@ Stages Repertory Theatre
Hal Borden
Philadelphia, PA
The Impossible Escape of Don Misterioso
by Hal Borden
Directed by Jonathan Gonzalez
Friday, March 15, 2019 @ 7pm
Synopsis:
"In 1955, nine months after a CIA-backed coup, the warden of a Guatemalan prison agrees to an interview request from Maxine Whitman of Life magazine. When Max arrives at the prison, she reveals that her true agenda is to interview Francisco, a prisoner who she believes is the last living assistant of Harry Houdini. With the warden’s grudging cooperation, Max urges Francisco to divulge Houdini’s secrets before they’re lost to history, but she ultimately becomes more interested in Francisco’s own career as a magician. When he attempts a daring escape, Max plays an unexpected role in Francisco’s final performance."
Biography:
Hal Borden earned an M.F.A. degree in screenwriting from the UCLA School of Theater, Film & Television, where he won the Hal Kanter Comedy Writing Award. His first stage play, "A Position of Relative Importance," premiered in 2015 at Theatre Conspiracy in Fort Myers, Florida. "Position" has also been performed in staged readings at numerous theaters and festivals, including the American Actors UK Playreading Festival (London, England), Abingdon Theatre Company (New York City), Curio Theatre Company (Philadelphia, PA), Interplay Jewish Theatre (Cleveland, OH), FutureFest (Dayton, OH), Penobscot Theatre Company (Bangor, ME), HRC Showcase Theatre (Hudson, NY), and the NEWvember Festival (Tivoli, NY). Hal practices intellectual property law in Philadelphia, where he lives with his two dachshunds. He is a member of The Dramatists Guild.
David Spence
Las Cruces, NM
W for the Gilbster
by David Spence
Directed by Eric Moore
Saturday, March 16, 2019 @ 1pm
Synopsis:
"Gilbert, the weird guy who sits outside all day watching the neighborhood, tells us his story. We pass through time but always stay in his neighborhood. From where he’s sitting, the neighbors are everything. He has no family of his own. He has no job. He can’t even drive a car. He’s never had a girlfriend. Maybe all of that could change?"
Biography:
David Spence got his theatre start at Florida State University where he studied writing for the stage and screen. He received his MFA from FSU in 2010 and enjoyed many stagings of short plays and one acts in his time there. He expanded a play performed at FSU to a full- length play for a full production at Las Cruces Community Theatre. This production of Recreational Living was directed by his long time mentor and Tony Award winner Mark Medoff. David wrote, produced, and edited a feature-length film, Roswell FM. Roswell FM is currently available on Amazon Instant Video. In his most recent project, David was commissioned by Eastern Arizona College to write an accompanying script to Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. This project, Rhapsody: An Interdepartmental Collaboration in Music, Theatre, and Dance, gave him a chance to work side by side with an orchestra, dance choreographers, and theatre folks to create a completely original show using the Gershwin classic as its backbone. He is thrilled that his latest work, W for the Gilbster, will receive its first public reading with the Landing Theatre Company.
Rae Binstock
Brooklyn, NY
land of no mercy: un drama américano (in tzvey aktn)
by Rae Binstock
Directed by Stephen Miranda
Saturday, March 16, 2019 @ 7pm
Synopsis:
"The apartment sits on the corner of Monroe and Clinton, tucked away in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. It’s a cozy little place, just big enough for two—but which two? Yetta and Solomon, the Jewish immigrants from 1915, business owners fighting to get through each day and hold on to a world thousands of miles away, while they worry about starting a family in the Land of Opportunity? Or Maria and Alex, the millennial oddballs of the present who sweep into the neighborhood on a tide of gentrification, struggling to keep their college relationship viable in the face of new stressors, new ambitions, and new neighbors? A century apart but close enough to touch, two couples inhabit the same cramped apartment. Their stories weave together, contrasted throughout history, a collage of youth, hope, and uncertainty in what Tony Kushner calls “the melting pot where nothing melted”."
Biography:
Rae Binstock grew up in Cambridge, MA and attended Columbia University as an undergrad. Her plays include land of no mercy, POSE and We Are The Light of the World. She has been produced and developed at venues such as the New Group, the Lark Development Center, and the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Festival. Rae is a current Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellow, a former Rita Goldberg Playwrights Workshop Fellow (The Lark) and Emerging Artist Fellow in Dramatic Writing (Lighthouse Writers Workshop). She has been awarded residencies by the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center, Helene Wurlitzer Foundation, PLAYA Summer Lake, and the Writers’ Colony. She is also a contributing writer at Slate.com and an O’Neill Conference, SPACE at Ryder Farm, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, and ATHE Award semifinalist. Most recently Rae was a Writers’ Assistant on FX Networks’ upcoming miniseries FOSSE/VERDON. She lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her cat, Black Cat.
Cecile Pace
New York, NY
Ms. Emma Mole
by Cecile Pace
Directed by Jennifer Decker
Sunday, March 17, 2019 @ 2pm
Synopsis:
"In early 1950s Wyoming, three young women come together as Library volunteers, and their lives fall apart. Ellis’ husband disappears. Sally’s husband collapses along with his lumber company. Ms. Emma Mole, the ugly, bitter 6th grade teacher, is aborted while unconscious. Told through interconnected monologues, three dissimilar women meet, become unlikely friends and cross barriers over the next twelve years."
Biography:
Cecile Pace is a Denver playwright/screenwriter currently based in the NYC area. Cecile studied playwriting at Sarah Lawrence’s Summer Playwriting Workshops and at Denver Lighthouse Writers Playwriting Workshops. Recent plays include, Ms. Emma Mole (semi-finalist, Playwright’s Foundation/ PlayPenn’s Dramaturg Program); The Methodist (semi-finalist, O’Neill NPC/grand jury prize winner, NY Screenplay Contest ); and Hannah Reconstructed. She is developing a series of full-length plays around legal issues and the United States Supreme Court, including thus far – Governor Kath, (3rd place, New Works of Merit / top 15%, PlayPenn’s New Play Conference/ 1st place, Stage Play, NYSC); Killing Cora (finalist, Stage Play, NYSC); Being John Marshall, (3rd place, Stage Play, NYSC). Her most recent screenplays include Eve’s Sisters (finalist, NYSC) and San Diablo (finalist, NYSC). Cecile is currently working on one-act politically infused plays that can be combined with each other for a theatrical evening.
@ Stages Repertory Theatre 3201 Allen Parkway Houston, Texas 77019