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NYCPlaywrights May 10, 2025
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NYCPlaywrights
May 10, 2025, 5:08:54 PMMay 10
to NYCPlaywrights
Greetings NYCPlaywrights
*** FREE THEATER IN NYC ***
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL
by William Shakespeare
Written around 1604, All’s Well That Ends Well is one of Shakespeare’s boldest romantic comedies. When Helena—a brilliant, determined young woman—heals a king, she earns the right to choose her husband. But love isn’t so simple, and she must use wit, courage, and a daring plan to win the life she desires. Full of humor, heart, and twists, this rarely performed gem is a story of love on Helena’s terms.
Performances Tuesday–Sunday at 7:00p.m.
June 3–22 | Central Park
June 24–29 | Carl Schurz Park
July 1–6 | The Battery (Battery Park)
Reserve for weather updates & reminders—walk-ups always welcome!
https://nyclassical.org/summer-2025
*** LENI'S LAST LAMENT ***
In Gil Kofman's smart, hilarious play LENI'S LAST LAMENT, fresh from a critically acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe, Obie Award-winning actress Jodie Markell plays Hitler's notorious filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. Framed as a macabre cabaret that takes place in an ethereal editing room, Leni attempts to re-edit her controversial Nazi past and make it more palatable.
Directed by Richard Caliban ("legendary downtown theater-maker" —Village Voice), this wild ride of a play received top awards at United Solo Fest: Best Script, Best Actor, and Best Director.
Running May 29th through June 14th at the Paradise Factory Theater.
Tickets are on sale now at paradisefactory.org
*** OPPORTUNITIES FOR PLAYWRIGHTS ***
Sundog Theatre in NYC is seeking one-act plays for “Scenes from the Staten Island Ferry 2025” This is Sundog Theatre’s 24th presentation of new and original, one-act plays about our favorite boats. This year’s theme: It’s About Time!
Plays can be comedies or dramas. However, humor is always appreciated.
-Original plays not previously produced or published, with a signed note affirming that.
-10-25 minutes in length and set on the Staten Island Ferry.
***
Submissions for the Fall 2025 Spark Theatre Festival are now open through June 2, 2025.
The Fall festival will take place Sept. 8 – 28, 2025.
The Emerging Artists Theatre (EAT) Spark Theatre Festival NYC is a three-week festival of self-produced work for the stage that allows artists of different disciplines to produce one performance of a polished “work-in-progress” with audience feedback.
***
Applications for the 2025-26 PlayGround-NY Writers Pool are being accepted now through May 31, 2025.
– 25 early-career playwrights as well as 3 alternates will be competitively selected from applications to form the Writers Pool.
– Members of the Writers Pool may submit scripts to be considered as part of the Monday Night PlayGround-NY staged reading series. Four times each season, September through March (see tentative schedule below), PlayGround-NY will announce a prompt and Writers Pool members have just four-and-a-half days to generate an original short script (max. 10 pages) inspired by the prompt. The top six scripts each round will be staged publicly with leading local directors and actors. Those not selected may submit their scripts to Recess for cold readings via zoom (see below).
*** FOR MORE INFORMATION about these and other opportunities see the web site at https://www.nycplaywrights.org ***
*** PERIAKTOS ***
A simple device, the periaktos — or plural periaktoi — is a revolving, three-sided flat with a different scene painted on each side. It is basically a billboard stating, “Imagine we are here.” The periaktos can be traced as far back as 14 B.C., when Vitruvius described the idea in his De architectura. It was notably used in Italian and English theatre during the 16th and 17th centuries, respectively.
The periaktos allows for the backdrop of a set to change, but designers are still confined by the diameter of its rotation. A 16-foot long by 80-foot high wall with three sides will take most of a stage’s depth when it is in position, never mind when it rotates. Alternately, you could use several smaller periaktoi in a row and turn them like the letters on Wheel of Fortune, but this becomes a logistical challenge and takes a long time to transition between scenes.
