The Fire Dept Launches at Joe's Pub with SpeakEasy Starring Chalfant, Garafalo, Lucas and More | Playbill

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News The Fire Dept Launches at Joe's Pub with SpeakEasy Starring Chalfant, Garafalo, Lucas and More Kathleen Chalfant , Janeane Garafalo, Chuck Cooper and Josh Lucas are among the cast of The Fire Dept's SpeakEasy which begins Oct. 22 at Joe's Pub.
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Kathleen Chalfant Photo by Aubrey Reuben

Erica Gould directs the 80-minute piece — which starts at 9:30 PM Oct. 22-24 — featuring short works from a slew of playwrights. Music by Stefania De Kenessey and Nick Hallett.

Penned by founding members Rob Ackerman, Suzanne Bradbeer, Anton Dudley, Brian Keith Jackson, Rajiv Joseph, Laurence Klavan, Carson Kreitzer, Neil LaBute, Edwin Sanchez, Theresa Rebeck, and Sheri Wilner, SpeakEasy is a theatrical event that is environmentally-staged.

"In a New York City something like our own," reads a description, "a performance space awakens and sees itself. Strongmen, snake charmers, showgirls and musicians turn neo-vaudeville on its head and surround the audience with things strange, unexpected and full of odd delight. But other forces are at work tonight?"

Chalfant (Wit, Angels In America), Garafalo ("Reality Bites," "Now and Then"), Cooper (Caroline, or Change, The Life) and Lucas (The Glass Menagerie) appear in the cast along with Amelia Campbell (Tryst, Waiting In The Wings), Judith Hawking (Voices In The Dark, Ivanov), Jessica Blank (The Exonerated, "Rescue Me"), Dorian Missick ("Six Degrees"), Alice Playton (Caroline or Change), Jake Robards (Our Town), Audrey Rosenberg ("A Talent for Trouble"), Jeremy Schwartz (The Last Carburetor, Karla) and Antoinette LaVecchia (String of Pearls, "The Sopranos") with recent additions Lucas Blondheim, Jim Bracchitta, David Calvitto, Carla Cantrelle, Nadia Dajani, Arjun Gupta, Sarah Hayon, Steven Ratazzi, Tony Torn and Jasper Peterson.

Tickets to SpeakEasy can be purchased at The Public Theater Box Office or through (212) 239-6200. For more information on The Fire Dept, visit them on the web at thefiredept.org. *

Initially inspired by The Exonerated and Brave New World: American Theatre Responds to 9/11, the new group "is made up of established and emerging writers, directors, actors and designers who have come together to create and produce work that cannot be replicated inside a television box or on a movie screen," according to an announcement.

Jessica Blank (The Exonerated), Erica Gould (Brave New World) and Audrey Rosenberg (Elle) serve as artistic directors for the troupe.

The Artistic Advisory Board for The Fire Dept includes Peter Askin, Jill Clayburgh, Emily Mann, Lynn Redgrave, Marian Seldes, Sam Waterston. Founding members of the group — which is "dedicated to the development of new plays as well as vital re interpretations of existing works... [to] ignite questions, spark controversy, and respond to the urgency of our times — includes Kathleen Chalfant, Constance Congdon, Chuck Cooper, Peter Gallagher, Janeane Garafalo, Jeff Goldblum, Judith Hawking, Erik Jensen, Toby Jones, Harry Lennix, Matthew Modine, Dael Orlandersmith, Jose Rivera, Jake Robards and Rebecca Wisocky.

 
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