By Kenneth Jones
21 Nov 2009
Philadelphia Theatre Workshop, devoted to new works by local writers, begins its sixth season Nov. 21 with the world premiere of Alex Dremann's dark comedy The :nv:s:ble Play.
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According to PTW, "In The :nv:s:ble Play, a mirror is taken to life at the Existential Publishing Company. Some people are laid off — given a box to pack up their things and get out. Others are simply vanishing — literally. Colin can't decide which is worse. He's fighting to stay visible to win the heart of lovely Fran in the next cubicle. Tim, a handsome assistant editor, is busy sucking up as a means of survival. Nancy, the boss, is oblivious to everything. The rest of the office includes Ramona, the mysterious plant waterer; Carmen, a sassy, sexy and very pregnant assistant editor; Cass, who's 'too old to deal with everything'; and Lawrence, the I.T. guy whom no one's really ever seen."
The cast includes James Stover as Colin; Megan Slater (the only cast member who was in the original PlayShop production of The :nv:s:ble Play in 2007) as Ramona; Victoria Frings as Fran; Jesse McInvaine as Tim; Aime Kelly as Carmen; Amy Acchione as Nancy; Howie Brown as Lawrence; and Nancy Segal appears as Kitty/Cass.
Philadelphia Theatre Workshop artistic director Bill Felty directs.
The production team includes Stephen Hungerford (scenery), Shelly Hicklin (lighting), Vandy Scoates (costumes) and Daniel Perlestein (original music and sound).
Dremann's Postcoital Variations was the inaugural production for Philadelphia Theatre Workshop in 2004. Director Felty stated, "As we have transformed our mission into developing all new plays by all Philadelphia-area playwrights, we want to use our PlayShop Festival to nurture the plays we will produce for our mainstage season. The :nv:s:ble Play is the first play to do this and we couldn't be more excited."
Dremann grew up in Phoenixville. He recently had three productions of the same play, Four Dry Tongues, running simultaneously in three cities: Philly Fringe, Los Angeles Theatre Neo, and Thespian Productions in New York City. His play On the Porch One Crisp Spring Morning debuted at the 2009 Humana Festival at the Actors Theatre of Louisville.
Performances will play to Dec. 13 at Studio 5 at Walnut Street Theatre. Tickets are $18 in advance and $20 at the door. They are available online at www.philadelphiatheatreworkshop.org.
