JIHAD JONES AND THE KALASHNIKOV BABES
By Yussef El Guindi
Directed by Sturgis Warner
With: Kristen Cerelli, T. Scott Cunningham, Wayne Schroder,
Erica Schroeder & Waleed Zuaiter

Ashraf, an Arab-American actor, is being offered the role of a lifetime in a big Hollywood blockbuster. His agent is thrilled. There is just one hitch - Ashraf has vowed never to play a terrorist on principle. A hilarious comedy about fame, fortune and compromise in today’s mixed-up world.

The Studio Retreat will be immediately followed by a special presentation of THE SNIPER, a short play by Yussef El Guindi starring Andrew Dolan.

September 15, 2005

Seattle based playwrights Yussef’s El Guindi's plays SUCH A BEAUTIFUL VOICE IS SAYEDA’S and KARIMA’S CITY were featured in Playwrights’ Week 2004. Yussef residency and this workshop production are made possible with support from the Sister City Playwrights exchange program of Theater Emory, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.

Public Reading
THE MISFORTUNE OF OUR FRIENDS
By Sandi Goff
Directed by Steven Williford
with: Mark Blum, Kelli Giddish, Matt Stadelmann & Janet Zarish
A personal look at CEO scandals in the wake of the Sarbanes and Oxley legislation, THE MISFORTUNE OF OUR FRIENDS is a heartbreaking tale of a powerful man's fall from grace.

September 26, 2005

THE MISFORTUNE OF OUR FRIENDS was presented as a BareBones Production in May 2005.

By Koffi Kwahule
Translated by Chantal Bilodeau
Directed by Liesl Tommy
With: Stephanie Beatriz, Amelia Campbell, Elba Cette-Camara,
Carmen Herlihy, Zainab Jah & Shanessa Sweeney

In a convent turned women's prison, six inmates’ struggle to survive is complicated when their charismatic group leader brutally murders an outsider. Inspired by the abstract jazz sounds of Thelonius Monk.

October 27, 2005

Book and Lyrics by Cheryl Davis
Winner of the Kleban Award for Libretto
Music by Douglas J. Cohen
Directed by Jerry Dixon

November 5, 7-12, 15 & 16 at 8pm Special Panel Event Nov. 7th!

With: Cheryl Alexander, Erica Ash, Stu James, Andre Montgomery, Ken Prymus, David St. Louis & Gayle Turner

Musical Direction by Bill Tinsley, Accompanied by Fred Barton
Choreography by AC Ciulla
Stage Managed by Robert A. Sherrill

Before Amelia Earhart, there was Bessie Coleman. Based on the true story of the first Black female aviatrix, this powerful new musical is the story of what it takes to realize your dreams in a world that fights to keep you down.
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The Lark Presents a Special Panel Event
African-American Women: Continuing to Overcome Challenges and Create Unique and Uncharted Paths to Success

November 7, 6-7:30pm

Panelists
Cheryl Davis, Playwright/Lawyer
Natatia Griffith, President, NY Coalition of 100 Black Women
Sandra Jackson Berger, President of the National Association of Women for the Arts
Nadine Johnson, President, Metropolitan Black Bar Association
Patricia Williams, Moderator, Columbia University law professor, author of numerous books and articles, recent recipient of the MacArthur Genius Award

Erica Ash and David St. Louis in BARNSTORMER

Gayle Turner, Ken Prymus, Stu James & Cheryl Alexander in BARNSTORMER

David St. Louis & Erica Ash in BARNSTORMER

Gayle Turner & Erica Ash in BARNSTORMER

Photos by Ben Strothmann (benstrothmann.com)

By Ian Cohen
Directed by Steven Williford
When Matt Ross learns that his wife is worshipping a demon, everything in his life is shot to hell.  A wacky and perverse comedy about religion and spirituality in the modern age.

November 17, 2005

Ian’s plays LENNY AND LOU and GOD’S CREATURES were both developed at the Lark.

Dan Ahearn, Lou Carbonneau & May Bacon in VATTAGO

Written and Directed by Theresa Rebeck

With: Reed Birney*, Marin Ireland*, Austin Lysy*,
Alexandra Napier* & Jack Willis*

Two sisters’ discovery of a mysterious set of stamps, which may or may not be of extraordinary value, ignites passions and disputes in their family and in the Philatelic community.

Thursday December 8 at 7pm

Theresa Rebeck is a Playwright Advisor at the Lark.