More...
https://dramatics.org/the-inverted-periaktoi/
***
1. Historical Legacy: The concept of the periaktos dates back to 14 B.C., with its earliest documentation by Vitruvius in “De architectura”. Its use throughout the 16th and 17th centuries in both Italian and English theatre showcases its longstanding utility in creating dynamic and engaging stage environments;
2. Versatility in Design: Each side of the periaktos can depict a different scene, allowing for rapid changes in setting with a simple rotation. This feature makes it an invaluable asset for plays requiring multiple locations, providing a seamless transition between scenes and enhancing the audience’s immersion in the narrative;
3. Logistical Considerations: While the periaktos offers a dynamic method for altering stage backdrops, its effectiveness is constrained by the physical space available for its rotation. The use of multiple smaller periaktoi in sequence is a potential workaround, but this approach introduces its own set of logistical challenges, including increased setup time and complexity in scene transitions.
More...
https://marseillecityofculture.eu/periaktois/
***
For a number of years, they were able to borrow flats and set pieces from the Drama Department at the high school, but that is now defunct, so they are on their own. “I’m very good at coming up with something out of nothing,” Chappell says. One set she particularly enjoyed was for Moon Over the Brewery. “We borrowed stairs and a platform from the school and built onto them,” she explains. “One of the main reasons to do that in a repeating triangular design was to hang paintings on it. All of my wonderful artist friends did paintings of moons. It was great fun.”
The Sherlock Holmes play presented a real challenge, in that there were four distinct scenes. “We didn’t have the resources or space to do big scene changes, so we built a kind of inverted periaktos,” she says. That ancient theatrical device involves building a triangular structure of wooden panels that can be rotated on rollers to created different backgrounds.
“Susan’s sets are minimal, but look great. She works with lighting and very few furniture changes to create a new scene. She really takes pride in it. If her name is on it, it will look good,” Baker notes.
More...
https://www.gvquarterly.com/blog/2020/8/26/a-peek-behind-the-curtain
***
Domingues and Busillo both present fully realized portraits of, respectively, the civilized and savage "underclass" of gay men, the former so convincing as being constrained by his own sense of propriety and the latter as recklessly free from it. But, taken with Goldfarb's, their performances are so densely intertwined that you often feel as though you're watching a slowly revolving, mirrored periaktos that shows you a constantly changing reflection of the same person. Gualtieri's direction complements them very well by deploying layers of intimacy in his staging that can flip between romance and incarceration in the moment it takes to pop a cork (something which, predictably, happens often).
More...
https://www.talkinbroadway.com/web/sources/ob/08_25_09a.html
***
Now don't get me wrong I highly respect the idea of using the periaktos to make scene changes and different locations seem apparent, however, I respect them if they work and lend well to the show. Using periaktos is supposed to make scene changes work in seamlessness and make locations change before the eye, in this case the periaktos were a hinderance to the show. So much a hinderance that the scene changes were FAR too long. On a stage that's only 20 ft deep by 40 ft in length using full size periaktos would have been a good idea, if using the right amount. 4 full size periaktos YES, but 6 full sized ones in a space this small with no wings is a big NO.
More...
https://www.broadwayworld.com/tampa/article/BWW-Review-AUNTIE-MAME-SENDS-AN-ODE-TO-CLASSICS-PROVES-TO-BE-A-BUMPY-BUT-NONETHELESS-ENTERTAINING-ROMP-at-CARROLLWOOD-PLAYERS-THEATRE-20200120
***
“I have to design the set before the script has even been created,” Singh said. “I don’t have a time period, other than the future, vaguely. I don’t have any illusionary effects. I don’t have motifs to rely on. I’m creating my own sort of playground.”
Since the script is constantly changing, designs and props also have to be constantly created and discarded. For instance, only three weeks before the show, the two Periaktos — rotatable triangular prisms with painted backgrounds — were replaced with a green screen.
“It’s this idea of a betrayal in a perfect image,” Singh said as she described the set. “A very perfect line of cubes but the end of the line shows you a bunch of brushstrokes. A deep red brushed rust look with a gradient that feels sinister like you’re in the inferno.”
