The popular, one-night-only event — which has previously played unusual spaces in the Off-Broadway company's five-story venue — will take place Nov. 19.
The evening will include new works by playwrights, who have all had plays produced by the Off-Broadway theatre company. Those writers include Billy Aronson (Light Years), Keith Bunin (The Busy World Is Hushed), Julia Cho (BFE), Wendy MacLeod (Juvenilia), Kira Obolensky (Lobster Alice), Peter Parnell (An Imaginary Life) and Adam Rapp (Essential Self- Defense). Actors will be announced shortly.
The seven alumni artists will work together on plays with the theme of "Dreamstate. What keeps you up at night? Do you have an unrealized aspiration, wish or hope for yourself or our world?'," a press release asks.
This year some of the playwrights will partner to produce plays; also, the presentations will be held in more traditional locations, including the North and South rehearsal rooms and The Peter Jay Sharp Theater. The evening will culminate in one final work in the Mainstage Theater.
"'Stories on 5 Stories' has become one of our most beloved, popular events," said PH artistic director Tim Sanford in an announcement. "Patrons of the evening have not only had great fun traveling together through our building, they have also had a dramatic demonstration of the wealth and diversity of talented writers from our history. This year, we want to highlight another remarkable characteristic of our writers: namely their generosity towards each other... We are excited to shake up the 'Stories' format a bit this year and celebrate these relationships by presenting an evening of collaboratively written short pieces by some of our most adventurous writers. I think the results will not only surprise and delight our audience, but I suspect our writers as well. And the party afterwards can't be beat."
Tickets to "Stories on 5 Stories" — priced ($150 & $325) — at Playwrights Horizons, 416 West 42nd Street, are on sale by calling Shayla L. Titley at (212) 564-1235, extension 3156 or online through playwrightshorizons.org. Proceeds from the event will benefit the theatre's 2007-2008 programs and productions.
