Theater News

New York Stage and Film Announces Summer Season

New York Stage and Film (SAF) has announced that its 19th Powerhouse summer season will run for seven weeks, from June 20 through August 3, on the Vassar campus and will include more than 18 different theatrical events.

SAF is devoted solely to the development of new plays. A number of its recent productions have moved to New York, including Tuesdays With Morrie, Intrigue With Faye, What Didn’t Happen, The Dazzle, Boys and Girls, Necessary Targets, Side Man, and A Year With Frog and Toad (which is currently playing on Broadway at the Cort Theatre).

Included in SAF’s 2003 Main Stage Season will be Last Chance for a Slow Dance (June 28-July 12) by Zach Helm, about arson, murder, and a mysterious restaurant in the middle of nowhere; and In Case You Forget (July 16-27) written by Ben Snyder and directed by Max Mayer, about a young graffiti artist on his way to prison and the marks he makes on the people he leaves behind.

The Second Stage Season will include The Crazy Girl (June 27-29) by Frank Pugliese, starring Jilly Clayburge, Lili Rabe, and Chris Messina; Good Life (July 5-6) by John Corwin; Exposed (July 18-20) by Beth Henley; The New Americans (August 1-3) by Cindy Lou Johnson, directed by Sheryl Kaller; and a fifth production to be announced soon.

SAF’s first Readings Festival (June 20-22) will include The Quick by Tanya Barfield, directed by Leigh Silverman; David Cale Musical Selections; Nature of Our Collaboration by Rick Elice, directed by Roger Rees; and a mentoring program featuring readings of The Planet of 158 Street by Clark Perry (mentored by Edwin Sanchez) and one additional play yet to be announced. The second Readings Festival (July 25-27) will include Except My Life by Nicole Burdette, directed by Gregory Mosher; This Ball of Mud and Fire by Anton Dudley, directed by Erica Schmidt; The Argument by Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros, directed by Theresa Rebeck; Pen by David Marshall Grant; and Sweetness by Gary Sunshine, directed by Trip Cullman.

The Free Outdoor Shakespeare series, which features the apprentice company performing abbreviated versions of the Bard’s classics in repertory, will include As You Like It, directed by Henry Clark; Perdita Gracia by Caridad Svich (based on The Winter’s Tale), directed by Debbie Saivetz; and Twelfth Night, directed by Michael Earle.

All of the Main Stage performances will take place in the Powerhouse Theatre on the Vassar campus in Poughkeepsie, NY. Second Stage shows will be performed in the Susan Stein Shiva Theater. Tickets, including season memberships, may be purchased beginning June 3 by calling 845-437-7235, by visiting the box office at Vassar College, or online by clicking here. To request a season brochure, call 845-436-5902 or visit the SAF website at www.newyorkstageandfilm.org.