More...
https://www.themuseatdreyfoos.com/arts/2021/04/09/devising-the-future/
***
My "Magic Cabinet" periactoi which I designed and painted for "The Story of the Nutcracker" at TGS. Each of the 3 sides is equipped with a double spring hinged door allowing for 6 possible scene changes rather than the traditional 3.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6HslvZkvP4
*** FREE THEATER IN NYC ***
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL
by William Shakespeare
Written around 1604, All’s Well That Ends Well is one of Shakespeare’s boldest romantic comedies. When Helena—a brilliant, determined young woman—heals a king, she earns the right to choose her husband. But love isn’t so simple, and she must use wit, courage, and a daring plan to win the life she desires. Full of humor, heart, and twists, this rarely performed gem is a story of love on Helena’s terms.
Performances Tuesday–Sunday at 7:00p.m.
June 3–22 | Central Park
June 24–29 | Carl Schurz Park
July 1–6 | The Battery (Battery Park)
Reserve for weather updates & reminders—walk-ups always welcome!
https://nyclassical.org/summer-2025
*** LENI'S LAST LAMENT ***
In Gil Kofman's smart, hilarious play LENI'S LAST LAMENT, fresh from a critically acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe, Obie Award-winning actress Jodie Markell plays Hitler's notorious filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. Framed as a macabre cabaret that takes place in an ethereal editing room, Leni attempts to re-edit her controversial Nazi past and make it more palatable.
Directed by Richard Caliban ("legendary downtown theater-maker" —Village Voice), this wild ride of a play received top awards at United Solo Fest: Best Script, Best Actor, and Best Director.
Running May 29th through June 14th at the Paradise Factory Theater.
Tickets are on sale now at paradisefactory.org
*** OPPORTUNITIES FOR PLAYWRIGHTS ***
Sundog Theatre in NYC is seeking one-act plays for “Scenes from the Staten Island Ferry 2025” This is Sundog Theatre’s 24th presentation of new and original, one-act plays about our favorite boats. This year’s theme: It’s About Time!
Plays can be comedies or dramas. However, humor is always appreciated.
-Original plays not previously produced or published, with a signed note affirming that.
-10-25 minutes in length and set on the Staten Island Ferry.
***
Submissions for the Fall 2025 Spark Theatre Festival are now open through June 2, 2025.
The Fall festival will take place Sept. 8 – 28, 2025.
The Emerging Artists Theatre (EAT) Spark Theatre Festival NYC is a three-week festival of self-produced work for the stage that allows artists of different disciplines to produce one performance of a polished “work-in-progress” with audience feedback.
***
Applications for the 2025-26 PlayGround-NY Writers Pool are being accepted now through May 31, 2025.
– 25 early-career playwrights as well as 3 alternates will be competitively selected from applications to form the Writers Pool.
– Members of the Writers Pool may submit scripts to be considered as part of the Monday Night PlayGround-NY staged reading series. Four times each season, September through March (see tentative schedule below), PlayGround-NY will announce a prompt and Writers Pool members have just four-and-a-half days to generate an original short script (max. 10 pages) inspired by the prompt. The top six scripts each round will be staged publicly with leading local directors and actors. Those not selected may submit their scripts to Recess for cold readings via zoom (see below).
*** FOR MORE INFORMATION about these and other opportunities see the web site at https://www.nycplaywrights.org ***
*** PERIAKTOS ***
A simple device, the periaktos — or plural periaktoi — is a revolving, three-sided flat with a different scene painted on each side. It is basically a billboard stating, “Imagine we are here.” The periaktos can be traced as far back as 14 B.C., when Vitruvius described the idea in his De architectura. It was notably used in Italian and English theatre during the 16th and 17th centuries, respectively.
The periaktos allows for the backdrop of a set to change, but designers are still confined by the diameter of its rotation. A 16-foot long by 80-foot high wall with three sides will take most of a stage’s depth when it is in position, never mind when it rotates. Alternately, you could use several smaller periaktoi in a row and turn them like the letters on Wheel of Fortune, but this becomes a logistical challenge and takes a long time to transition between scenes.
