Soho Rep Announces Writer/Director Lab Readings

Soho Rep launches the 10th season of its highly popular Writer/Director Lab Reading Series, readings of the very newest work by writers and directors at Soho Rep on Monday, April 7 at 7pm with, playwright Mike Daisey's The Moon Is A Dead World, directed by Maria Goyanes -- the first of six new plays commissioned for the lab. On Monday, May 5, Soho Rep welcomes previous lab participants to celebrate the past decade with a 10th anniversary party at Soho Rep (46 Walker Street) in Manhattan.

The 2007-2008 WRITER/DIRECTOR LAB READING SERIES will include:

THE MOON IS A DEAD WORLD by Mike Daisey,
directed by Maria Goyanes on Monday, April 7

THE PAST IS NOT A FOREIGN COUNTRY:
(VERY PERSONAL) MAPS OF SEATTLE
by Mallery Avidon, directed by Jose Zayas on Monday, April 14

MR. APOCOPE by Amber Reed,
directed by Alec Duffy on Sunday, April 20

PRECIOUS LITTLE by Madeleine George,
directed by Miriam Weiner on Monday, April 28

IN THE LABYRINTH: A SPECTACLE WITH STORIES
by Dan LeFranc, directed by Linsay Firman on Monday, May 5

PUTTING THE DAYS TO BED by Deron Bos,
directed by Jimena Duca on Sunday, May 11

All readings at 7pm at Soho Rep (46 Walker Street) are FREE and open to the public on a first come, first served basis. No reservations are necessary.

Now in its tenth season, Soho Rep's WRITER/DIRECTOR LAB READING SERIES continues to be a cultural beacon in the New York City playwriting landscape, providing a welcome home for new writers and directors to generate new plays. Founded and chaired by Linsay Firman and Laramie Dennis in 1998, then run by Sarah Benson and Jason Grote, and now by Maria Goyanes and Daniel Manley, the Lab provides an artistic support network for writers and directors and fosters new collaborations. What began as an informal group that met to share new work has blossomed into a comprehensive program, which annually attracts over 300 applications.

The lab commissions six writers to create a new project from scratch, working alongside a director for nine months and culminating in a free public reading series every April and May. The free presentations, including leading NY actors have attracted a loyal following and typically play to full capacity at Soho Rep's space.

Lab alums who we have supported early in their careers include David Adjmi, Annie Baker, Neena Beeber, Brooke Berman, Adam Bock, Thomas Bradshaw, Sheila Callaghan, Mallery Catlett, Steve Cosson, Eisa Davis, Melissa James Gibson, Jason Grote, Brooke O'Harra, Anne Kauffman, Davis MacCallum, Jay Scheib, Jenny Schwartz and Anne Washburn.

For many artists the Soho Rep Lab is the first institutional vote of confidence they receive-and one that comes at a crucial point in their artistic development. In addition to nourishing Soho Rep's programming, the Lab continues to feed the theater ecology of New York and further a field. Commissioned in the Lab, Adam Bock's THE THUGS went on to enjoy a sold-out extended run on our Mainstage, directed by Anne Kauffman whom Adam met in the Lab. Other Lab projects that have gone on for further production include: THE INTERNATIONALIST (13P / The Vineyard), MARIA/STUART by Jason Grote (upcoming, Wooly Mammoth, DC), PURITY by Thomas Bradshaw (Performance Space 122), MARIE ANTOINETTE by David Adjmi (Sundance Lab/The Public), HAMILTON TOWNSHIP by Jason Grote (upcoming Soho Rep 2009), BRIAN by Katherine Ryan (13P), PENINSULA by Madelyn Kent (Soho Rep 2006), SUITCASE by Melissa James Gibson (Soho Rep 2005), THE VOMIT TALK OF GHOSTS by Kevin Oakes (The Flea), APPARITION by Anne Washburn (Connelly Theater), and THE TRIPLE HAPPINESS by Brooke Berman (Second Stage).

The writers and directors who Soho Rep first supports in the Lab often go on to work at theaters including: The Atlantic Theater, Primary Stages, The Vineyard Theatre, The Public Theater, MCC, Manhattan Theater Club, New York Theater Workshop, Sundance, The Denver Center, The Huntington (Boston), Yale Rep, Soho Theater (London), and many more.

To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the lab, an anthology of plays is in the works for publiciation during the 2008/2009 season.

Maria Goyanes and Daniel Manley are co-chairs of the 2007-2008 WRITER/DIRECTOR LAB READING SERIES.

Under the leadership of new Artistic Director Sarah Benson and Executive Director Alexandra Conley, Soho Rep is dedicated to cultivating and producing visionary, uncompromising, and exuberant new plays. They perform to one of the youngest adult audiences in New York City, with over three-quarters of its audience aged 18-35.

Since 2000, Soho Rep productions have garnered eight OBIE Awards, most recently for Playwriting to Adam Bock and Direction to Anne Kauffman both for THE THUGS, four Drama Desk nominations for their critically acclaimed production of FRANKENSTEIN, the Oppenheimer Award for EVERYTHING WILL BE DIFFERENT, and two Kesselring Awards for Melissa James Gibson and Mark Schultz. In recent years, Soho Rep has presented plays by established and emerging theatre artists such as Richard Maxwell, Mac Wellman, Young Jean Lee and The Flying Machine. Soho Rep opened its current season last October with John Jesurun's PHILOKTETES followed by the critically acclaimed Nature Theater of Oklahoma's NO DICE this past December.

For more information about Soho Rep, visit www.sohorep.org.

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