2016 mini update: Dal Segno and Detainee

Well, friends

We've had a busy and successful year, but with only 2 blog posts so far, you may have not been updated on it. Our goal is get our news out more effectively in the future and we even may have a new Between Us Family member joining us soon to support us with that.

First of all, Detainee happened and it was a wonderful success. I've changed our facebook cover photo to be this iconic image from Sam Graber's piece.

Roxy Reynolds as the Detainee

I am still going to hold off on sharing a picture from each of our Take Ten plays in April, but I swear you will see that before the next Take Ten (which we are in the midst of planning right now). More photos from both events are available on our facebook page. I will be making a dedicated post sooner than not, however, just honoring all the artists we worked with this year with pictures and accolades.

I'll give you a sneak peak for one our Take Ten photos, however. Alisha Espinosa's Friable won Best Play at Take Ten and was directed by Nilan Jonson. Here's one image from that electric piece.

Alisha Espinosa & Brandon Garegnani get into it

WELL. This weekend we are hosting a workshop of Alisha's newest work. It's the story of two souls connecting (or not) in a time of extreme violence...our own. Check out the facebook event for more information, but the main details are that it's 8pm at the Director's Studio on November 12th. 

Hope to see many of there and can't wait to share more news and pictures soon!

Detainee and other news

Hello, Between Us fans

      It's been a while since I've updated you. I didn't get a chance to do my yearly pictures and recap from Take Ten, but I haven't forgotten. I will do that at a later time. We are very proud of all the artists we had this year and I want a blog post primarily focusing on them. The winner of Take Ten, Alisha Espinosa, will be having a workshop with us in the fall (it's a pretty gripping play, I've already read it) and we will focus more on her and all the other participants that graced our stage (a great new venue too!) later on.

For now, I want to focus on Detainee, the full length production going up in just a few weeks. Detainee is a smart political thriller, written by Sam Graber, a writer who has participated in every one of our one act festivals even though he's from across the country. We were thrilled to be able to produce something longer of his. It's directed by our very own Samantha Manas and it's going to be a heck of a show. Here's the info

Detainee
Written by Sam Graber
Directed by Samantha Lee Manas
Produced by Jasmine Brown & Graydon Gund

July 20th-22nd at 7:30pm
July 23rd at 2:30pm and 7:30pm
July 24th at 2:30pm

The Fourth Street Theater
83 E 4th Street (between Cooper Square and 2nd Ave)
New York, NY

Starring:
Francesca Ferrara*
Niceto Darcey Festin
Galway McCullough*
Roxy Reynolds
Angie Tennant*

Stage Manager: Paulina Ruiz

*appearing courtesy of Actor's Equity Association

Tickets: $18 at the door and on Brown Paper Tickets!

I'm particularly excited by this play, not just because of the quality of writing, acting and directing and by the issues it is raising but types of female characters this story is showcasing. It's truly an important piece and I hope you all join us there.

AND it's not too late to support the play! Please donate to our indiegogo and help us fund this thing so YOU can continue to enjoy the quality work we put out by the amazing up and coming artists. There's only a few days left, so please click the link and donate!

Show us your support!

Finally, as a little taste, I thought I'd give you a teaser about the story.

Detainee is a political thriller about one woman balancing devotion to family against devotion to country.

Lindsey is a middle-aged college professor who drives a middle-aged van and lives in a middle-aged house. She's a middle-aged Mom with a middle-aged husband. She also has middle-aged problems, mostly stemming from her wayward teenage daughter, with whom she has a strained relationship.
Outside of home, Lindsey has another problem. The United States is reeling from a string of domestic bomb threats. But when the threats turn real, and the first bomb explodes, Lindsey is asked to return to her former identity. And ultimately Lindsey must choose between allegiance to country and the sanctity of her home.

At the core of Detainee is a family story which focuses on an individual torn between allegiance to country and regard for family. Isn’t the individual working on behalf of the state also an individual? What is that life like? What is impact on someone shuttling between a terrorist detainment center and home? When does the allegiance end?

Detainee is a play about a decision -- whether or not to torture a U.S. citizen.

