SITTING AROUND BAKER'S TABLE: An Edward Allan-Baker Showcase To Be Presented At Studio 17

This New Year, Red Door Productions' Violet Levinson and Isabella Candillier will join forces with Josh Cromwell to present an Edward Allan Baker showcase, Sitting Around Baker's Table. Featuring two one-act plays by the award-winning playwright-A Dead Man's Apartment and Face Divided-the production explores the chaotic, funny, and heartbreaking realities of the human experience.

The showcase runs from Thursday, January 22, through Sunday, January 25, at Studio 17, with performances at 8:00 p.m. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available online via the Instant Seats website or through Instagram @red_doorproductions.

Though wildly different in tone, both one-act plays examine the complexities of relationships under pressure. A Dead Man's Apartment leans into hilarious farce, following a couple caught in a completely chaotic noontime affair, while Face Divided shifts to a stark emergency room, where a young couple is forced to confront a heartbreaking decision, providing a tumultuous emotional rollercoaster.

A Dead Man's Apartment features Jamie Ragusa as Nickie, a hardware store clerk who knows exactly what she wants-she just hasn't found it yet; Isabella Candillier as Valerie Marie, carrying enough teenage angst to fuel a small village; Simon James Gibson as Lonnie, the Romeo to Nickie's Juliet, at least in theory; and Penny Bittone as Al, tough on the outside with a soft, chewy center, fiercely protective of his sister and always ready to judge anyone who comes courting. Director Marcel Simoneau reflects on the project: "This play lets us dive into the raw humanity and buried trauma of its characters while leaning fully into their heightened, almost cartoonish energy-something that's as funny as it is heartbreaking."

In contrast, Face Divided grounds itself in emotional realism. Violet Levinson stars as Debbie Irons, a sharp-tongued young stay-at-home mother who fills her days with compulsive lies, resentment toward her husband, and endless "yacking" on the phone with her Best Friend, Kathy Martin. Josh Cromwell plays Freddie Irons, Debbie's husband, a janitor by day with school and his rock band by night, striving to give his family a better future, but is his dream truly for them or for himself? TT Jones appears as Sue Wilcox, a powerful, no-nonsense nurse whose rationality and professionalism ground the play, even as her tender humanity struggles to withstand the weight of the events unfolding around her. Face Divided director Kirsten Russell explains: "Every writer offers different challenges to a director. Baker is my favourite writer to be challenged by, mostly because he doesn't ask for much. What he wants is honesty. He wants simplicity and bravery. He wants it raw and real. It takes a special kind of courage to take on these flawed and beautifully broken characters. The trick, as the director, is to find the actors who can do this. With Face Divided, I have found three who not just can, but burn to spend time in the messy but quietly noble lives of Baker's people".

The performances will take place at Studio 17, 13 W 17th St, 3rd Floor. Baker's work explores universal truths that linger long after the curtain falls. Come see to find out why.