WORLD PREMIERE OF VENUS IN ORANGE AT CYPRESS COLLEGE
WORLD PREMIERE OF VENUS IN ORANGE AT CYPRESS COLLEGE
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Cypress College Presents Trio of "NEW PLAYS, NEW VOICES" This Fall audiences will have an opportunity to see three new plays written by five of America's most exciting professional playwrights as they're brought to life onstage for the very first time courtesy of the Cypress College's Theater Department. Presented under the banner, "NEW PLAYS, NEW VOICES," the first two plays, "Bleed Rail" by Mickey Birnbaum, and "Herocide" by Matt Pelfrey, will play in repertory September 24 through 26. The third play, "Venus in Orange" by Paula Cizmar, Velina Hasu Houston, and Laura Shamas, will be presented November 12 through 14. General admission for the plays is $12.00. Due to mature topics and themes these plays are recommended for adults audiences only. "NEW PLAYS, NEW VOICES" is an extension of the Theater Department's "NEW PLAY FESTIVAL" which was begun in 1997 and has presented new plays each summer to critical acclaim. The 2000 "NEW PLAY FESTIVAL" garnered a "Best New Play of 2001" O. C. Weekly Award for playwright Cody Henderson for his play "Cold Tender". Additionally, two plays presented at the 1999 "NEW PLAY FESTIVAL", moved onto larger productions; "Be Aggressive" by Annie Weisman, which went onto a production at the La Jolla Playhouse, and "Poison Tree" by Robert Glaudini, which moved onto to a production at the Mark Taper Forum. 'We're really proud of our track record with new plays," says Mark Majarian, the theater faculty member who helms the summer festival and will now oversee the Fall "NEW PLAYS, NEW VOICES." "The professional playwrights we've had the chance to work with during the summer festival have been fabulous," says Majarian, "now, with 'NEW PLAYS, NEW VOICES,' we'll be able to go beyond readings into full workshop productions. Its very exciting." The first two plays, "Bleed Rail" and "Herocide," will play in repertory September 24 through 26. In "Bleed Rail" by Mickey Birnbaum, two slaughter house workers, Justin & Ryan discuss murder, sex and cars while they butcher cattle carcasses at a blinding pace. When a falling cow carcass maims Ryan, he returns to a dingy apartment to discover Jewel, a homeless pregnant girl, who has become enslaved to his roommate Keith. Jewel likes Ryan and the trouble begins. Playwright Mickey Birnbaum has been a cab driver, a newsroom assistant for the BBC, an arts journalist in London (Time Out), Los Angeles (L.A. Weekly, L.A. Herald Examiner), and New York (US, and a produced screenwriter (The Tie That Binds, 1995). His full-length play "Big Death Little Death" was featured in A.S.K. Theater Projects New Play Weekend 2001, Cypress College New Works Festival and Playwrights Foundation's New Works Festival 2003. It will be produced at Wooly Mammoth in Washington D.C. in February 2005. Ben Stiller has optioned his screenplay "Used Guys," with Jay Roach set to direct. Mickey recently adapted the novel Simon Silber: Works for Solo Piano, by Christopher Miller, for Appian Way Productions. Mickey is a member of Dog Ear, a Los Angeles playwrights' collective and plays bass accordion in The Accordionaires Ensemble. Next in the repertory is "Herocide" by Matt Pelfrey, in which Jimmy Jamison, AKA Kid Danger, is a high school nerd who becomes a super hero with the help of a mysterious stranger with unworldly powers. He snorts kryptonite, saves a high school cheerleader, and teams up with a Black Fireman from the Ghetto and a security guard who is wanted by the FBI. Playwright Matt Pelfrey is the author of "FrEAk StORM," "Cockroach Nation," "Terminus Americana," "Honkies With Attitude," "A Feast of Famine," "Drive Angry" and "Jerry Springer is God." Such companies as, the Actors Theater of Louisville, Roadworks, American Theater of Actors, Stark Raving Theater, (Mostly) Harmless Theater Company, Moving Arts and the Lodestone Theatre Ensemble