360 Repertory Theatre Company

THE PULSE PROJECT : A BENEFIT FOR GAYS AGAINST GUNS

Judson Memorial Church Assembly Hall, 239 Thompson Street, NYC

Sunday, June 11th, 2017 @ 5PM

Written by Sherry Bokser, Thom Fogarty, Alyson Mead and Amy Merrill

Directed by Thom Fogarty

Cast: C Bain, Matt Cohn, Janice Danielle, Joslyn DeFreece, Lulu Fogarty, Paige Gilbert, Nicholas Gorham, Adriel Irizarry, Washington Kirk, Jamel Tyre Mack, Jolene Marquez, Sam Morales,  Jonelle Robinson, Tracy Thompson, Amos Wolff and Alisha Woods.

Last year, in the early hours of June 12th, a lone gunman entered the Pulse nightclub in Orlando.Less than an hour later, 49 people were dead, and 53 wounded.

We had just arrived at the Kenyon Playwrights Conference, where we met a powerful, engaged group of friends and colleagues. For a few days, we wandered around in a daze, seeking ways to talk about it, not talk about it, wish it would go away. But of course, that was impossible. We still need to talk about it, until it never happens again.  After a few months of struggling with how to give these hard-working, interesting, funny and valuable humans a voice,   Alyson Mead reached out to us, to see if  we’d be interested in helping her write The Pulse Project.  Together, we created a piece we’re staging as a reading at Judson Church in New York on June 11th, with all proceeds going to Gays Against Guns.

We wanted to reach out to other, similarly minded theatre companies, to see if they’d be interested in staging their own readings of the work during Pride – for the ones we lost, for this issue, and for anyone still healing from violence.

We think Gays Against Guns said it best,  “[We work] to ensure safety for all individuals, particularly vulnerable communities such as people of color, LGBTQ people, religious minorities, and their significant overlap.”

To that end, we’re offering The Pulse Project royalty-free for a limited time, with one caveat: All proceeds derived from the work must be donated to Gays Against Guns.

JOIN US. COMPLETE THE CIRCLE.

 Refreshments + Merch on sale Benefiting GAYS AGAINST GUNS

Happy New Regime: April Fools, a Benefit for the NYCLU

 Saturday,  April 1, 2017 at 7:00pm  / Judson Church Assembly Hall, 239 Thompson Street, NYC

Donations Strongly Suggested to Benefit the NYCLU

Check out our artists here!

An Evening of Thoughts On Our Times
Whether you are pro- or anti- the new Trump Administration, you are aware of the myriad changes our country is currently being confronted with. We thought it would be helpful to give artists the platform to express their thoughts.

360repco has organized a group of playwrights who are donating their time and talents to this April Fools Day event. Our directive to them was to write a monologue or scene that touches on WHERE WE ARE WITH THIS NEW TRUMP ADMINISTRATION. Whatever your take is, let's come together and SHARE in the spirit of what theater can and should be: thought-provoking, uplifting, loud, soft, rallying and, hopefully, entertaining in seemingly dark times. Then we asked some of our favorite Actors to give life to the words. Next we have added some Musician friends who often raise their voices and sounds in highlighting our prevailing moods. Then we decided to highlight an organization that is doing the hard work and putting up the GOOD FIGHT on behalf of ALL our civil liberties - we will collect donations benefiting the NYCLU.

JOIN US. COMPLETE THE CIRCLE.

FREE. REFRESHMENTS. TALK BACK.

Patient Lover Friend

Monday, January 23, 2017 at 7:00pm / Judson Memorial Church Assembly Hall, 239 Thompson Street, NYC

FREE

Written by Thom Fogarty / Directed by Thom Fogarty

CAST includes:  Daniel Abeles*, Zayn Alexander, Lulu Fogarty*, Washington Kirk*, Tony Perry *, AJ Taylor and Lance Coadie Williams*

SYNOPSIS:

The first reading of this new play by Thom Fogarty, PATIENT LOVER FRIEND, has been lifetimes in the making. It is about life and love in the early days of the AIDS epidemic. With moments that are both painfully intimate and aggressively profane, PLF takes us on a journey through the days of joy and heady living which led to a horror that changed the future of this city, this country, indeed the world. It plays with structure, blending realism with expressionism, in a multi-scene format, that builds to a climax both harsh and tender.

