After the Fall

After the Fall

by arthur miller
January 17 - February 2, 2013

After the Fall is one of Arthur Miller’s most autobiographical yet least performed works. It departs from the standard theatrical linear form and into the surreal. The thinly veiled parallels closely mirror his own experiences, deeply exploring his failed marriage and the subsequent suicide of his wife Marilyn Monroe. My Week With Marilyn and Smash may have scratched the surface of Monroe’s life, but no one knew her like Arthur Miller. With a touch of noir, this production delves deep into the tortured thoughts of a grieving man with important national and world tragedies such as the Holocaust and The Red Scare as a backdrop. After the Fall begs the question, how can you love again in the face of overwhelming adversity? It is a complex and gripping play that is a must-see for any fan of this legendary American playwright.

Reviews

“Without question, the highlight of this production is the cast. The set is minimalist, with images projected as backgrounds during key moments in the narrative and effective lighting effects...Being only a quick subway ride under the East River from Manhattan, it’s a perfect intimate black box venue in the burgeoning artistic community in Long Island City.”
— Daily Actor

— Chris McKittrick, DailyActor.com

— Aaron Botwick, Scribicide.com

Director: Rich Ferraioli
Scenic Design: Meghan Maloney
Lighting Design: Greg Solomon

Starring

Kirk Gostkowski
Thea Brooks*

Featuring

Deven Anderson
Amber Bogdewiecz
Madison Cemerzan
Coleman Moore
Amy Newhall
Melanie Rothman
Jason Daniel Siegel
Anthony Sneed
Kathleen Stuart*
Liz Tancredi
Bill Toscano*

*Actor appears courtesy Actors’ Equity Association

Some Girls

Some Girl(s)

by neil labute | directed by greg cicchino
May 3 - 18, 2013

Variations Theatre Group’s inaugural critically acclaimed production in 2009 was Neil LaBute’s The Shape of Things. Now at the close of their fourth season, and their first as the managing company of brand new Chain Theatre, they are bringing Some Girls, another of LaBute’s biting, unflinchingly honest plays to Long Island City.

Artistic Director of Variations Theatre Group Kirk Gostkowski, whose recent role as Quentin in The Chain Theatre’s grand opening production of After The Fall was met with critical acclaim will be stepping in as “Guy”. Managing Director Greg Cicchino will be helming the production.

You have the perfect life – a great teaching job, critically acclaimed articles, and you are happily engaged. So happily that you do what any American man is prone to do – panic. Some Girls takes us across the country to check in on all the “ones who got away”. Through these reconnections we learn that you can’t win the battle of the sexes without a little bit of dirty reconnaissance.

reviews

“Some Girl(s) is a tight show with solid performances all around. It’s definitely worth checking out… profound and emotionally challenging” ~ theatreiseasy.com “A wonderful revival of Neil LaBute’s Some Girl(s)…VTG remains one of the best kept theatrical secrets…”
— ASeatontheAisle.com

“Some Girl(s) is a tight show with solid performances all around. It’s definitely worth checking out…profound and emotionally challenging.”
— theatreiseasy.com

Written by Neil LaBute
Directed by Greg Cicchino

With: Kirk Gostkowski

Amber Bogdeweicz, Kathryn Neville Brown*, Ashleigh Murray, Jaclyn Sokol and Jill Catherine Durso

*Actors appear courtesy Actors Equity Association

Some Girl(s) is an Actors Equity approved showcase

Polanski Polanski

Polanski Polanski

September 5 - 21, 2013

Don't miss this hyper-physical monodrama performed by Grant Neale, playwright Saviana Stanescu has imagined three threshold moments in the life of famed film director Roman Polanski. Under the direction of Tamilla Woodard, this fast moving tale of Desire, Escape, and Punishment, mixes film and theatre as it delves into the brilliant mind of the controversial figure, sometimes victim sometimes villain.

