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November 28 - December 11, 2012
Expect Invention, Passion and Authentic Theater Know-How Less Than Rent’s aesthetic ‘rooted in the notion of the mashup’ THEATER DESIRE! [A VARSOUVIANA] Written by Rachel Buethe, Patrick Fleury, James Presson Directed by Jenna Grossano Adapted from the plays and journals of Tennessee Williams Presented by Less Than Rent Theatre Company Nov. 29-Dec. 15 Thurs.-Sat., 7pm At UNDER St. Marks 94 St. Marks Place (btw. Ave. A & First Ave.) For tickets ($18, $15 students and seniors), visit horsetrade.info Visit lessthanrent.org
BY MARTIN DENTON (of nytheatre.com and indietheaternow.com) Less Than Rent (LTR) is only two and a half years old. Its three co-artistic directors — James Presson, Rachel Buethe, and Charlie Polinger — are all in their very early 20s. But do not confuse all this youthfulness for inexperience. LTR already has five NYC productions behind them, and a brand new show — “Desire! [A Varsouviana]” — is slated to premiere at UNDER St. Marks (in the East Village) on November 29. Their very first production won two awards at the 2010 New York International Fringe Festival, and their terrific 2011 show “Friends Don’t Let Friends” was recently published on indietheaternow.com (my website, where you can browse a diverse selection of new American plays). I advise you to catch these remarkable young artists now, so that you can brag to your friends in ten years that you knew about them before the other 300 million people in America did. James Presson, the company’s founder, is one of those rare individuals whose talent and energy radiate from him, drawing other talented people to him. I met him as he was preparing to launch LTR at FringeNYC two
Photo by Hunter Canning
Hey, Stella: Nicole Ventura and Patrick Fluery star in LTR’s “Streetcar” mashup.
summers ago, with the punk rock musical “Richard 3” (co-created by Presson and actor Jake Ahlquist). The show was already getting some pre-festival buzz because James, its director/co-writer, was a 19-year-old rising junior at Fordham University — and the entire cast was comprised of college students.
On one action-packed August evening, I moderated a discussion at the (sadly gone!) Borders Books at Time Warner Center featuring several FringeNYC participants who had adapted classic works for the festival. James Continued on page 22
How a child learns to learn will impacts his or her life forever. Progressive Education for Two-Year-Olds — 8th Grade Due to Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath, the application deadline for grades 2-6 has been extended to December 19. Please visit www.cityandcountry.org for information and application materials 146 West 13th Street, New York, NY 10011 s Tel: 212.242.7802