Plays with New York themes written by John Patrick Shanley, Amiri Baraka, Edward Albee, Lorraine Hansberry and more than a dozen others, will be featured in a free festival of readings and panel discussions led by members of Labyrinth Theater Company from March 18-24, the organization has announced.
The NewYorkNewYork Festival, which will be held at the Bank Street Theater, is scheduled to begin with a reading of Israel Horovitz’s 1968 play “The Indian Wants the Bronx†followed by a talk moderated by Mr. Horovitz about the rise of Off Broadway theater in the late 1960s. Subsequent nights will showcase readings of Stephen Adly Guirgis’s “In Arabia, We’ll All Be Kings,†Mr. Shanley’s “Danny and the Deep Blue Sea,†and Mr. Baraka’s “Dutchman;†each writer will lead a post-show discussion as well.
Then, beginning at 7 p.m. on March 22, a 48-hour marathon of around-the-clock readings will start. Labyrinth company members, gues artists, and members of the audience will be cast in each play, which will also include works by James Baldwin, Maria Irene Fornes, John Guare, Jack Kerouac, Kenneth Lonergan, and Eugene O’Neill. Tickets will be available on a first-come-first-served basis before each reading.
Founded in 1992, Labyrinth emerged as an Off Broadway force in the 2000s in large part because of acclaimed plays by Mr. Guirgis (“Our Lady of 121st Streetâ€) and the leadership of its co-artistic directors at the time, Philip Seymour Hoffman and John Oritz. More recently Labyrinth productions have been on a smaller scale and received mixed reviews; the company is now looking for new leaders to replace its current artistic directors: Mr. Guirgis, the costume designer Mimi O’Donnell and the actor Yul Vazquez.
