Long story short. Literally.
For the 4th year in a row, we are delighted to present the Arts Incubator Short Play Fest, a celebration of short, new, in-development works of theater and the playwrights behind them! This year’s Fest will once again exist in a hybrid format of free events online and in-person between March 10-16, 2024.
As featured in ArtsWestchester, ILoveNY.com, Westchester Family, BroadwayWorld, SceneThink, and Rivertowns Patch
IN-PERSON:
March 10 — Mercy University Lecture Hall (555 Broadway, Dobbs Ferry, NY. Ample parking available; See map.)
Several Miles From Nowhere by Marissa Alaniz
So You Bought a Fiddle Leaf Fig by Eric Craft
Salt by Merideth Maddox
New York, 2098 by Kaley Roth Mamo
Plus a special presentation from our venue hosts: Lisa Peart-Velez’s Please Remain Seated, performed by members of the Mercy University Theatre Club and directed by Marc Palmieri
VIRTUAL:
March 10-16 — Online (On-Demand on YouTube)
Sparrows by Yide Cai
The Dishtowel by Danielle Frimer
Everything We Need to Talk About Before We Talk About Sex by Tatiana Kouguell-Hoell
This event took place between March 10-16, 2024.
At a divey trucker bar somewhere in New Mexico, Tory and Steven take in a whole lot more than just drinks. Several Miles From Nowhere reveals how the people meant to be in our lives will always find a way back into them.
Originally an actor, Marissa Alaniz fell into playwriting out of frustration with the female characters she was always cast as or was reading for. Focusing on big questions, her work lives in the world of dark comedy and often explore queerness, trauma, and misfits. She holds an Associate's degree from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and a BFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, where she received an award for Excellence in Drama from the Lee Strasberg studio. She is a founding member of the Imaginarium Theater Company, which advocates for equity and sustainability in the theater. She is currently working towards her MFA in Writing for Stage and Broadcast Media from Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London.
Featuring the talents of (L-R) Colleen Gold, Carey MacLaren, and Korey Caron
Colleen Gold (Tory; she/her) is so happy to be doing another piece with this incredible team! Theatre: The Chain Theater, Broadway at Sacramento Music Circus, Pasadena Playhouse, Laguna Playhouse, TPAC, Attic Theatre, Syzygy Theatre. Colleen is also a proud alum of Broadway Dreams, Music Academy International, and the Pasadena Musical Theater Program. Film/TV/Media: “Three Women,” “Come Together,” “Almost Midnight,”,“Soul Provider,” “Back to the 80s.” colleenegold.com
Carey MacLaren (Steven) is mainly a voice actor who once died a spectacular death on The Blacklist. Improv training at UCB NY and Second City Chicago, BA Theater - UMKC. He’s a gamer, runner, writer, and terrible guitarist obsessed with classic rock. Originally from rural Missouri, these days he’s a true New Yorker living in Astoria, excitedly waiting to adopt a small dog with Jen.
Korey Caron (Director; she/her) is a theatre director and live event producer. She is excited to be back with Irvington Theater after directing Trash by Marissa Alaniz for the Irvington Theater Arts Incubator YouTube series last spring. She is interested in telling stories centering on themes of chosen family (especially in contrast to blood family) as well as coming-of-age and establishment of personal identity. She has directed pieces in the Emerging Artists Theatre New Works Series, the Chain Theatre Festival, and readings in the Chelsea Rep Playwriting Lab series.
It's 1947 at the dawn of the communist regime in China, and Sister Claudia must say goodbye to Sophie, the young orphan she raised. Sparrows is a profound examination of ideology as identity and the relentless march of time.
