. Touching on issues of race, sexuality, and the question of justified murder, Good Pictures is an intense and gripping look at a night behind bars with a life hanging in the balance.

The production features scenic design by Jen Soloway, costume design by Jeannine Corbo, and lighting design by Emily Bean. Michael Castillo is the stage manager.

The One Act Festival plays the following regular schedule:

Fridays at 8 p.m. 
Saturdays at 8 p.m. 

Tickets are $20/$15 students/seniors ($25/$20 at the door) and are now available online at www.rrplayhouse.org. Tickets may also be purchased in-person at the theater ½ hour prior to performance. 

Running Time: 90 minutes

Website: rrplayhouse.org