Rich Orloff's 'Couples' to Play WorkShop Theater in May

The Workshp Theater Company will present a series of two-character plays focusing on love and desire. All the plays are written by Rich Orloff, whose plays have enjoyed production on all seven continents, Antarctica included. Entitled Couples, the show consists of eight short plays presented together in one evening for the first time. The shows have previously been featured separately in festivals across the country, winning such awards as the Tennessee Williams Playwriting Competition and Palm Springs National Short Play Festival Circle's Choice Award.  The production runs May 9 through 19.

Featured plays include:

Matterhorn, the winner of 2005 Palm Springs National Short Play Festival Circle's Choice Award, about a bickering couple waiting in line at Disneyland coming up with a novel solution to their marital woes.

Class Dismissed, in which a college professor involved is forced to resign in a scandal, when one of his students arrives in his office with a provocative question. 

Lion Tamer, about a woman giving a man a tour of the home she's selling when the conversation shifts from "'for-sale' to foreplay."

Afternoon Sun, the winner of 1998 Tennessee Williams Playwriting Competition, follows a man and a woman meeting in a hotel for a tryst, where the woman gets her need met by a particularly surprising source. 

Heart of the Fire is the story of a waitress in an East Village bar who gets an unwanted visit and an unpleasant request from a man she knows.

Oh Happy Day, follows two men in a long-term relationship unwinding at home after work, where one has a surprise present for the other.

Invisible Woman is a look into the multilayered thoughts and emotions of a shy women when her self-satisfied boyfriend asks her, "How are you?" 

Right Sensation is about an eager couple who meet in a bar and end up in an apartment, both hoping for sex but ending up with something more. 

The four directors for Couples include David Gautschy, Ron Beverly, Paula D'Alessandris, and Philip Emeott. The cast includes Anthony Aibel, Leslie Alexander, C.K. Allen, Michael Anderson, Marie-Pierre Beausejour, Peter Farrell, Ken Glickfeld, Justin Holcomb, Cailin McDonald, Richard Mover, Wende O'Reilly, Vinnie Penna, Jaqueline M. Raposo, Christine Verleny, Jess Cassidy White, and L.B. Williams. Michael Palmer is the Stage Manager.

The show runs Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 pm, May 9 through 19.  Tickets are $15; $12 for students with valid ID.  For reservations, call (212) 695-4173, extension 4.  The WorkShop Theater Company's Jewel Box Theater is located at 312 W. 36th St, on the 4th floor, just off 8th Avenue.