Reviews

"Featuring a remarkable, compelling performance by Grant Neale and fluid and often surprising direction by Tamilla Woodard, Polanski Polanski is a show that deserves to be seen again. The writing is astonishing."
— Martin Denton, nytheatre.com

Playright: Saviana Stanescu
Director: Tamilla Woodard
Performer/Artistic Director: Grant Neale*
Sound Designer: Hillary Charnas
Lighting Designer: Joyce Liao
Video Designer: Paul Lieber
Costume Designer: Amelia Dombrowski
Assistant Director: Nancy Keegan
Stage Manager: Mark Grystowski
Graphic Designer: Allen Spector
Public Relations: John Capo

*Member Actors' Equity Association

Einstein

Einstein

August 2 - 25, 2013

World Premiere of new play written by Jay Prasad
Directed by OBIE Award Winner Randolph Curtis Rand

Variations Theatre Group presents the world-premiere of Jay Prasad’s new play, Einstein. Directed by OBIE Award winner Randolph Curtis Rand, Einstein follows the turbulent life of the renowned physicist as he moves from a dropout with no prospects, to the most renowned scientist of his time.

Einstein was an enigmatic and controversial figure from his early years until his death. Who was the real Einstein? The man who cruelly mistreated his first wife, or the one who worked day and night to bring over refugees from Hitler’s Germany? The pioneer who explored new frontiers in science, or the road blocker who passionately opposed quantum mechanics and the Big Bang theory? Jay Prasad’s play explores the many facets of his character and gives the viewer an opportunity to judge the complex man behind the charismatic genius.

Casting Director: Jamibeth Margolis
Press Representative: Jim Randolph
General Manager: Kevin Kennedy
Executive Producer/Assistant Director: Rich Ferraioli
Lighting Designer: Daniel Winters
Costume Designer: Samantha Newby
Stage Manager: Garrett Guilbeau
Postcard Design: R. Allen Babcock
Projection Designers: Darwin Gilmore

Starring

Einstein: Richard Kent Green*

Featuring 

Steven Bidwell
Steve Carter
Jill Catherine Durso
Brad Fryman*
Grant Kretchik*
Frank Palmer*
Jay William Thomas
Sophie Vanier*
Sheilagh Weymouth*

*Actors appearing courtesy of Actors Equity Association

What's In A Name

What's In A Name

Written by Timothy Nolan | Directed by Greg Cicchino
April 12 - 27, 2013

The play takes place in the back of a bar. A well-dressed woman, barely awake and laden with bags, stumbles in. Confronted by the past, the present, and the police, she sees for the first time the results of the choices she made so many years ago and finds that the secrets that are hardest to keep are hardest to tell. Does she trash her present to rectify her past, or does she double-down on a life she can no longer lead but can’t escape from?

Written by Timothy Nolan

Directed by Greg Cicchino

Starring

Maria Deasy*
Lenny Thomas
Lauren Roth
Sutton Crawford*

*Actors appear courtesy Actors Equity Association
"What’s In A Name" is an Actors Equity approved showcase

Venus & Mona

Venus & Mona

by leslie bramn
March 15 - 30, 2013

Venus & Mona are twins. Two young, strong, hard-edged women that are trapped on the roof of their mother’s double-wide mobile home. Their mother is at death’s door but the sisters can’t help but continue to wage war on one another.  Meanwhile a demon circles the doublewide waiting for one of the combatants to slip and fall in his clutches. Part fantasy/part cruel reality and inspired by the writing of American mythologist Joseph Campbell; Venus and Mona asks questions about the war we wage with ourselves and each other, and when and if we ever figure out when it’s time to grow up.

Reviews

“What will happen next? Who will live and who will die? It’s a tense and fascinating ending that I recommend you experience for yourself. It’s refreshing to hear dialogue that is so up to date, aggressive, bratty and also vulnerable. This play which has no males onstage is a special opportunity to see female characters who have overcome adversity to find their own way in life, yet enjoy the chance to bond using their unique language.”
— NYTHEATRE.COM

Directed by: Kirk Gostkowski
Scenic design by: R. Allen Babcock
Poster Art by: Joenell Luma
Stage Manager: Chistopher Flores
Assistant Stage Manager: Christopher Schultz

Starring

Venus & Mona stars Christina Elise Perry* and Amy Newhall

features Becky London* as Officer Cortes.

*Appears courtesy of Actors Equity Association;
Venus & Mona is an AEA pending showcase

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This marks the first production to come out of Minor Variations Project for new plays. One of the only workshops of its kind, The Minor Variations Project is designed to bring a second life to a play, by taking an already realized work and through collaboration between the playwright and actors, retools the piece. After a rigorous six month revision process culminating a staged reading, Variations Theatre Group is now presenting the first of these fully-staged productions.