Corkscrew Theater Festival Begins Performances Today

Following two acclaimed seasons, Corkscrew Theater Festival begins performances today, July 10, at the Paradise Factory (64 East 4th Street, Manhattan). Known for providing early-career artists with a high level of production support, the third edition of the summer festival, running until August 3 at the Paradise Factory (64 East 4th Street, Manhattan), features four world premieres, four workshop productions, and four readings performed in repertory over four weeks - 80 performances in all. As in past years, special attention has been given to theater makers who are developing work through tight-knit collaborations.

Each year, the festival's commitment to providing early-career artists a high level of production support has deepened. For the 2019 edition, festival Artistic Director Thomas Kapusta and Associate Artistic Director Alex Hare worked for the first time with casting directors Juliet Axon and Ari Rudess to cast the season.

Artistic Director Thomas Kapusta said, "The wonderful plays that make up the third year of Corkscrew Theater Festival feature characters who, when faced with crises of faith in institutions, movements, and people they've relied on, turn to the products of our popular culture for signs and deeper truths. From social media influencers to Yentl, Venus and Serena Williams to the American labor movement, these characters plumb the depths of our collective consciousness and emerge with a vision for how to remake themselves, if not their world. Facing so many of the same crises, our artists are in turn remaking our understanding of theater: conventional notions of audience, activism, and action will be challenged at Corkscrew this year.

Taking a cue from our artists, we're remaking Corkscrew into a festival that does more than just showcase tight-knit collaborations, but incites and embodies a collaborative spirit itself. This deepened commitment to our mission appears on our Mainstage, as we lengthen our plays' runs, foster an intimate creative relationship with our teams through our Directors/Producers Lab and Writers Group, and pilot a festival-wide casting process. We're also expanding our understanding of our mission as we tackle four plays on a flexible repertory set in our second theater, Corkscrew Downstairs."

Producing Director Alexandra Cadena, who spearheads Corkscrew Downstairs: "What's most exciting about the Downstairs series is that it's furthering the festival's mission of absolute collaboration. We are taking early-career artists, who are presenting very different workshop productions, and having them all inhabit a shared living space-where they can create, risk, and fail together. I can't wait to see what our Downstairs designer team (set designer Dan Daly, lighting designer Christina Tang, and props designer Cinthia Chen) dream up in conjunction with each of the four projects."

All performances as part of Corkscrew Theater Festival will take place at the Paradise Factory (64 East 4th Street, Manhattan). Tickets are now on sale. Individual tickets to the four mainstage productions are $24, and tickets to the downstairs series are $20, with discount passes available to those seeing more than one show. All four readings are free. Visit corkscrewfestival.org to learn more or call 347.954.9125 for more information.

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