Gene Frankel Theatre Says, "Watch Us Make a Festival!"

I get a lot of releases, but this is especially interesting because it takes the whole open-rehearsal idea, which is fast coming into vogue, and explodes it, letting these audiences see auditions and casting and just about everything else short of hiking up one's skirt in the bathroom.

Here's the information, courtesy of publicist Sam Morris:

GENE FRANKEL THEATRE

PRESENTS

SHOTGUN THEATRE FESTIVAL:
THEATRE UNDER THE GUN

The Gene Frankel Theatre (24 Bond Street) will be presenting the Shotgun Theatre Festival: Theatre Under the Gun, which will run January 8-10 and January 15-18. The festival aims to create spontaneous theater in a compressed period of time while allowing an audience to witness the theatrical process in its entirety; from auditions and casting through the staging of twenty eight original works. The festival will provide a vivid and unique glance into the world of theatrical and artistic production, while providing a platform for playwrights, actors, and directors to exercise their craft in an exciting and creative environment.

The January 8 and 15 shows are "audition nights," where actors will perform monologues and short solo performances (including dances, songs, and stand-up). The playwright and director teams will also be picked live in front of the audience on those two evenings, and the casts will be determined.

The "performance nights" take place January 9, 10, 16 and 17, and each evening will see seven short original works be performed (all inspired literally or metaphorically by a shotgun). The works will each have been written in the time between the previous audition night and that's evening's performance. Each performance night will also feature a guest music artist performing in between the plays. They include singer/songwriter Neely Bridges (1/9), and musicians Rueben Butchart (1/10), Michael David Bryson (1/16), and Don Peavy (1/17).

At the conclusion of each performance night, the audience will select two plays to move onto the final day of the festival, January 18, where one of the eight audience favorites will be awarded the festival winner by a panel of esteemed guest judges. After the festival, the winning play will be further developed into a full length production, to which The Gene Frankel Theater will donate its theatre space to. Musician Dan Costello will be the guest music artist on 1/18.

The Shotgun Theatre Festival is being presented by Gail Thacker/The Gene Frankel Theatre, Janus Surratt, Diamondo Stratakos, and the City Actors Theatre Company.

Performance times are at 8pm, except for the final night of the festival which begins at 7pm. Tickets are $10 for each night (tickets for the final night are $20), and festival passes may be purchased for $25 (one weekend) or $60 (all festival pass). Tickets can be purchased at The Gene Frankel Theatre, at 24 Bond Street (just off of Lafayette).

Click here for more information on The Gene Frankel Theatre.

Sphere: Related Content