Fogarty arrived at this concept drawing on his years as a dancer/choreographer. A dance concert or ballet, offers an entire evening created from many smaller self-contained dances that all lead to a particular mood and feeling. He set out to do that with this work. Each scene can stand alone, but when compiled, the scenes create a visceral piece that is a moving tribute to a life lived during a sexual wartime.

The Townhouse

Monday, November 7, 2016 at 7:00pm / Judson Memorial Church Assembly Hall, 239 Thompson Street, NYC

Written by Amy Merrill / Directed by Thom Fogarty

CAST: Matt Cohn* Ally Farzetta* Susan Ferrara* and Washington Kirk*

SYNOPSIS
Julia and Lance, a young professional New York City couple, have just moved into what they believe is their dream home, in the West Village. As they bicker over unpacking and remodeling, flyers containing radical slogans fly through the mail slot and land on the kitchen counter. Is the house haunted? 

Reluctantly, Julia decides to summon Eleanor, her mother and a dowser living in Vermont. Eleanor figures out the problem, but it will take more than a dowsing stick to uncover the secrets of the townhouse. A play about parents and children and how the past is never far away from the present.

NOTE FROM THE PLAYWRIGHT
There is a mystique about the March 6, 1970 Weatherman townhouse bombing. Books have been written about the event. James Merrill, the poet and my late uncle, wrote a poem about it: “18 W 11 Street”. The blast, from a bomb factory in the basement, took place on a quiet West Village street. The three victims and two survivors, all members of the Weatherman Underground, an offshoot of Students for a Democratic Society, were very young. To me, the event, though violent and senseless, is a tragic one not solely because of the loss of life, but because it expresses the frustration and despair felt by many young people at the time in the face of persistent racism and an ever escalating and widening Vietnam War. For members of my family, the townhouse bombing has a personal significance. In the 1920s, the building was owned by my grandfather, Charles Merrill, the founder of Merrill Lynch brokerage house. He lived with his Hellen Ingram Merrill, his second wife and James’s mother. James was born there. Family lore has it, that after a night on the town, Charlie and Hellen liked to drop in on the nearby Church of the Ascension to worship. From time to time, they made gifts of clothing and money to fellow parishioners in need. James Merrill’s poem is about those two, very different generations of inhabitants: “the Aquarians in the basement perfecting a device…”; “wall to wall extravagance without variety”. Interestingly, the next owner, was Broadway lyricist Howard Dietz. So many layers, so many stories. 

For me, THE TOWNHOUSE is an attempt to write not about the explosion, but its legacy. Rather than celebrate or mourn the Weathermen victims and survivors. I want to connect with the feelings of passion and frustration, not unlike the feelings that grip us today when outraged by the persistent inequality of our society, the toll of gun violence, and never ending wars. THE TOWNHOUSE is also about generations trying to talk to each other about the different ways that they look at the world. Lance and Julia come from very different worlds, which become all too apparent. Willy tries to hold on to his secrets. Julia and Eleanor, her mother, so disapprove of the way each lives her life that they have accumulated years of secrets and misunderstandings between the two of them. The haunted townhouse and its restless spirits may be unnerving, but they present an opportunity for each character to understand what happened in 1970 and later. I love all of my plays, but as I said recently to Thom Fogarty, THE TOWNHOUSE has a special meaning for me because of its mashup of past and present. Grateful thanks to Thom and 360repco for the opportunity to share it with you.