Yide Cai, hailing from Shenzhen, China, is an Emory University alumnus with a BA in Playwriting & German Studies. As a playwright, poet, and theater maker, his works include The Pythagoreans and The Rice Eaters, which were showcased in various festivals and staged-readings. His honors thesis, Men Write Men Write Men Right, received high honors and was developed through Emory University and the WorkingTitlePlaywrights TableSeries workshop. Additionally, Cai has a diverse background in theater, having worked as an actor, director, and dramaturg, and has contributed to theater administration departments globally, including in Seattle, Prague, and Weimar. Notably, he cherishes his time with Seattle's Yun Theatre, particularly for In Between, a multilingual play series on immigration. His play The Gift was featured in the 2022 Arts Incubator Short Play Fest, an experience he values immensely. He is currently working on the Chinese production of The Book Of Will by Lauren Gunderson, which he translated.
Featuring the talents of (L-R) Xiu Lin, Hanna Manente Nunes, Xiaoyi Zhang, and Ruiyang Zhao
Xiu Lin (Miss Zhang) is a bilingual actress holding a bachelor of English literature from Shenzhen University, and presently studying for a master’s degree in Acting in Shanghai Normal University. During undergraduate studies, she performed in numerous scenes and plays by William Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde and Anton Chekhov. Some of her plays, in which she portrayed Hamlet, Lady Macbeth, Viola and so on, were publicly presented in the university. She won twice the Best Actress and Director of the Drama Competition of Shenzhen University with her adaptations of The Importance of Being Earnest and A Woman of No Importance. Many of her works were offered a place in domestic drama festivals of all sizes.
Hanna Manente Nunes (Sister Claudia) is a historian of Latin America, cities, and things by day. She lectures on topics related to the rise and fall of empires, the birth of consumer societies, and what it means to be a historical actor. Once class is over, she continues to take on stories, even when lacking discerning audiences.
Xiaoyi Zhang (Sophie) is a heartwarming fourth-grader at an international school in Shenzhen, and the playwright’s dear neighbor.
Ruiyang Zhao (Director) majors in Acting (Television and Theatre Film) at Shenzhen University and ranks 1 out of 46 in the 4-year academic. He has performed in a number of theatrical and film productions that were publicly presented in domestic drama festivals of all sizes. He studied photography and editing on his own and accumulated the ability of directing and screenwriting through micro-film creation, “Zebra In City”. He cooperated with TeamLab Future Park, an interdisciplinary art collective, to created the physical drama Poems for Mother, which received excellent responses.
Mrs. Powers has changed her mind about the expensive houseplant she just bought, and her attempt to return it becomes quite an ordeal. So You Bought a Fiddle Leaf Fig offers a humorous glimpse into the world of retail and the modern mythos of being a "Karen."
Eric Craft is a New Jersey-based playwright whose plays have been read and developed all over New Jersey and New York. He taught acting and directed for several years at the Allegra School of Music and Arts, where he developed multiple monologues and plays for children, including his one-acts Finding the Root, The Struggle Bus, and The Alive Poets’ Society. His full-length play And Every Creeping Thing was selected by The New Jersey PlayLab in 2022 for their comprehensive residency program, and in 2023 was produced by Alpha Arts Players at Sussex County Community College. Featured one-acts include Pizza the Cat (MAC One-act festival), The Spaces Between (SOOP to Nuts), and A Sprinkle of Grace (48th Annual Samuel French Off Off-Broadway Short Play Festival). Publications include his poem “Cosmogony” (Unstamatic magazine) and “Elliot the Ursaring” (Lunar Faire’s Faire Zine). He is working on a romance novel.
Featuring the talents of (L-R) Lèna Chilingerian, Celine Dirkes, Hawkins Davis Gardow, Margot Gardow, and Tina Nostro
Lèna Chilingerian (Karen Powers) Virtual theatre: Gift of the Magi (The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey); King Lear, An Ideal Husband, The Revolutionists, The Bear (TSquared Productions); Julius Caesar: Beware the Ides of March of the Penguins (Shakespeare Approves!). Regional: Romeo & Juliet, Ken Ludwig’s The Three Musketeers, The Winter’s Tale, Timon of Athens (STNJ). Touring: Macbeth, The Comedy of Errors, Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (STNJ). Off-Broadway: Love & Contempt (Cherry Lane Studio Theatre). Other: Kingdom Faire, The New York Renaissance Faire, Silver Knights LLC, Jesus Christ Superstar, Scheherazade, Hamlet, Elmer Gantry. Short film credits: “Coming Home,” “My Friend Triceratops,” “Bruises” (Fischman Productions). Voiceover: Kingdom Come: The Complete Audio Epic (Cape Swoosh Productions). Dance: Company member (Amira Mor International Entertainment Co), Dance consultant Pericles (STNJ). Lèna received her BFA from Montclair State University and her MA in Shakespeare and Theatre from The Shakespeare Institute of the University of Birmingham, UK.
