The Flea Theater presents a festiival of two new plays by A.R. Gurney: Squash and Ajax.
October 10 - November 14 at The Flea Theater
The Flea Theater presents TWO CLASS ACTS, a festival of plays celebrating seminal playwright A.R. Gurney. This festival includes two world-premiere one-act plays, SQUASH and AJAX. These two plays will be the final productions at The Flea’s home on White Street, before the company moves to its new facilities four blocks south at 20 Thomas Street. Previews for both shows begin on October 10th with opening nights slated for October 23rd.
Artistic Director Niegel Smith says, "I'm thrilled to welcome A.R. Gurney back to The Flea with TWO CLASS ACTS. Squash evokes the burgeoning queer sexuality that emerged in the early 1980s while Ajax examines the current state of censorship that haunts political theater making. Both plays, of course, are bubbling with Gurney's signature wit and masterful style. I can't imagine a better way to say goodbye to our current theater before moving to our new digs."
In SQUASH, a professor of classic literature finds himself questioning his identity when a student presents an intriguing take on Plato’s Symposium. Boundaries are tested and personal lives are upended as they grapple with sexuality, love, and sport. The cast for this production features Dan Amboyer (Dan Proctor), Nicole Lowrance (Becky Proctor), and Rodney Richardson (Gerald Caskey).
In AJAX, an intrepid student adapts Sophocles’ defining war epic to the amusement of his English professor. A passionate ex-actress, the professor quickly finds herself entangled in every aspect of the play––including the playwright. This production will feature members of The Bats, The Flea’s resident company, in a rotating cast that includes Rachel Lin and Olivia Jampol (Meg); Ben Lorenz and Chris Tabet (Adam).
The creative team for TWO CLASS ACTS features Stafford Arima (Director); Jason Sherwood (Set Design); Jake DeGroot (Lighting Design); Sky Switser (Costume Design); and Miles Polaski (Sound Design)
TWO CLASS ACTS will feature both plays presented each night at staggered times. Audiences are encouraged to attend the full festival offerings over the course of an evening. Ajax plays Wednesday through Mondays at 7PM and 9PM and Sunday at 2PM and 4PM. Squash plays Wednesday through Mondays at 8PM and Sunday at 3PM. Prices range from $35 to $75 with lowest priced tickets available on a first-come, first-served basis. The Flea Theater is located at 41 White Street between Church and Broadway, three blocks south of Canal, close to the A/C/E, N/R/Q, 6, J/M/Z and 1 subway lines. Purchase tickets by calling 212-352-3101 or online at www.theflea.org.
________________________________
BIOS:
A.R. (“Pete”) Gurney was born in 1930 in Buffalo, New York. He graduated from Williams College in 1952, served as an officer in the Navy, and afterwards attended the Yale School of Drama. For many years he taught literature at M.I.T., but moved to New York in 1982 to devote more time to writing for the theatre. He has won a fair amount of awards during his career, and is now a member of the Theatre Hall of Fame, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and is a 2016 recipient of the Obie Lifetime Achievement Award. Gurney has been married to his wife Molly for 59 years. They have four children and eight grandchildren, and now live in Roxbury, Connecticut and New York City.
Stafford Arima was nominated for an Olivier Award for his direction of the West End premiere of the musical, Ragtime, and he recently directed the Broadway production of Allegiance. Upcoming: Poster Boy (Williamstown Theatre Festival). Selected work includes: Altar Boyz (received the Best Musical Outer Critics Circle Award, was nominated for a Drama Desk for Outstanding Musical), Carrie (Off-Broadway revival; nominated for 5 Drama Desk Awards including Outstanding Revival of a Musical and an Outer Critics nomination for Outstanding Revival of a Musical; MCC Theater); The Secret Garden (David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center); Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living In Paris (Stratford Shakespeare Festival); Total Eclipse (TSP Theatre, Toronto); The Tin Pan Alley Rag (nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award as Outstanding Off-Broadway Musical, Roundabout Theatre Company); Candide (San Francisco Symphony); Marry Me a Little (Cincinnati Playhouse); and Abyssinia (Goodspeed Musicals). Arima graduated from York University (Toronto) and is an Adjunct Professor at UC Davis. He serves as Artistic Advisor for the Broadway Dreams Foundation and is a proud member of SDC.
