Playwrights Realm Presents INK'D Writing Fellows Series, Now thru 5/18

The Playwrights Realm www.playwrightsrealm.org, under the leadership of Artistic Director Katherine Kovner, presents INK'D, a four-play reading series of works in development by its Writing Fellows, tonight, May 15, through Friday, May 18, at The Wild Project, 195 East 3rd Street. The free INK'D readings are at 7:00pm and are followed by a reception.

The current crop of Writing Fellows are Mia Chung, J.C. Lee, Ethan Lipton and Nastaran Ahmadi.

"The Writing Fellows Residency is at the heart of what we do­helping writers write," said Ms. Kovner, founder of Playwrights Realm, now New York's largest theater dedicated solely to supporting early-career playwrights through Off Broadway productions, new plays and professional development. "Through the year-long program, Playwrights Realm gives promising, early-career playwrights sustained artistic and institutional support to develop a new play from a rough draft to a production-ready state."

The INK'D readings are the culmination of the Writing Fellows' developmental process.

The plays are:

Tuesday, May 15, at 7:00pm
You for Me for You by Mia Chung, directed by Meiyin Wang

With humor and a light touch, You for Me for You tells the story of two North Korean sisters who make a bargain with a smuggler to flee to the United States. When one sister is unable to make the treacherous border-crossing, the other sister races across time and space to try to save her.

Wednesday, May 16, at 7:00pm
The Inexplicable Disappearance of Hector Villaraigosa by J.C. Lee, directed by Stephen Brackett

Hector Villaraigosa has disappeared without a trace, and as his friends and family desperately search for him, one girl, Marabell Kelly, thinks she knows what's up: aliens. The Inexplicable Disappearance of Hector Villaraigosa is a sci-fi thriller about the limits of reason and the pain of growing up.

Thursday, May 17, at 7:00pm
Red-Handed Otter by Ethan Lipton, directed by Mike Donahue

Not long ago, Paul had a girlfriend, a cat, and few complaints. Now? Well, at least he's got his health. A quirky workplace comedy about the need to be cared for, passive aggression, and how one animal changes the lives of five people.

Friday, May 18, at 7:00pm
Exile by Nastaran Ahmadi, directed by Pirronne Yousefzadeh

An Iranian-American video game tester develops a game set in a post-nuclear-apocalypse Iran, even as her own relationship becomes a fallout zone. In Exile, loyalties shift quickly, and staying alive is the only way to win.

Playwrights Realm Fellowship program is funded in part by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Playwrights Realm produces an Off-Broadway play each year. Earlier this season, the company world premiered the acclaimed Crane Story by Jen Silverman and directed by Ms. Kovner. Crane Story was developed over four years with a series of workshops and readings. Previous Playwrights Realm full productions include last season's Gonzalo Rodriguez Risco's Dramatis Personae, Christopher Wall's Dreams of the Washer King (2010), Anna Ziegler's Dov and Ali (2009) and Anton Dudley's Substitution (2008).

Tickets for INK'D are free...and so are scripts for producers and directors interested in reading the plays. To request copies of the plays, contact Associate Producer Alyssa Anderson via phone at 212-255-3089 or via email at aanderson@playwrightsrealm.org.