Celine Dirkes (Ari; they/them) is excited to be playing a character that shares their pronouns for the first time! A teaching artist & theatre maker based in New Jersey, some of Celine’s other notable roles include Ross (he/him) & Witch 3 (she/her) in Macbeth, Tiffany Swaley at Columbia University, St. Matthew & Sigmund Freud (both he/him) in The Last Days of Judas Iscariot at St. John’s Tiring House, Jane Gibson (she/her) in Thou Shalt Not, Thinkery & Verse; Saule (she/her), James Shureman (he/him) & Baba Yaga (she/her) in Anansi’s Story Festival, ReThink Theatrical; and Dean Quarantino (he/him) in Thinkery & Verse, Butch Mermaid Production, featured in the Virtual Melbourne Fringe Festival. They want to thank their family and friends for their continued support, and Plato Learning for introducing them to Eric!
Hawkins Davis Gardow (Greg Powers) is a musician actor living in Newark, NJ. He has appeared in community productions at the Barn Theater and Chester Theater Group. He is a pianist and is now becoming a music director in his community. He is excited to be apart of the Arts Incubator Short Play Fest. “Way to go, babe!”
Margot Gardow (Martha/Detective Mann) is a performer, designer and artist. He works in theater and TV props including stage combat weapons. The community of artists he is part of all support and celebrate each other's talents and he's excited to be doing just that today.
Tina Nostro (Barbara) With a diverse background spanning several decades, Tina brings a wealth of experience and passion to the world of acting. For years, Tina has portrayed the regal Lady Ann Morgan Carey, Baroness Hunsdon, in the Court of Queen Elizabeth. Tina has been a cast member of the online production company, Hold Space Theatre Collective. Fulfilling dual roles as a Production Assistant and IT Support, Tina contributed to the success of live online productions, including The Frogs by Aristophanes, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and The Tragedy of Cymbeline.
After nineteen years, someone makes a phone call, gets the machine, and leaves a message that could change lives. The Dishtowel explores how everyday objects hold stories that can transport and connect us to lost parts of ourselves.
Danielle Frimer's plays have been performed and developed at the Brick, the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, CoHo Lab, the Rosendale Theatre, The Secret Theatre, Village Playwrights, the Morgan Wixson Theatre, and others. As a conversation designer, she worked on the Emmy-nominated interactive audio game "Esme and Roy," and the Cannes Grand Prix-winning "Westworld: The Maze." Danielle is the winner of the Fresh Fruit Festival's 2023 Short Play Contest, a 2023 Tennessee Williams Scholar at the Sewanee Writers Conference, and a member of HOWL playwrights and the Dramatists Guild. She lives in New Paltz, NY, with her wife and dog. BA: Yale; MFA: American Conservatory Theatre. daniellefrimer.com
Featuring the talents of (L-R) Michael Iannucci and Sydnie Grosberg Ronga
Michael Iannucci (The Caller) Currently Off Broadway in Little Shop of Horrors directed by Michael Mayer. Other NY credits include Fiddler on the Roof; Shlemiel the First (Theatre for a New Audience); Enter Laughing (York Theatre); On the Waterfront (Brave New World Rep). National Tour: Annie; Fiddler on the Roof. Regional: Veronica’s Room; Act of God (Fulton Theatre); Brighton Beach Memoirs (Seven Angels); A Christmas Carol (White Heron); Falsettoland (Carbonell Award nomination); Steel Pier (Actor's Playhouse); South Pacific (Wick Theatre); The Most Happy Fella (Theatre Under the Stars). Stock: Titanic (Maine State Music Theatre); Lend Me A Tenor (Arrow Rock Lyceum); To Kill A Mockingbird (Forestburgh Playhouse); Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks (Ivoryton Playhouse); It Shoulda Been You (Mason Street Warehouse); Guys & Dolls (New Harmony); London Suite (Allenberry Playhouse). Television: “Elementary.”