Dan Amboyer (Dan Proctor) played Thad Weber on the first two seasons of Darren Star's hit TV series "Younger," and will now appear as twin brother Chad in the upcoming third season. Theatre: David Ives' premiere of The Metromaniacs (Shakespeare Theatre, dir. Michael Kahn), Orlando in As You Like It, Bertram in Inherit the Wind (both helmed by Adrian Noble) Henry VII in Richard III (dir. Lindsay Posner) all at the Old Globe, seasons at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. Film/TV: Starred as Prince William in Hallmark's William & Catherine: A Royal Romance, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Love the Coopers, CBS' "Untitled John Cusack Pilot," "Benders," "Inside Amy Schumer," "Person of Interest," "Unforgettable," "Body of Proof," "Graceland," "Law & Order," "All My Children." He is a founding member of Exit, Pursued By a Bear (artistic director Ed Iskandar), and a graduate of Carnegie Mellon's School of Drama. Social media: @DanAmboyer.
Nicole Lowrence (Becky) Broadway: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (u/s), Dividing the Estate. International: The Merchant of Venice (Royal Shakespeare Company). Off-Broadway: Permission (MCC); Middle of the Night (Keen Company); Peter and the Starcatcher (New World Stages); The Merchant of Venice, All’s Well That Ends Well, Engaged, Don Juan (Theatre for a New Audience); Columbinus (New York Theater Workshop). Regional: Disgraced (Long Wharf, Huntington Theater Co.) O.P.C. (American Repertory Theater); Oleanna/Speed-the-Plow (in rep) (ATC); Bedroom Farce, Beyond Therapy, David Copperfield (Westport Country Playhouse); Steel Magnolias, The 39 Steps (Cape May Playhouse) Curse of the Starving Class (ACT); The Learned Ladies of Park Avenue (Hartford Stage); Romeo and Juliet (Folger Theatre); Hamlet, The Little Foxes (Shakespeare Theatre Company). TV: “Law & Order,” “Whoopi,” “Guiding Light,” “American Masters.” She is a graduate of The Juilliard School.
Rodney Richardson (Gerald Caskey) THEATRE: The Tempest (The Public/Delacorte - Dir. Michael Greif), Pulse (The Guthrie - Dir. Marcela Lorca), The Broken Record (New York Fringe Festival). TV/FILM: Cubby (Dir. Ben Mankoff), Sex, Drugs, & Rock & Roll (FX), The Good Wife(CBS), Three Sisters Film Project, The Instrumentalist, Kings to You. MFA, New York University, Tisch School of the Arts.
The Bats are the resident acting company members of The Flea Theater. Each season, over a thousand actors audition for a place in this unique company. The Bats perform in extended runs of challenging classics, as well world premieres of new plays. They are the lifeblood of The Flea.
The Flea Theater, under new Artistic Director Niegel Smith and Producing Director Carol Ostrow, is one of New York's leading off-off-Broadway companies. Winner of several Obie Awards, a Special Drama Desk Award for outstanding achievement, and an Otto Award for political theater, The Flea has presented over 100 theatrical, musical and dance performances since its inception in 1996. Past productions include premieres by Steven Banks, Thomas Bradshaw, Erin Courtney, Bathsheba Doran, Will Eno, Karen Finley, Amy Freed, Sarah Gancher, Sean Graney, A.R. Gurney, Jennifer Haley, Hamish Linklater, Enrique Gutiérrez Ortiz Monasterio, Itamar Moses, Anne Nelson, Qui Nguyen, Adam Rapp, Jonathan Reynolds, Kate Robbins, Roger Rosenblatt, Elizabeth Swados, and Mac Wellman. Successes include Drama Desk nominated She Kills Monsters, These Seven Sicknesses, Restoration Comedy, The Mysteries and eight World Premiere productions by A.R. Gurney, including the WSJ Best New Play of 2013, Family Furniture.