have produced his plays in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Portland (OR), Louisville (KY), Missouri and Miami. "Drive Angry" was published in Smith and Kraus's Humana Festival 99, The Complete Plays and 30 Ten-Minute Plays for 2 Actors from Actors Theatre of Louisville's National Ten-Minute Play Contest as well as in Samuel French's Ten Minute Plays: Volume 5 from Actors Theatre of Louisville. "Jerry Springer is God" was published in Smith and Kraus's 30 Ten-Minute Plays for 4-6 Actors from Actors Theatre of Louisville. He is the recipient of the Heideman Award and was nominated for a Los Angeles Ovation Award for Best World Premier Play. He received his BA degree in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University and is currently pursuing his M.F.A. in playwriting from U.C.L.A. Playing in repertory, "Bleed Rail" plays September 24 at 8pm and September 26 at 4 pm, and "Herocide" plays September 24 at 4pm and September 25 at 8pm. Ticket prices are $12.00. In November, "NEW PLAYS, NEW VOICES" recommences with "Venus In Orange" a performance piece exploring the lives and loves of young So-Cal women in the 21st century which weaves real-world stories with myth, magic, and dreams. The piece will be tailor-made for the actors by award-winning Los Angeles playwrights Paula Cizmar, Velina Hasu Houston, and Laura Shamas. Playwright Paula Cizmar is the author of award-winning work that has been produced all over the U.S. and in London, including at Portland Stage, the American Place Theatre (NY), The Women's Project (NY), San Diego Rep, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville, and, in L.A., Playwrights Arena, West Coast Ensemble, and Echo Theatre. Among her many plays are "Bone Dry," "Candy & Shelley Go To The Desert," "Street Stories," "The Death of a Miner," "Al's Lunchette," and "Boodaboy." Co-Playwright, Laura Shamas, PhD. has won playwriting awards including a Mary Roberts Rinehart Foundation grant, a Fringe First Award for Outstanding New Drama (Edinburgh), a DramaLogue Award, and the Warner Brothers Award. Some of her published plays are "The Other Shakespeare," "Picnic at Hanging Rock" (adaptation), "Amelia Lives," "Lady-Like," and "Portrait of a Nude." Her plays have been produced at West Coast Ensemble, the Walnut Street Theatre (Philadephia), Philadelphia Theatre Company, the Denver Center Theatre Company, and other venues. Her monologue "Too Cool" will be published in 2004/2005 in New Monologues for Women by Women (Heinemann). Her new nonfiction book Myths and Modern Mortals: Twelve Essays on Mythology and Pop Culture will be published in September by Spring Journal Books, New Orleans. Her work has been work shopped/read at various places around the U.S., including the GeVa (Rochester, NY), the Utah Shakespearean Festival, A.S.K. (L.A.), and the Old Globe Theaters (San Diego). The performance schedule for "Venus In Orange" is November 12 and 13 at 8 pm, and November 14 at 4 pm. The "NEW PLAYS, NEW VOICES" is not only a proving ground for new plays, but also for new directors. Student directors, Tiffany Moon will direct "Bleed Rail" and Branden Roberts will direct "Herocide." The third play, "Venus in Orange" will be directed by Tom Ormeny, Artistic Director for the Victory Theatre in Los Angeles and one of the faculty supervisors for "NEW PLAYS, NEW VOICES." "NEW PLAYS, NEW VOICES" will be presented over two weekends. Playing in repertory, "Bleed Rail" plays September 24 at 8pm and September 26 at 4 pm, and "Herocide" plays September 24 at 4pm and September 25 at 8pm. Then recommencing In November, "Venus In Orange" will play November 12 and 13 at 8 pm, and November 14 at 4 pm. All three plays will be presented in the Studio Theater at Cypress College located at 9200 Valley View St., Cypress, California. General admission is $12.00. For further information call 714-484-7201. Or visit online at old.cypresscollege.edu/~theater
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