Sydnie Grosberg Ronga (Director) is a co-founder of Round the Bend Theatre, a new company in the Hudson Valley devoted to helping playwrights develop their work. She is delighted to be working with Danielle and Michael on this lovely play. Sydnie is an award-winning director who has been the founder of 4 professional theatre companies, created theatre arts programming for all grades and has taught and coached professional actors for decades.
Griffin Stenger / Barnside Studios (Producer) Founded in 2022, Barnside Studios is a Hudson Valley based Content Creation and Production company with expertise in branding and testimonial storytelling. Owner and Chief Creative Officer Griffin Stenger is an actor and award-winning advertising veteran. He has worked with both Danielle Frimer and Sydnie Grosberg Ronga on previous projects and was drawn to this script by the intimacy, honesty and depth of this far-from-one-sided conversation. He would like to thank his amazing team of filmmakers Cinematographer, Cary Stuart; Production Sound Mixer, Matt Geldof; and Editor, Thom McCall – for their contributions to this piece.
Sara wants to, well, you know... Really, she does, but if only she could say what she's thinking out loud. Everything We Need To Talk About Before We Talk About Sex thoughtfully asks what it means to be intimate — and what it feels like taking your guard down again.
Tatiana Kouguell-Hoell received her BA in Playwriting and Screenwriting from Purchase College, and an MFA in Playwriting from Columbia University. Her previous studies include the University of Amsterdam and Prague Film School. In 2023, she was a finalist for the Stove Works Residency. In 2022, she was named a semi-finalist for the Women’s Playwrights Circle at Sperenza and in 2021, a finalist for the Center at West Park Residency. She is the recipient of the Denis Diderot (A-I-R) Grant as an artist-in-residence at Chateau D’Orquevaux in France. Currently, she is a lecturer in screenwriting for the Playwriting and Screenwriting program at Purchase College. Her plays include Bleecker Street Brides (Workshop at Chateau Orquevaux, Staged Reading through Columbia University at Lenfest Center for the Arts), For Molly, co-written with Ciara Ni Chuirc (Lenfest Center for the Arts); Thirty-Six Questions (The Studio Theater); Interruptions (Purchase College, The Tank Theater); and Amsterdam (Stella Adler Studio of Acting). She lives in New York City.
