Normal Ave Announces NAPseries 2020
 Playwrights And Directors

Normal Ave will launch its 2nd Annual NAPSeries (Normal Ave Playwrights Series) with 29-hour readings of four brand new plays. This year's festival will include Men Accumulate by Peter Kim George, On Trash Monsters by Gillian Beth Durkee, Sarah Sits Shiva for Herself by Megan Pope, and Seven Letter Names by Kristian O'Hare. All readings will take place January 10-12 at Normal Ave's Medicine Show Theatre, located at 549 W 52nd Street, and are free and open to the public.

"Almost 400 playwrights submitted work for consideration in this year's festival," said Normal Ave Executive Director Jeremy Landes, "The selection process was not an easy task, but we are so thrilled to be working with these eight brilliant writers and directors, and are honored to nurture and develop four fantastic new stories that truly redefine normal."

Men Accumulate by Peter Kim George, directed by Nicholas Polonio, follows a young woman imagining autism not as a disorder or disability, but as a way of relating differently and positively to her world. Readings of Men Accumulate will be at 5 PM on January 10 and 8 PM on January 11.

Peter Kim George (he/him) is a New York based playwright, alum of Ensemble Studio Theatre's Youngblood, finalist for SPACE Ryder Farm's Greenhouse Residency, and former member of The Actors' Studio Playwrights/Directors Unit. Prior to writing plays, Peter completed a PhD in English Language and Literatures from Brown University and wrote his dissertation on novelist George Eliot. Peter is also a freelance film critic, recent member of Film at Lincoln Center's Critics Academy, and teaching a course on New Korean Cinema at New School.

Nicholas Polonio (he/him) is a Filipino-American director based in Brooklyn. He has adapted and directed plays including Late Fame, A Phoenix Too Frequent, We are Wombats! and Isaac's Eye. He has assisted directors including Robert O'Hara, Tatiana Mallarino, and Knud Adams. Alum of the Williamstown Theater Festival Directing Corps, the Conservatory at Shakespeare's Globe, and the Young Vic Genesis Program. 2016 YoungArts Finalist in Spoken Theater. BFA in Directing from Rutgers Mason-Gross School of the Arts.

On Trash Monsters, by Gillian Beth Durkee, directed by Shannon Molly Flynn, brings us into the world of Jessica Bilson, who is horrified by a film on global warming she sees in school and decides to take control of her family's trash situation, only to discover there is a trash monster named O'Leary living in their basement garage. The Bilson family quickly find themselves caught up in a tornado of garbage, mononucleosis, Vivaldi busts, 3 AM secrets, doll houses, and a?? most importantly a?? the crushing guilt of feeling poisonous. Readings of On Trash Monsters will be at 5 PM on January 11 and 8 PM on January 12.

Gillian Beth Durkee (she/her) is a playwright/screenwriter hailing originally from Seattle. She is an alumna of EST/Youngblood. Her work has been developed or produced with the Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Workshop Theater, Current Harbor, Sam French OOB, the Sewanee Writers Conference, PTP/NYC, In the Water, Tiny Rhino, and more. She has been a Sanguine Project Playwright Finalist and a two-time O'Neill semi-finalist. Her screenplay The Mast Year won a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan foundation and she currently writes for the web series Adulting with Jane. Gillian also sings a cappella with Treble NYC. BA: Middlebury, MFA: Carnegie Mellon.

Shannon Molly Flynn (she/her) is an NYC-based, Seattle-reared director, producer, actor, and teaching artist. Her passion and empathy for humanity is what inspired her wild love affair with the theatre, all stemming from the drive to spread understanding of the human experience. There is no greater joy for her than being able to connect and house thoughtful, talented artists from all walks of life. Shannon directed Normal Ave's inaugural production of Really, Really, The Dream of the Burning Boy, This Play is Not About Monica Lewinksy and most recently the 2018-2019 Season closer, Sons of the Prophet.

In Sarah Sits Shiva for Herself by Megan Pope, directed by Kathleen Capdesuñer, Sarah is dying but masking it with beserk confidence. She decides to throw a shiva for herself (even though shivas are for dead people and she is still very much alive). Only 3 people show up. Her mom, her ex-girlfriend, and her mom's best friend Lou. Readings of Sarah Sits Shiva for Herself will be at 2 PM on January 11 and 5 PM on January 12.

Megan Pope (they/them) is a Brooklyn-based playwright and comedy person. Despite the last name, Megan is actually very Jewish. Megan's work includes Dox Modern Middle [Jewish Plays Project Finalist, Princess Grace Award Semi-Finalist], Sarah Sits Shiva For Herself [The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals, PAGE Finalist], and Lives In Transit [New York Film Festival]. Megan also produces podcasts for the Forever Dog Podcast Network, writes for BoogieManja Sketch Comedy, and has contributed to Interview Magazine. If you're lucky, you can catch Megan doing stand-up in a basement. B.A. Brown University. Dramatists Guild of America Member. Twitter @mpopetweets. Instagram @megspope.

Kathleen Capdesuñer (she/her) is a director and theatre-maker currently based in NYC. She is a 2019/20 The Civilians R&D Group Director, 2019/20 Manhattan Theatre Club Directing Fellow, 2018/2019 Roundabout Directing Fellow, 2017/18 McCarter Theatre Center Directing Apprentice, Latinx Theatre Commons Steering Committee Member, and The COOP Youth Advisory Board Member. Kathleen has developed work at: Roundabout Theatre Company, American Lore Theatre, Columbia/Signature, Ensemble Studio Theatre, McCarter Theatre Center, Teatro LATEA, Play x Play, Little y, and internationally in the Fringe Festival circuit. Kathleen is a first-generation Cuban-American from Kissimmee, Florida and committed to making equitable change in this industry. kcapdesuner.com

In Seven Letter Names, by Kristian O'Hare, directed by Christina Franklin, a group of white liberal hipsters indulge in a six-course farm-to-table meal of locally grown vegetables, ethically raised organic meats, and sustainably caught seafood. While avoiding the impending doom of the outside world, this play examines the hypocrisy of the bourgeoisie and human nature, its primitive instincts, unspeakable secrets, and inconceivable actions. Readings of Seven Letter Names will be at 8 PM on January 10 and 2 PM on January 12.

Kristian O'Hare (he/him) is a San Francisco-based writer and educator. His plays have been produced or developed in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Omaha, LA, NYC, San Francisco, and Sausalito. His plays have been semifinalists at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Playwrights Conference, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, and Seven Devils Playwrights Conference. His full-length play Like Poetry had a successful run in the New York International Fringe Festival. New York Times called it "a highly promising production...beautifully structured, with an impressive blend of poignancy and humor."

Christina Franklin (she/her) is a Brooklyn based theatre artist and teacher. She received a BFA in Directing, Playwriting, and Production from the University of The Arts and went on to work with various companies including The Lark, National Black Theatre, and The Signature. Recent directing and assisting credits include; The Wolves (The Professional Performing Arts School), For Colored Girls..., White Noise (The Public Theater) and Slave Play (NYTW) . She has written and directed for TADA! Youth Theater, earning several National Youth Theatre awards and nominations. Many thanks to the cast, crew, and incredible team at Normal Ave. Matthew 5:14!

Normal Ave believes in redefining normal by nurturing an inclusive community of fresh, diverse voices and inviting collaborative freedom at every stage of the artistic process. Normal Ave's accessible programming of new and existing works sparks curiosity, challenges perception, and welcomes their artists and audiences to think, listen, and respond in radical ways.

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