Hope you enjoy!

Jasmine

Take Ten, Happening Again!

Hello, Between Us Fans!

A quick update. The forth annual Take Ten Festival is NEXT WEEK.

Here's the info:

April 26th - 30th at 7pm & 9pm
May 1st at 3pm

13th Street Repertory Co.
50 W 13th street
New York, NY

Tickets $20
http://m.bpt.me/event/2512198 or at the doorstep
...
For bios and more info:
http://betweenusproductions.wix.com/take-ten

FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2016
7pm
Series A
Captain Samaritan: The Battle of Negrophobia by Jeremy Holloway
Mama, I Don’t Want To Be Mediocre by Monica Mikell
Division of Assets by Krysten Louchen
The Authoress by Seth Freeman

9pm
Series B
You Are Could I by Steven McMahon
Friable by Alisha Espinosa
Grieving with Gary by Laura Towns
Sunset by Gary Jaffe

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2016
7pm
Series C
Good Corporate Citizen by Sam Graber
You&Me(and Ruby) by Alexandra Ley
The Procrustes Pitch by Vishesh Abeyratne
Swept by Gina Doherty


9pm
Series D
Threatened Panda Fights Back by Rex McGregor
I Never Heard Such Silence by Marlin Thomas
Hangman by Gregory Fletcher
Edward’s Closet by Jenn Dlugos and Charlie Hatton

THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2016
7pm
Series B
You Are Could I by Steven McMahon
Friable by Alisha Espinosa
Grieving with Gary by Laura Towns
Sunset by Gary Jaffe

9pm
Series A
Captain Samaritan: The Battle of Negrophobia by Jeremy Holloway
Mama, I Don’t Want To Be Mediocre by Monica Mikell
Division of Assets by Krysten Louchen
The Authoress by Seth Freeman


FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2016
7pm
Series D
Threatened Panda Fights Back by Rex McGregor
I Never Heard Such Silence by Marlin Thomas
Hangman by Gregory Fletcher
Edward’s Closet by Jenn Dlugos and Charlie Hatton

9pm
Series C
Good Corporate Citizen by Sam Graber
You&Me(and Ruby) by Alexandra Ley
The Procrustes Pitch by Vishesh Abeyratne
Swept by Gina Doherty


SATURDAY, APRIL 30 2016
7pm
Semi-finalists TBD
9pm
Semi-finalists TBD

SUNDAY, MAY 1 2016
3pm
Finalists TBD

We're very excited for the new artists (and a few old friends) we will be meeting and the new space we're going to be working in. And Paulina is back as our SM.

So come on, come one, come all!

ElliEli Happy Dance!

Just a quick update to let you guys know how ElliEli went. Pretty much...awesomely! The direction, acting and script of the workshop was really top tier. We're really thrilled to have been able to facilitate this. We're hoping to continue to work with these artists in the future and foster the new connections we made with the audience members who came out to see it. Stay tuned to hear more about ElliEli and more from Arlene. Not just with us...but hopefully with us too! And stay tuned to hear about all the things we're gearing up to do. We've got some new plays we're sifting through for the next seasons, Take Ten, some awesome new staff and a more focused mission. It's gonna be a blast!

Here's a little picture of the artists' getting ready for ElliEli. Thanks for coming if you were there, and if you weren't...we really hope to see you next time!

New Staff, Fairer Sex pics and getting pumped for ElliEli

Hi, all!

First of all, we were incredibly happy with our production of The Fairer Sex (though I got very sick halfway through the run). We got a great review and some lovely pictures, which you can see below.

Michelle Liu Coughlin* and Josephine Wheelwright

Josephine Wheelwright, Chauncey Johnson, Billy Giacci and Erica Becker

Erica Becker and Billy Giacci

Josephine Wheelwright and Michelle Liu Coughlin*

Michael Markham*, Erica Becker, Billy Giacci, Josephine Wheelwright and Chauncey Johnson

Michelle Liu Coughlin*, Josephine Wheelwright, Eric Becker and Billy Giacci

*appeared courtesy of Actor's Equity

Of course, there are tons more pictures on our facebook but I had to pick the fairer six. (Sorry, had to).