Featuring the talents of (L-R) George Abud, Erica Knight, and Camille Z. Hayes
George Abud (Tommy) is an Arab-American actor, currently starring on Broadway in the new musical Lempicka. He was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical for his role as Nerd Face in Emojiland at The Duke on 42nd Street. On Broadway, Abud has originated roles in The Band’s Visit starring Katrina Lenk & Tony Shalhoub, for which he received a Daytime Emmy Award; as well as The Visit starring Chita Rivera & Roger Rees; featuring on both Original Broadway Cast Albums. Off-Broadway, Abud has starred in The Beautiful Lady directed by Anne Bogart at La MaMa Experimental Theatre; Cornelia Street opposite Norbert Leo Butz at the Atlantic Theater Company; The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui opposite Raúl Esparza, Nathan The Wise opposite F. Murray Abraham, Ibsen’s Peer Gynt, and Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Allegro directed by John Doyle, all at Classic Stage Company; also, at Atlantic, he was in the original production of The Band’s Visit directed by David Cromer; and Lolita, My Love opposite Robert Sella at the York Theatre Company. Regionally, he starred as Richard Nixon in The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical directed by Christopher Ashley, and as Filippo Marinetti in Lempicka directed by Rachel Chavkin, both at the La Jolla Playhouse; also, Lewis Chapman in August Rush directed by John Doyle at Paramount Theatre; Charlie Davenport in Annie Get Your Gun directed by Sarna Lapine at Bay Street Theater; and Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Geva Theatre Center. georgeabud.com
Erica Knight (Sara) is honored to work on Everything We Need To Talk About… with this team! Regional: Winter Street (Ava) for Workshop Theatre of Nantucket, Charley’s Aunt (Kitty) for the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, The Liar (Lucrece), Harvey (Nurse Kelly), and The Nether (Detective Morris), all for Centenary Stage Company. In New York, she has produced and appeared in The Summoning by Charlotte Ahlin, and Lee Blessing’s Independence. Select TV: “Gossip Girl;” “One Life to Live. She holds a BFA from Marymount Manhattan College, has been nominated for an Innovative Theatre award, and is a semi-finalist for Primary Stages Echoes Writers Group. ericaknight.org
Camille Z. Hayes (Director) is a theater director, voice and speech coach, and writer. She is the recipient of a Princess Grace Theater Award and a Metropolitan Opera Stage Directing Fellowship. Camille is a graduate of the Columbia University School of the Arts MFA Theater Directing program.
Over margaritas in a small Midwestern cemetery, Annie and Jason do anything but rest in peace. Salt is a poignant meditation on the ways we grieve and choose — or choose not — to forgive.
Merideth Maddox holds both a BFA (University of Florida) and MFA (FSU/Asolo Conservatory) in Acting and worked as a performer in regional theatre before moving to New York and beginning her work in theatre education. While in NYC, Merideth was the Director of the Young Actors Program at The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, a teacher of acting technique at the Professional Performing Art School, an annual guest lecturer at the School of Visual Arts and a private audition coach. Merideth relocated to Westchester to teach at Hackley School, where she has been teaching middle school theatre classes and directing multiple productions each year since 2009.
Featuring the talents of (L-R) Paul Alban and Emma Sarnacki
Paul Alban (they/them; Jason) is a New York City native and former student of Merideth Maddox. They have studied acting since 4th grade and started learning theatrical lighting in high school as well. They continued these studies through college at Fordham University. After graduating, Paul began working in several theatre houses in lower Manhattan doing lighting crew work. After about a year and a half, Paul made a switch to the film industry as a grip and electrician where they have found a home and career, especially as a dolly grip for camera moves, creating shots and assisting camera teams. In their free time, Paul enjoys playing long board games with friends as well as finding new delicious restaurants in Manhattan.
Emma Sarnacki (she/her; Annie) Locally, Emma has appeared in The Shape of Things at Elmwood Playhouse (Evelyn) and in River's Edge Theatre Company’s production of Riverside Haunts. While pursuing an English Education degree, she also appeared in SUNY Oneonta's productions of Doubt (Sister Aloysius), Peter and the Starcatcher (Prentiss), Stop Kiss (Sara), and The Taming of the Shrew (Hortensio). Emma currently lives and works in the Bronx.
It's 2098 and another building in Manhattan is sinking, but this time it's a school, and Beth and Antoinette are stuck inside. New York, 2098 is a story of our innate interdependence, set in a not-so-distant future ravaged by climate change.
Kaley Roth Mamo is a playwright and screenwriter. She is a current MFA candidate at the Rita & Burton Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing at NYU Tisch, where she writes futuristic stories for people in the present. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Featuring the talents of (L-R) Ava Bub, Cordelia Davies, and Lake Merritt
Ava Bub (Beth) is thrilled to be a part of this project! She is a freshman studying acting at NYU and some of her favorite roles have included Mary Haines in The Women and Philoclea in Head Over Heels. You can find her in films by Family Circus Productions on YouTube.
