Celebrating Ten Years of New Plays from Around the World
15 World, American & NY Premieres from 11 Countries ~ 4 New American Plays Published
1 OBIE Award for "unique contribution to the Off Broadway theatre community."
RECOMMENDED SUMMER READING
BY SOME FAVORITE PLAY CO. ARTISTS
Bryan Batt (AMC's hit show Mad Men)
Master of Ceremonies for Play Co.'s 2010 Cabaret Gourmet
pays tribute to his eccentric, loving mother in:
Praise for SHE AIN'T HEAVY, SHE'S MY MOTHER:
"I always knew that Bryan Batt was a wonderful actor, but now it turns out that he's a terrific writer as well. It's just not fair. In She Ain't Heavy, She's My Mother, Bryan's tales of his family, his New Orleans childhood, and his career are hilarious, beautifully observed, and touching. I've met Bryan's mother, and he does her proud—they both deserve a float at Mardi Gras." -Paul Rudnick
"Bryan Batt has written an achingly funny and deeply moving portrait of his beautiful New Orleanian mother. This book is a cause for celebration, a Mardi Gras–sized celebration!
-Patricia Clarkson
"Bryan Batt's childhood is like a mash-up of a Tennessee Williams play and a Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland movie. This memoir is a gumbo of fun, feeling, and fortitude in the face of all that life has to throw at you. A fairy tale come true!" -Alan Cumming
While in his trailer between
scenes on the set of AMC's hit show Mad Men, Bryan Batt was
struck by his reflection in the mirror. Dressed in his 1960s-era
Sal Romano costume he was the spitting image of his late father. Yet
while he had inherited his father's looks, he was blessed with his
mother's heart. It was thanks to her inspiring love and indomitable
humor and spirit that he was able to become what he was always meant
to be: a very "theatrical" man, and eventually a "Mad Man."
In this "momoir" Bryan
pays tribute to his mother. Gayle Batt, a true-to-form, strong-willed
steel magnolia, the kind who wears black chiffon cocktails dresses while
eight months' pregnant and doesn't let anything, from her husband's
infidelity and alcoholism to her own struggle with cancer, tear her
family apart. In She Ain't Heavy, She's My Mother: A Memoir
(Harmony Books) Bryan regales readers with outrageous anecdotes of growing
up gay in 1970s New Orleans and brings to life his mother's infectious
enthusiasm and unfailing kindness, painting a colorful portrait of the
Deep South that readers everywhere will enjoy.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
BRYAN BATT (pictured here with our very own Lauren Weigel & Kate Loewald)
has won two Screen Actors Guild Awards and is a native New Orleanian
actor, designer, fund-raiser, and civic activist. He plays Salvatore
Romano on AMC's Emmy, Golden Globe, and Peabody Award–winning drama
Mad Men. He has had many leading and principal roles in Broadway
productions, and he and his partner of twenty one years, Tom Cianfichi,
own the acclaimed Hazelnut gift and home accessory shop in New Orleans,
which has been featured in the New York Times, House Beautiful,
InStyle, Southern Accents, and other publications.
SHE AIN'T HEAVY, SHE'S MY MOTHER
By Bryan Batt
Harmony Books
288 pages | $24.00 | ISBN: 978-0-307-58885-2
www.bryanbatt.com
Brooke Berman (playwright of Play Co.'s production of SMASHING, 2003)
chronicles her life as an artist in New York in:
Praise for NO PLACE LIKE HOME:
Brooke Berman
is the real deal: a miraculous, soul-seeking, honest artist who tells
her story with humor, insight and a deep and abiding respect for this
journey we cal life. No Place Like Home
is a gift to artists and dreamers everywhere who yearn to find their
place in the daunting world of art, commerce, and real estate.-Rebecca
Walker, author of Baby Love: Choosing Motherhood
After A Lifetime of Ambivalence
Ms. Berman 's new book chronicles
39 different apartments (over 20 years), starting in the Midwest, then
leaping to the East Village in 1988 and the consequent trials involved
in getting started in the theater, the further trials and issues surrounding
having been raped by a stranger and then, after a lot of hard work,
the path that emerged -- the Juilliard fellowship, working with Marsha
Norman, Chris Durang, Maria Irene Fornes, and the subsequent foundation
of a real playwright's life. No Place Like Home is a love letter to
the American theater and a testament to the miracles that can happen
as a result of committing with one's whole heart. Published by Random
House, "No Place Like Home" will be available in stores on
June 8, 2010.