More...
https://dramatics.org/the-inverted-periaktoi/
***
1. Historical Legacy: The concept of the periaktos dates back to 14 B.C., with its earliest documentation by Vitruvius in “De architectura”. Its use throughout the 16th and 17th centuries in both Italian and English theatre showcases its longstanding utility in creating dynamic and engaging stage environments;
2. Versatility in Design: Each side of the periaktos can depict a different scene, allowing for rapid changes in setting with a simple rotation. This feature makes it an invaluable asset for plays requiring multiple locations, providing a seamless transition between scenes and enhancing the audience’s immersion in the narrative;
3. Logistical Considerations: While the periaktos offers a dynamic method for altering stage backdrops, its effectiveness is constrained by the physical space available for its rotation. The use of multiple smaller periaktoi in sequence is a potential workaround, but this approach introduces its own set of logistical challenges, including increased setup time and complexity in scene transitions.
More...
https://marseillecityofculture.eu/periaktois/
***
For a number of years, they were able to borrow flats and set pieces from the Drama Department at the high school, but that is now defunct, so they are on their own. “I’m very good at coming up with something out of nothing,” Chappell says. One set she particularly enjoyed was for Moon Over the Brewery. “We borrowed stairs and a platform from the school and built onto them,” she explains. “One of the main reasons to do that in a repeating triangular design was to hang paintings on it. All of my wonderful artist friends did paintings of moons. It was great fun.”
The Sherlock Holmes play presented a real challenge, in that there were four distinct scenes. “We didn’t have the resources or space to do big scene changes, so we built a kind of inverted periaktos,” she says. That ancient theatrical device involves building a triangular structure of wooden panels that can be rotated on rollers to created different backgrounds.
“Susan’s sets are minimal, but look great. She works with lighting and very few furniture changes to create a new scene. She really takes pride in it. If her name is on it, it will look good,” Baker notes.
More...
https://www.gvquarterly.com/blog/2020/8/26/a-peek-behind-the-curtain
***
Domingues and Busillo both present fully realized portraits of, respectively, the civilized and savage "underclass" of gay men, the former so convincing as being constrained by his own sense of propriety and the latter as recklessly free from it. But, taken with Goldfarb's, their performances are so densely intertwined that you often feel as though you're watching a slowly revolving, mirrored periaktos that shows you a constantly changing reflection of the same person. Gualtieri's direction complements them very well by deploying layers of intimacy in his staging that can flip between romance and incarceration in the moment it takes to pop a cork (something which, predictably, happens often).
More...
https://www.talkinbroadway.com/web/sources/ob/08_25_09a.html
***
Now don't get me wrong I highly respect the idea of using the periaktos to make scene changes and different locations seem apparent, however, I respect them if they work and lend well to the show. Using periaktos is supposed to make scene changes work in seamlessness and make locations change before the eye, in this case the periaktos were a hinderance to the show. So much a hinderance that the scene changes were FAR too long. On a stage that's only 20 ft deep by 40 ft in length using full size periaktos would have been a good idea, if using the right amount. 4 full size periaktos YES, but 6 full sized ones in a space this small with no wings is a big NO.
More...
https://www.broadwayworld.com/tampa/article/BWW-Review-AUNTIE-MAME-SENDS-AN-ODE-TO-CLASSICS-PROVES-TO-BE-A-BUMPY-BUT-NONETHELESS-ENTERTAINING-ROMP-at-CARROLLWOOD-PLAYERS-THEATRE-20200120
***
“I have to design the set before the script has even been created,” Singh said. “I don’t have a time period, other than the future, vaguely. I don’t have any illusionary effects. I don’t have motifs to rely on. I’m creating my own sort of playground.”
Since the script is constantly changing, designs and props also have to be constantly created and discarded. For instance, only three weeks before the show, the two Periaktos — rotatable triangular prisms with painted backgrounds — were replaced with a green screen.
“It’s this idea of a betrayal in a perfect image,” Singh said as she described the set. “A very perfect line of cubes but the end of the line shows you a bunch of brushstrokes. A deep red brushed rust look with a gradient that feels sinister like you’re in the inferno.”
More...
https://www.themuseatdreyfoos.com/arts/2021/04/09/devising-the-future/
***
My "Magic Cabinet" periactoi which I designed and painted for "The Story of the Nutcracker" at TGS. Each of the 3 sides is equipped with a double spring hinged door allowing for 6 possible scene changes rather than the traditional 3.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6HslvZkvP4
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