Theatre East's 5X5 Drama Series Returns This Week

Five commissioned short plays, all celebrating the perfection and endless possibilities found on an empty stage. This intimate performance is a truly unique New York experience.

The five plays include AFTER EDEN by Jeff Athey, directed by Andrea Huckaba, and featuring Jeff Gorcyca, Benedetta Spinetti, and Emma Vierheilig, STAR CHILD BLUES by Oliver Palmer, directed by Jeff Whitted, and featuring Tom Green, Chapman Hyatt, Mike McNulty, and Matthew Napoli, (GHOST) LIGHT by travis tate, directed by Caterina Nonis, featuring Herb Benjamin, Erin Despanie, and Toni Kwadzogah, BARRIER ISLANDS by Adam Kraar, directed by Avery Banks, featuring Caroline Jewell and Christa Kimlicko Jones, and CRAFT by Shaun Bennet Fauntleroy, directed by Tony M. Williams II, featuring Judson Jones and Rachel Towne. The plays will be presented live and in person at Theatre East's new artistic home in LIC. All five playwrights are members of Theatre East's Writer's Room, a program founded in 2020 where writers and actors work together to workshop new works for the stage.

The series was founded in 2016 to bring great new plays beyond the footlights and into nontraditional spaces like breweries, rooftops, and taverns to provide an immersive and unique audience experience. Beginning in 2021, the series moved into the theater, but the spirit of creating theatre that can be performed anywhere continues. Fulfilling one of the company's core beliefs to make theatre more accessible to all, tickets are available on a suggested donation basis.