Playwright, Barry Levey recently sat down with Project Y Associate Producer, Sarah Dunivant, to talk about his upcoming production of Maimed, which is the centerpiece of our 3rd New York New Playwright Festival (NYNP). A second year member of Project Y Playwrights Group, Levey has been part of TechnoPlays Festival and wrote and performed the NYFringe hit, Hoaxacaust, in 2014. We are excited to see the workshop production this October.

 

SD: What inspired “Maimed”?

BL: I’d wanted to write it for a very long time, and one day just got brave enough to start. Also my therapist vetoed my other ideas.

SD: How is this play similar or different to some of your other plays?

BL: I enjoy writing about my own experience through someone else’s lens—in this case, filtering aspects of my family history through the prism of Patrick Dennis’s Auntie Mame. It’s a way of forcing myself out of my own perspective, even when coming from a personal place. Plus, I get to feed my inner nerd; I’ve never met an idea I couldn’t research to death.

SD: What was the process like for creating the piece?

BL: The writing process was one of my fastest—helped along by deadlines from the Project Y writers’ group. It’s had two readings with actors, by the Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey and The New Group. Both were awesome.

SD: What do you hope to gain from the workshop production in the NY New Playwright Festival?

BL: A film deal. Or just to share it with Project Y’s audience and make people laugh.

SD: When did you decide you wanted to pursue playwriting?

BL: When puberty dictated I would no longer pursue musical theater performance. I still try to sneak a little musical theater quality into each of my plays. Just kidding; I’m not remotely sneaky about it.

SD: Do you have any playwriting commandments or rules that you follow? If so, what are they? How do they instruct your writing?

BL: I like Jose Rivera’s dictum regarding writer’s block: go back to where you lied, and tell the truth. I’m paraphrasing, of course. And it doesn’t always work. But it’s a good way to psychoanalyze yourself for an hour instead of writing.

SD: What are you working on now?

BL: The story of a woman trying to juggle career and romance—in the 1780s. She encounters some conflict. But she’s based on a real-life genius I find inspirational, and she left behind enough witty-but-unknown public-domain putdowns that I barely need to write my own jokes.

 

CLICK HERE for tickets to Maimed

Project Y is pleased to announce the lineup for the 3rd New York New Playwright Festival (NYNP). This festival was created in 2011 with the focus on playwrights and development of new work. We wanted to break the endless cycle of readings that many plays get stuff in, by giving writers a chance to see their work up and on its feet before an audience in a review-free, supportive environment. It is the goal of NYNP to allow each piece in the festival the space to grow with and in front of an audience, by providing writers with the tools to mount a workshop production of their new play and “test it” with Project Y. Please join us in supporting these new productions and the work of the many talented writers, actors, and directors involved.

October 21, 22, & 23, 2015

3rd New York New Playwright Festival (NYNP)

at the Cell (338 W. 23rd Street)

 

20 WRITERS. 9 NEW PLAYS. 3 WORLD PREMIERE PRODUCTIONS.

Maimed, by Barry Levey

#ParityPlays, by Project Y Playwrights Group

Landmarks & Transformations, by Michole Biancosino and 12 LGBTQ Writer/Performers

SCHEDULE

Wed Oct 21 6:30pm Maimed 8:30 #ParityPlays

 

Thur Oct 22 7pm #ParityPlays 9pm Landmarks & Transformations

 

Fri Oct 23 7pm Landmarks & Transformations 8:30 Maimed

ALL PERFORMANCES ARE AT THE CELL (338 W. 23rd Street)

 

SHOW INFORMATION and TICKET LINKS

Maimed by Barry Levey

Directed by Ian Morgan

Featuring Jackie Hoffman

“As a child, Etan delights in his Aunt Miriam’s free spirit. But as he grows, he discovers her eccentricity masks an illness neither knows how to handle. A boy comes of age while his aunt comes undone in this comedy about a woman whose tall tales shape her nephew’s life, even as they stunt her own.”

CLICK FOR TICKETS for MAIMED

 

#ParityPlays New Short Plays that Feature 50% or More Women in Casting

 

Work Friends, by Sarah Bernstein

“Over Chardonnay and gluten free cookies, two coworkers discover they have more in common than they thought.”

I Am Not I, by Edward Einhorn

“A monologue by a woman whose brain cannot recognize her own image. “

Sisterology, by Julienne Hairston

“Attending their Mother’s funeral, three sisters reminisce, but underneath the memories reveal feelings of anger, betrayal, and pain.”

