Bock, Courts, Rapp, Reynolds, Smith, Tolan and Treem Pen Plays for Horizons' Stories Benefit

By Kenneth Jones
24 Sep 2009

Adam Bock
Adam Bock
Photo by Henry Leutwyler

Playwrights Horizons' popular benefit, Stories on 5 Stories, an evening of brief new plays staged in unconventional spaces within its 42nd Street complex, will return Nov. 9.

The walkabout experience — in which donors witness scenes in nooks of the five-story headquarters — includes works by seven of the theatre's alumni writers: Adam Bock (The Drunken City at PH; The Receptionist, The Thugs), composer Randy Courts (Jack's Holiday at PH; Magic Tree House: The Musical, The Gifts of the Magi), Pulitzer Prize finalist and Obie Award winner Adam Rapp (Essential Self-Defense and Kindness at PH; Red Light Winter), Jonathan Reynolds (Geniuses at PH; Dinner with Demons, Stonewall Jackson's House), Evan Smith (The Savannah Disputation, Psych and The Uneasy Chair at PH; Serviceman), Kathleen Tolan (A Girl's Life; Kate's Diary, The Wax and Memory House, all at PH) and Sarah Treem (A Feminine Ending at PH).

The event at Playwrights' home at 416 West 42nd Street will benefit the company's annual programs and productions.

This year's theme for Stories on 5 Stories is "The Elephant in the Room." According to PH, "In an image-hungry culture, we love the theatre because it's about language. But so often it's not about what's said but also what's not said. For this year's Stories on 5 Stories the writers will take on the theme Elephant in the Room; writing and staging seven-minute plays about this theme in unique, far-flung locations throughout our five-story building. Guests tour the building in groups to see all of the works and then gather together for a concluding reception."

Participating performers will be announced in the coming weeks.

Artistic director Tim Sanford stated, "Stories on 5 Stories has been a favorite event of the staff and board of Playwrights Horizons ever since its inception six years ago. This event inspires creativity and builds community, and the evening always delights, whether we're sitting in the costume shop listening to a song or fitting 25 people into our conference room for a play. I'm pleased to welcome back these remarkable writers, some who have spent a great deal of time in our beautiful six year-old building and others who were around long before the building was a twinkle in our eye, all of whom will write pieces celebrating this space, this theatre and this not-to-be-missed evening."

Tickets are priced at $150 ("Talk is Cheap" ticket — a single ticket to the 8 PM shows and post-show dessert reception) and $325 ("Too Big to be Ignored” ticket — a single ticket for the pre-event dinner, shows and post-show reception). Tickets will go on sale to the general public Sept. 29 following a one-week priority booking period for members of Playwrights Horizons' Patron and Generation PH programs.

The event is strictly limited to 200 people, and it is anticipated that tickets will sell quickly.

Tickets can be reserved by visiting the Playwrights Horizons website www.playwrightshorizons.org or by calling Michelle Kiefel at (212) 564-1235, extension 3143.

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Playwrights Horizons, under the leadership of artistic director Tim Sanford and managing director Leslie Marcus, "is a writer's theatre dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers and lyricists, and to the production of their new work."