ANYWAY. We were really very proud. The pictures, I think exemplify not only the acting, but also the fabulous direction and costume design by our very own Samantha Lee Manas and the lighting design by Paul Kennedy.

But most significantly, coming out of this, we have decided to make Sander Gusinow a permanent member of the company as our Literary and Marketing Manager. Besides writing The Fairer Sex, Sander also wrote the winning play from Take Ten 2014 (Hansen and Greta) and had a workshop of his one-act Hell-Bent produced by us as well. We're really excited to have him on board. We'll have a headshot and bio for him on all of our places soon.

We'll also have one for Paulina Ruiz who is going to be our Resident Stage Manager moving forward. She did an amazing job stage managing Take Ten 2015 and will be working on our ElliEli, the workshop we have coming up in a few weeks.

Oh, yes, ElliEli, what about that? Well, we're very excited. It's just such a smart, fabulous play, written by Arlene Jaffe, who wrote Rita Shalimar, the winner of Take Ten 2015 and directed by Montgomery Sutton, nominated for Best Director in Take Ten 2015 for The Oracle. We met with them a few weeks ago and couldn't be more inspired to be working and to have brought such talent together.

Arlene

Monty

The show is going to be on September 12th at the Director's Studio and tickets are already available. You can also check out both of our facebook events (facebook doesn't like when we invited too many people to one thing now, apparently).

It's going to be a smash. Here's the little blurb I wrote for the show.

Elli has a bully. He's mean, abusive and he's lived with her since childhood. Also, he co-writes her blog. And he's not, in the strictest sense, real.

Hope to see you there!

Don't Stop Us Now!

Hi, all!

     Things are heating up with Between Us this summer! First of all, from July 29th-August 2nd, we will be showing a brand new dark comedy, The Fairer Sex, by Sander Gusinow who we previous worked with on Hansen and Greta (Winner of Best Play, Take Ten 2014) and the workshop of Hell-Bent. It will be directed by our very own Samantha Lee Manas and starring  Erica Becker, Michelle Liu Coughlin*, Billy Giacci, Chauncey Johnson, Micheal Markham* and Josephine Wheelwright.

*appearing courtesy of Actor's Equity Association

Recognize any of those names from past projects? As part of our mission to foster new artists, we love to give continued opportunities to actors we meet that want the space to show their gifts. 
And as part of our mission for relevant, socially challenging work, we're particularly excited about The Fairer Sex. In this original one-act, the feminist revolution is over. We won. Now what? The battle of the sexes is now an all out war that is at times hilarious, shocking and very violent. 

Plus check out our shiny new graphic!

Amazing right? Thanks MLN Designs!

So come check this play out!

July 29th - July 31st at 8pm
August 1st at 2pm & 8pm
August 2nd at 3pm

The Studio Theatre at Theatre Row
410 W 42nd Street 
New York, NY 10036

Tickets $18 on Telecharge

Come on! Buy a ticket! Look how much fun they're having in rehearsal!

Check the event out on on facebook as well as our company page and our website while you're at it for more information. And big props to Samantha for the great work she's been doing on the latter lately!

Switching gears now, we're also excited about our next venture after Fairer Sex. We're going to have workshop of a new original play by our Take Ten 2015 Best Play winner, Arlene Jaffe and directed by Montgomery Sutton (nominee for Best Director, Take Ten 2015). The play is called Elli Eli and it's a funny, modern look at chronic pain. Tickets will be sold on brownpapertickets starting on August 1st and it is already listed so get to buying before we sell out! One night only on September 12th, 8pm  at the Director's Studio. 

An Exciting Summer and Spring for Between Us!

Hi, all! Between Us had a wonderful time at our third annual Take Ten festival. Here are pictures from all sixteen of the wonderful plays.

