Stories on 5 Stories

Acclaimed theater company Playwrights Horizons presents the return of its unique and second-annual benefit evening Stories on 5 Stories. Cheryl Alexander, Reed Birney, Rosemarie DeWitt, Michael Doyle, Linda Emond, Heather Goldenhersh, David Greenspan, Jessica Hecht, John Benjamin Hickey, John Bedford Lloyd, Austin Lysy, Paul Sparks, Sona Tatoyan, Christopher Evan Welch and Jeff Whitty are among those featured in the evening that celebrates the theater’s beautiful home at 416 West 42nd Street and benefits its annual programs and productions.

The event features seven playlets and one song, each written by eight of the theater’s acclaimed alumni writers: Kirsten Childs, Tom Donaghy, David Greenspan, Craig Lucas, Mark O’Donnell, Theresa Rebeck, José Rivera and Craig Wright. Running five minutes in length, each work is being written specifically for the evening, inspired by and performed in one location of the theater company’s 5-story headquarters. While noted for its two state of the art theaters, the building hosts each playlet in such site-specific, non-traditional locations as the Men’s Room and the beneath-the-stage Trap Room. The theme for this year’s plays is “Reality.”

The plays are performed concurrently, each repeated eight times in its own location. Attendees travel throughout the building in small groups in order to see each work, and each is performed by separate casts.

Schedule

6:00 PM – Dinner (optional) at Chez Josephine (414 West 42nd Street), attended by Playwrights Horizons staff and Board members, as well as some of the evening’s playwrights.

7:30 PM – Event begins

9:00 PM – Post-show reception with artists

Tickets are priced at $150 (“Apprentice” ticket – a single ticket to the shows and reception), $250 (a pair of “Newlywed” tickets to the shows and reception) and $300 (“Idol” ticket – a single ticket for the pre-event dinner, shows and reception).