About this saga, Ms. Berman states, "I have lived in 39 apartments
in New York City, some for years, others for a few weeks or months while
in between more stable places. For reasons mundane and dramatic, pedestrian
and also absurd, I have moved again and again and again. I used to joke
that as soon as I put my address on my checks, I would be forced to
move again".
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
BROOKE BERMAN is an
award-winning playwright and screenwriter. Originally trained as an
actor and solo performer in the experimental theater, Brooke began performing
her own work on the Lower East Side of Manhattan before receiving formal
training in playwriting from the Juilliard School. Her play Hunting
and Gathering, which premiered at Primary Stages, directed by Leigh
Silverman, was named one of the Ten Best of 2008 by New York Magazine.
Her memoir, No Place Like Home, is published by Random House.
Brooke's plays have been produced and developed across the US at theaters
including: Primary Stages, The Second Stage, Steppenwolf, The Play Company,
Soho Rep, Williamstown Theater Festival, Naked Angels, MCC, WET, SPF,
New Dramatists, New Georges, The Hourglass Group and the Eugene O'Neill
Theater Center. In the UK, her work has been developed at The Royal
Court Theatre, The National Theatre Studio and Pentabus. Plays include:
Hunting and Gathering (Primary Stages); Smashing (The Play
Company, The O'Neill); Until We Find Each Other (Steppenwolf,
The O'Neill); The Triple Happiness (Second Stage), Sam and
Lucy (SPF, Cleveland Playhouse), A Perfect Couple
(WET), Out of the Water (Cape Cod Theater Project, ARS Nova),
Casual Encounters (New Dramatists Creativity Fund) and others. Her
plays are published by Broadway Play Publishing, Playscripts,
The Backstage Books and Smith & Kraus.
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
By Brooke Berman
Harmony Books
272 pages | $23.00 | ISBN: 978-0307588425
www.brookeberman.net
EXTENDED THROUGH MAY 1!!!
The New York Times Critic's Pick!
The Play Company Presents
ENJOY
by Toshiki Okada
translated by Aya Ogawa
directed by Dan Rothenberg
American Premiere
with Jessica Almasy, Steven Boyer, Frank Harts, Kris Kling, Joshua Koehn, Mary McCool, Joseph Midyett, Kira Sternbach, Alex Torra, Stacey Yen
Sets: Mimi Lien, Costumes: Maiko Matsushima, Lights: James Clotfelter, Sound: Daniel Kluger
March 27 - April 25, 2010
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
order online at www.ticketcentral.com
or call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200:
TUES & WED at 7:15, THURS - SAT at 8:15, SAT at 2:15 & SUN at 3:15
59E59 Theaters
59 East 59th Street
It's Gen X vs. Gen Y in this offbeat comedy of 21st century manners, that follows the romantic adventures of employees in a Tokyo manga cafe. A panorama, by one of Japan's cutting-edge storytellers, of young workers adrift amidst economic turbulence and social change.
PRODUCTION BLOG
Read about the show, its progress and related topics HERE
A COOL DIP IN THE BARREN SAHARAN CRICK
by Kia Corthron
directed by Chay Yew
World Premiere
March 4 - April 11, 2010
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
order online at www.ticketcentral.com
or call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200
TUES - FRI AT 7:30, SAT AT 2 & 7:30, SUN AT 2 & 7
Peter Jay Sharp Theater
416 West 42nd Street
Co-produced with Playwrights Horizons
& The Culture Project
An African engineer and preacher-in-training, who is taken in by a family in small-town America, finds his calling in the broken lives and damaged ecology he encounters. Corthron, one of America's foremost activist writers, uses this compelling story to explore global water resource issues and the lasting effects of Hurricane Katrina.
PRODUCTION BLOG
Read about the show, its progress and related topics HERE
IDEA LAB SERIES
April 11, 2010
Peter Jay Sharp Theater
416 West 42nd Street
5pm