~~Amy Merrill

Amy Merrill is a playwright, a produce, and author of many plays. Her SILVER SPOON (Script by Amy Merrill, Music and Lyrics by Si Kahn) premiered at The Nora Theatre in Cambridge, MA in May/June 2011 and was subsequently produced in April 2012 at Mainstage West in Sebastopol, CA. Several of her ten-minute plays have been featured in The Boston Theatre Marathon. In process: THE SQUARE, a play about a returning Iraq vet. A resident of the Boston area, Amy is a founder and member of the planning team for the Basra- Boston Project which seeks to make connections among scholars, artists and students in the United States and the University of Basra, Iraq (www.fortpointtheatrechannel.org/basrabostonconnections). In Fall 2016, Amy’s IN THE REEDS, will be performed at various Boston-area venues as part of the Basra-Boston project. Member: Brandeis University Arts Council and Alumni Board, Associate Member, Dramatists Guild.

NOTE FROM DIRECTOR
Many of the 'old guard' of Judson will remember that 18 W. 11th Street is the home next to ARTHUR LEVIN - long time member of the Judson community which housed his MEDICAL CONSUMERS LIBRARY. He lived through that day and shared his memories of that time with us throughout the years. And now comes this play about that very same place. I jumped at the chance to do it.

The Flora and Fauna

Monday, October 17, 2016 at 7:00pm / Judson Memorial Church Assembly Hall, 239 Thompson Street, NYC

Written by Alyson Mead / Directed by Thom Fogarty

Cast:   DENISE CORMIER* and KELLIE OVERBEY*

SYNOPSIS
Ginnie and Adele’s friendship was forged under a dark secret. But 28 years later, an inescapable event puts them both in jeopardy again. Can they help each other move on from loss before it’s too late?

NOTE FROM THE PLAYWRIGHT
The Flora and Fauna was inspired by a single line from the famous letter read in court during the Stanford rape case. During the Kenyon Playwriting Conference, Atlantic Theatre’s Abigail Katz challenged us to include elements of ritual and community in our work, and the play began to come together very shortly after.

I’ve always seen this as an exploration of what comes after a sexual assault — how one’s daily, mundane life might be affected, who one might choose to hang out with, and how intimacy may or may not play a part in that. While we tend to focus on how sexuality might be affected, how would a friendship between two women change over time?
~~Alyson Mead

ALYSON MEAD studied at Yale, the Slade School of Art in London, NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and with iO West, UCB and Tectonic Theatre Project. Her award-winning plays have been staged at Off-Off Broadway and regional theaters around the country and in London, including La MaMa, St. Mark's Church, 8BC, Pasadena Playhouse, Venus Theatre, Women Playwrights Conference, Limelight, the Other Space Theater, the Hudson, Atwater Village Theater, Sacred Fools and Elephant Stages, among others. She was awarded fellowships & residencies through Ragdale, the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Ireland and the Women’s International Study Center, won the University of Houston’s 10-Minute Play Festival and has been a finalist for the Collective: 10 Play Festival, the Cimientos/IATI Theater Play Development Program, NEWvember New Plays Festival and the Teatro Moz Playwriting Competition, and a semi-finalist for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Manhattan Theatre Works’ Newborn Festival and the Wordsmyth Theater reading series. She’s published by Original Works Publishing, and is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Playwriting Unit and the Los Angeles Female Playwrights Initiative.

With the Best of Intentions  + Patient Lover Friend

Monday, September 19, 2016 at 7:00pm / Judson Memorial Church Assembly Hall, 239 Thompson Street, NYC

Written by Sherry Bokser and Thom Fogarty / Directed by Thom Fogarty

Cast:   MATT COHN*, LULU FOGARTY*, WASHINGTON KIRK*, LAKISHA MICHELLE MAY*, ADAM PATTERSON*, AJ  TAYLOR

OPEN READINGS of 2 NEW PLAYS in PROGRESS that began life at the Kenyon Playwrights Conference. Come see what we have so far and SHARE YOUR FEEDBACK. 

