Ensemble Studio Theatre Announces First Light Festival

 ENSEMBLE STUDIO THEATRE (William Carden, Artistic Director, Paul Alexander Slee, Executive Director) and THE ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION  (Doron Weber, Program Director) proudly announce the 10th annual FIRST LIGHT Festival, which will run now through May 3rd  at E.S.T. (549 West 52nd Street).

First Light Festival 2008 is a presentation of new works commissioned by the EST/Sloan Project, an initiative designed to stimulate artists to create credible and compelling work exploring the worlds of science and technology and to challenge the existing stereotypes of scientists and engineers in the popular imagination. Now in its tenth season, The Ensemble Studio Theatre/Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Science & Technology Project (Carlos Armesto and Graeme Gillis, Program Directors) has premiered over 100 plays, dance and performance pieces, selected from proposals and submissions from around the country.  Each season the EST/Sloan Project commissions and develops new works, and presents the results, at various stages from first readings to fully mounted productions, in the FIRST LIGHT Festival.

A highlight of this year's Festival will be the closing event, a concert reading of The Physicists, Friedrich Durennmatt's classic of atomic espionage, directed by Mary Robinson and featuring a company of renowned E.S.T. members, including James Rebhorn, Laurence Luckinbill, and Peter Maloney. THE PHYSICISTS will be on E.S.T.'s Mainstage on Saturday, May 2nd, at 7pm.

In addition to the festival lineup of commissioned plays (including work by E.S.T. members Romulus Linney and Amy Fox), E.S.T. is pleased to announce the winners of this year's EST/Sloan commissions, led by Galileo Prize winner Tina Howe. The Galileo Prize, an award of $20,000, established by the EST/Sloan Project to encourage established playwrights to investigate aspects of science and technology in their work. Other commissionees include E.S.T. members Lloyd Suh and Shirley Lauro, and rising artists Sharyn Rothstein, Matthew Schatz, Jay Scheib, Tommy Smith, and Vern Thiessen.

All events take place at THE ENSEMBLE STUDIO THEATRE 549 West 52nd Street (between 10th & 11th Avenues). Readings and workshops are $10 on a first-come/first-served basis, or free with a Festival Pass, available for purchase at theatremania.com. Schedule varies; call for details. For reservations and a complete schedual of events please visit www.ensemblestudiotheatre.org