By Lloyd Suh
Directed by John Clinton Eisner

When Min Suk Chun returns from Korea on his 60th birthday to reclaim the wife and children he abandoned in the U.S. fifteen years earlier, he is forced to take stock of his life, his dreams, and what he left behind.

By Robert Fieldsteel
Directed by Linnet Taylor

When two high school students on the honor roll commit a brutal double murder everyone in the community is desperate to find out what went wrong.

With: Jessi Campbell*, James Hallett*, Jamie King*, Bonnie Rivers*, Bobby Steggert* & Ian White*

Thursday January 19 at 7pm

Smart was developed as part of Playwrights’ Week 2005.

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The Lark Presents a Special Panel Event
IN-BETWEEN TWO CULTURES

Followed the February 1st performance of Lenin's Shoe

Inspired by our upcoming BareBones production of LENIN'S SHOE, this panel will take an in-depth look at the impact of the current generation of immigrant stories (and immigrant writers) on our culture, community and world-view; and to talk about the challenges that immigrants face, particularly in New York, and how those challenges vary between immigrant groups and generations.

Saviana Stanescu and Lark Play Development Center were participants in the New Generations Program, funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation/The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and administered by Theatre Communications Group, the national organization for the American theatre. Lenin’s Shoe was presented as a Studio Retreat in July 2004.

By Chantal Bilodeau
Directed by Jessica Heidt

Sexual desire at its most extreme can no longer be contained when Peggy's repressed fantasies start spilling into reality after she shares her erotic writings with her boss. A murder mystery that explores suspicion, creativity and secret desires, PLEASURE AND PAIN takes a dark and thrilling look into one woman’s life, death and psyche.

By Javon Johnson
Directed by Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj
When two teenagers (one black, one white) are involved in separate acts of violence the consequences they face are based not only on evidence, but also on the color of their skin. Using a combination of urban poetry and dramatic action, BREATHE explores the tensions, decisions and conditions that leads the boys to prison and the effect their imprisonment has on their families.

With: Jerome Preston Bates*, Chadwick Boseman*, Jed Dickson*
Barbara Gulan*, Trish McCall* and Nick Petrie

Extension at Queens Theater in the Park March 30-April 2 ______________________________________ March 15-18 & 20-25 at 8pm MARCH 18th at 6pm* - Speaking Out: A Conversation on Justice and the Arts precedes the 8pm performance. MARCH 21st - Backtalk with the playwright, director and actors follows the performance.

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Brick by Brick:
Organizing the Grassroots with Arts & Activism

A Conversation with
Billy "Upski" Wimsatt (League of Pissed Off Voters), Piper Anderson (The Blackout Arts Collective) and Javon Johnson (Playwright). Moderated by Clyde Valentin (Hip-Hop Theater Festival)

Saturday, March 18th at 6pm - Free!

In today's climate, where corporate control of media dominates the local and national debate around current events, the struggle of ordinary, yet exceptional Americans fighting for meaningful causes goes unsung and too often, unheard. Whether the focus is on ending the "war on terror", addressing global human rights issues, immigration advocacy, environmental justice, education reform or the prison industrial complex, local and state legislative victories are happening and young people are being engaged creatively around the issues that affect them. So take some time to learn about two exceptional people, who represent two exceptional organizations as they converse with one exceptional playwright on why and how they they fight the good fight.

Breathe was presented as a Studio Retreat in partnership with the Hip-Hop Theater Festival in June 2005, and will subsequently be presented at the Queens Theatre in the Park, funded by the David Schwartz Foundation.

By Brian Dykstra
Directed by Margarett Perry

The discovery of a 21-year-old illegitimate child from an earlier relationship causes unexpected turbulence in an older couple’s marriage and their independent lifestyle. Or is that just the play within the play?

With Michael Countryman*, Jessma Evans* & Jennifer Dorr White*

Stage Managed by Eliza Johnson*

By Lloyd Suh
Directed by John C. Eisner

On Chun Min Suk's 60th birthday (hwangap), he returns to America in search of rebirth and determined to reclaim the wife and children he abandoned in the U.S. fifteen years earlier.  As his divided family gathers to pay tribute to his life, he is forced to take stock of his choices, his dreams, and what he left behind.   

With: Michi Barall*, Joel DelaFuente*, Mia Katigbak*, Peter Kim* & Hoon Lee*

Stage Managed by Anne Michelson*
Assistant Directed by Krista Williams