The Devil's Advocate written and directed by Shari Umansky
Pictured: Ed Heuether, Micheal Newman

Table for Two by Edward Precht
Directed by Dunya J. Karam
Pictured: Lauren Fischetti, Rebecca Sanborn, Alexander Lukham, Timothy McHale

The Oracle by Steven Young (finalist for Best Play)
Directed by Montgomery Sutton (finalist for Best Director)
Pictured: Raphael Corkill (finalist for Best Actor), Nathaniel Kent (Winner for Best Actor)

Toward the Heart of the Forest by Eric Marlin (Semi-Finalist for Best Play)
Directed by Clara Rotter-Laitman
Pictured: Mari Vial-Golden, Noah Berman, Keaton Morris-Stan, Colin Hinckley, Josephine Wheelwright (Winner for Best Actress)

Confession written and directed by Kara K. Shelton
Pictured: Kara K. Shelton and Cedrick Massey

Don't Call Us (We'll Call You) by Abigail Taylor Sansom
Pictured:Caroline Snape and Noam Shapiro

The Lives We Lead written and directed by Jessica Lehman (Semi-Finalist for Best Play)
Pictured: Dakota Dutcher and Victoria M. Fragnito (Finalist for Best Actress)

Thursday, Five Years From Now by Matt Kleckner (Finalist for Best Play)
Directed by Ryan Yandersits
Pictured: Matt Kleckner and Jo Twist (appearing courtesy of Actor's Equity)

A Talk Amongst Criminals by Zach Stein
Directed by Patrick Morley
Pictured: Roz Rosario

Rita Shalimar by Arlene Jaffe (Winner for Best Play)
Directed by Mark Richardson (Finalist for Best Director)
Pictured: Greg Carter, Margot Steinberg and Sage Buchalter (Finalist for Best Actress)

The First Vacation in Five Years written and directed by Christina Klessig
Pictured: Valerie Saturno, Jon McCormick

Yankee Stadium, June 1960 written and directed by Irwin Hahn (Finalist for Best Play and Best Director)
 Pictured: Irwin Hahn (Finalist for Best Actor)

Restoration by Mark Rosati
Directed by Jake King
Pictured: Guy Wellman and Chelsea Clark

Think, What Have You Done by Carrie Boehm (Semi-Finalist for Best Play)
Directed by Jacob Henkoff
Pictured: Amanda Jungquist (Finalist for Best Actress)

www.surveyhoney.com by Seth Freeman (Semi-Finalist for Best Play)
Directed by Virginia Hastings (Winner for Best Director)
Pictured: Marie Lenzi and Ray Bergen (Finalist for Best Play)

Feline High-Rise Syndrome by Rex McGregor
Directed by Emily Naylor
Pictured: Christopher Herr, Clare Rea, Stephen Humes, Hannah Richter

Please check out our facebook for more pictures from all the shows. And here are some from our awards ceremony.

Best Play Awards
Pictured: Co-Artistic Directors Jasmine Brown (myself) and Samantha Lee Manas
with Irwin Hahn, Liz Blake (Stage Manager for the Oracle) Nathaniel Kent, Matt Kleckner and Arlene Jaffe

Best Actor Awards
Pictured: Nathaniel Kent, Montgomery Sutton, Irwin Hahn, Ray Bergen, Jasmine Brown and Samantha Lee Manas

Best Actress Awards
Pictured: Victoria M. Fragnito, Sage  Buchalter, Samantha Lee Manas and Jasmine Brown

Best Director Awards
Pictured: Mark Richardson, Irwin Hahn, Virginia Hastings, Montgomery Sutton, Jasmine Brown and Samantha Lee Manas

Additionally, we had some new staff for the festival. Although Tierney Nolen helped us coming up to the festival, she recently got an opportunity to work overseas and had to leave the company. We did hire a stage manager for the festival, Paulina Ruiz, however, who was truly spectacular and we hope to work with her in the future.

Coming up, we are going to be producing a workshop of an new original play by our Take Ten 2015 winner, Arlene Jaffe. More information on that soon, but let us just say, we are very excited about her voice. We are also going to be doing a full production from our Take Ten 2014 winner, Sander Gusinow, just because we liked working with him so much. You remember Sander's work, don't you?

Yeah. That's him. The play is called The Fairer Sex and it's about the feminist revolution. Look for it this summer!

That's all for now! More soon!