Something Creative, by Dano Madden

“Two office temps copy and shred documents to the point of a near nervous breakdown.”

Helen Keller Visits Martha Graham’s Dance Studio, by Stephen Kaplan

“Two giants face off over the nature of art.”

Exit Interview, by Lia Romeo

“Kelly has just been fired… but her bad day is about to get so much worse.”

Herd Immunity, by Meron Langsner

“Two young mothers come to realize that their worldviews are not compatible with their friendship.”

Rear Ending, by Erin Mallon

“What happens when a lime green Volkswagen crashes directly into a Mercedes’ ass?”

CLICK FOR TICKETS for #PARITYPLAYS

 

Landmarks & Transformations

In 2015, many “Landmark” decisions have been made that will change the lives of LGBTQ people, including the right to marry. This devised docu-drama features stories of Transformative Moments in the Personal Histories of 12 LGBTQ Writer/Performers in a Multi-Media Theatre and Video Piece.

Created by Michole Biancosino and these Writer/Performers: Kevin R Free, Bixby Elliot, Ken Greller, Jordan Sebastian Bonner, Vivian Aladren, Frank Wildermann, Cait Weisensee, Nikki Vega, Becky Krause, Charlie O’Leary, Kariya Tamber, and Amy Jackson Lewis.

CLICK for TIX for LANDMARKS & TRANSFORMATIONS

 

Once you buy your ticket, go to our Facebook Event Page and tell your friends to join you! RSVP on Facebook here.

 

SPOTLIGHT ON JUST A FEW OF THE 45 ARTISTS INVOLVED :

JACKIE HOFFMAN (“Maimed”) is a New York based actress, singer, comedian, self-loathing Jew, who was last seen in the recurring role of David’s mother on NBC’s The New Normal. She has been in the original Broadway casts of The Addams Family, Xanadu, and Hairspray, for which she won the Theatre World Award for most outstanding Broadway debut. Other Off-Broadway plays include A Chanukah Charol, The Tribeca Theatre Festival, The Gingerbread House, The Book of Liz, for which Jackie won the Obie award for best actress, Straightjacket, Incident at Cobbler’s Knob (Lincoln Center Theatre Festival) and One Woman Shoe. Regional Theatre: Chicago at the MUNY, The Sisters Rosensweig at the Globe Theatre. Jackie starred in six revues at The Second City theatre in Chicago, where she won the Jeff Award for Best Actress. Jackie’s solo shows at Joe’s Pub, all directed by Michael Schiralli, have all received tremendous critical acclaim. Her show “The Kvetching Continues” won Time Out New York’s outstanding achievement award and was the longest running show in Joe’s Pub’s history. Other solo shows: “Jackie Five-Oh!,” “Chanukah at Joe’s Pub” (Bistro Award), “Scraping the Bottom,” and “Jackie with a Z.” Jackie won a Mac Award in 2009 for Best Female Stand Up. She can be seen in the films Birdman, The Sitter, The Extra Man, How to Seduce Difficult Women, A Dirty Shame, Garden State, Legally Blonde II, Kissing Jessica Stein, and Mo’ Money. Her television appearances have included “The New Normal,” “Raising Hope,” “Melissa and Joey,” “On We Go,” “30 Rock,” “Starved,” “Hope and Faith,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Strangers with Candy,” “TV Funhouse,” “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” “Soulman,” “Cosby,” as well as the voices for the cartoons “High School USA,” “Family Guy,” “Dilbert,” “PB & J Otter,” and the film Robots.

(From Left to Right, Top to bottom) Writer and Performer Kirya Traber (“Landmarks & Transformations”), Playwright Bixby Elliot (“Landmarks & Transformations”), Director Leta Tremblay (#ParityPlays), Director Aliza Shane (#ParityPlays), Actress Addie Walsh (#ParityPlays), Actress Melissa Mickens (#ParityPlays), Playwright Sarah Bernstein (#ParityPlays), Playwright Stephen Kaplan (#ParityPlays), Playwright Meron Langsner (#ParityPlays), NYNP Festival Producer Michole Biancosino, Director and Writer/Performer Kevin R Free (“Landmarks & Transformations” and #Parity Plays), Writer/Performer Amy Jackson Lewis (“Landmarks & Transformations”), Playwright Erin Mallon (#ParityPlays), Playwright Edward Einhorn (#ParityPlays), and Playwright Julienne Hairston (#ParityPlays).