Sherry Bokser's WITH THE BEST OF INTENTIONS

Synopsis: Peter and Susan Palmer love their daughter, Arielle. They always do what is in Arielle’s interest, but who wins and what’s the prize when parents disagree on what is best for their child?

SHERRY BOKSER For just over a quarter-century, Sherry devoted herself to representing members of New York’s public-sector unions. In the next quarter-century, she hopes to give voice to the stories and characters that currently live in her head. She is delighted and grateful to 360repco and Thom Fogarty for presenting a reading of her current play-in-progress, With the Best of Intentions. Work that Sherry co-wrote received staged readings at NYC’s National Comedy Theatre, L.A.’s Odyssey Theatre, and the Burbank Senior Arts Colony; her co-written work also received recognition at the Great Plains Theatre Conference, Castillo Theatre’s Mario Fratti-Fred Newman Political Play Contest, Reverie Production’s Next Generation Playwrights Contest, and the Women Playwrights’ International Conference in Mumbai, India. Sherry’s been honing her craft at the Kenyon Playwrights Conference (2015, 2016), at Primary Stages ESPA with Caridad Svich, and in master classes with Amiri Baraka and Lee Blessing, and will continue to do so this Fall, studying with Gary Garrison and Roland Tec at the Dramatists Guild Institute. She also studied acting at HB Studios and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (London). Sherry is a member of the Dramatists Guild and the International Centre for Women Playwrights.

Thom Fogarty's PATIENT LOVER FRIEND

Synopsis: Life and love during the early days of the AIDS epidemic.

The Quality of Mercy

Written by Alyson Mead / Directed by Thom Fogarty

Cast:   MARJORIE JOHNSON* TOCCARRA CASH* THADDEUS FITZPATRICK* LULU FOGARTY* MATT COHN*

Saturday, July 16, 2016 at 7:00pm / Judson Memorial Church Assembly Hall, 239 Thompson Street, NYC

FREE, donations encouraged

Synopsis:

Athalia Johnson is a 20-something African American woman whose college education hasn’t bought her much in the way of gainful employment. As she’s tasked with taking care of her younger brother, Jonah, while her parents work the late shift, and finds herself drifting into an affair with a married white cop, an unarmed black teenager is shot in the neighborhood. As she races against the clock, struggling to save Jonah from ruining his life, Athalia has to make some difficult decisions about her own existence, and find the quality of mercy within her.

TALK BACK IMMEDIATELY AFTER - MODERATED BY SHEILA RULE
All donations collected were sent to the families of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. Black Lives Matter.

4.48 Psychosis

Written by Sarah Kane / Directed by Thom Fogarty

With Lulu Fogarty*

Saturday, May 21, 2016 at 7:00pm / Judson Memorial Church Assembly Hall, 237 Thompson Street, NYC

4.48 Psychosis is a play by British playwright Sarah Kane. It was her last work, first staged at the Royal Court's Jerwood Theatre Upstairs on 23 June 2000, directed by James Macdonald, nearly one and a half years after Kane's death. The play has no explicit characters or stage directions; this continues the style of her previous production entitled Crave. According to Kane's friend and fellow-playwright David Greig, the title of the play derives from the time, 4:48 a.m., when Kane, in her depressed state, often woke. 

The play is played by a person with clinical depression, a disorder from which Kane suffered. She killed herself [20 February 1999] after writing the play, before its initial performance. Rather than claiming that it tries to cover depression as a whole, it might be fairer on the text to say that it is a very subjective presentation of depression, giving the audience an insight into one particular case (or perhaps providing specifics on several individual cases). Contemplation and discussion of suicide are prominent and while there is no strict narrative or timeline, certain issues and events are clearly dealt with: deciding whether to take medication to treat depression, the desires of the depressed mind, the effects and effectiveness of medication, self-harm, suicide and the possible causes of depression. Other themes that run throughout the script, in addition to depression, are those of isolation, dependency, relationships, and love.