Cordelia Davies (Antoinette) is a Tisch Drama student in the Playwrights Horizons studio. Her past roles include Johanna in Sweeney Todd, June in Gypsy, and Amber in Hairspray. Cordelia has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Walt Disney Concert Hall with the National Children’s Chorus. She is thrilled to be part of the cast of New York, 2098!
Lake Merritt (Director; they/he) is a freshman drama student (Playwrights Horizons) at NYU and the director of New York, 2098. This would be their directorial debut, continuing to explore the beauties and intricacies of all things theatre. They have mostly shown an affinity toward “in-yer-face” theatre, absurdism, and avant-garde performance.
The 2024 Arts Incubator Short Play Fest is curated from a selection of open submissions and chosen by the following committee of readers:
Gregory G. Allen is the manager of Irvington Theater and an award-winning writer and director of film and stage. He spent six years as artistic director of 4th Wall Theatre in New Jersey. He is a published author of several books, a member of the The Dramatist Guild, and a former member of the BMI Musical Theater Workshop. Claim to fame: he toured the country as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle in the early 90s. www.gregorygallen.com
Anna Esaki-Smith is a writer based in Chappaqua, New York. Her book on university admissions for teenagers, Make College Your Superpower: It's Not Where You Go, It's What You Know, will be published by Rowman & Littlefield in April 2024. Her play, The Cruise, was included in the Arts Incubator Short Play Fest in 2023. She works as an education researcher and is a contributor to Forbes.
Tara Forseth is a first-year member of the Irvington Theatre PlayFest committee! Tara grew up in Frederick, Maryland, and moved to New York to go to New York University Tisch School of the Arts where she got her BFA in Drama at The Atlantic Acting School and The New Studio on Broadway for Musical Theatre. She currently lives in Irvington with her husband, her cat named Oz, and chinchilla named Fonzie. Aside from acting, singing, and dancing, she is also a choreographer and screenwriter. She recently received her MFA in Writing and Producing for Television through the TV Writers Studio at Long Island University. www.taraforseth.com
Samuel Harps is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter and studied with noted playwrights August Wilson and Charles Oyamo Gordon, before becoming a member of The Negro Ensemble Company's playwright's program. He has received The Arts Council of Rockland County Executive Award for Literary Artist and his plays have been produced in New York and across the country. He is the Artistic Director of Shades Repertory Theater, Inc.
Kim Gilligan is the chairperson for the Irvington Theater commission. She has also overseen and curated the "In Our Own Words" series since its inception. Kim has been in the arts for over 30 years having been a professional stage manager on national tours in the 90s. Kim has been a proponent of original works throughout her arts career and served on the Arts Incubator committee for last year's Short Play Fest.
Shana Liebman is is a commissioner of the Irvington Theater, where she produces the documentary film series. She writes for publications including New York Magazine, The Independent, Travel & Leisure, and Salon. Her book Sex, Drugs & Gefilte Fish, from her acclaimed Heeb Storytelling series at Joe’s Pub, was published in 2009. She studied playwriting at Brown University and received her MFA in fiction writing from Columbia University.
Brad Ogden is a theatre director and marketing professional based in Brooklyn, New York. He is the Marketing Manager for Irvington Theater as well as off-Broadway’s Keen Company in NYC. Brad’s work as a director has been seen at festivals, universities, and regional theatres from Philadelphia and New York to the Czech Republic. He develops, devises, and directs projects that unravel the past, speak to the present, and move us toward a more progressive future. www.brad-ogden.com / www.ogden.design
Marc Palmieri is an Assistant Professor at Mercy University’s School of Liberal Arts, where he has received the Outstanding Research Award as well as the Faculty Innovation Award. He is also the proud faculty advisor for the Mercy University theatre club, and also serves as the baseball program’s pitching coach. His numerous plays are published by Dramatists Play Service and his 2022 memoir She Danced With Lightning is published by Post Hill Press. Screenwriting credits include Miramax Films’ Telling You. Marc is resident dramaturge at the Drama Desk-Nominated theatre, Axis Company, in New York City. www.marcpalmieri.com