Sarah Einspanier’s LUNCH BUNCH is Back!

 

Last seen at Clubbed Thumb's Summerworks, Sarah Einspanier’s wonderful LUNCH BUNCH  has returned courtesy of Play Company.  A rare Critics' Pick from The New York Time's Alexis Soloski should tell you not to miss this second chance to see this show!

“Dragon Fruit! Black Beluga Lentils! Perfectly Soft-Boiled Eggs!”

Seven public defenders seek meaning, belonging, and some semblance of order via their frenzied quest for the perfect lunch – while battling ACS, inequality, burnout, and a big ole serving of existential dread.

 _____

LUNCH BUNCH

March 15-April 15, 2023 

Written by Sarah Einspanier 

Directed by Tara Ahmadinejad 

Featuring: Janice Amaya Tala Ashe Ugo Chukwu David Greenspan Louisa Jacobson Francis Mateo Jo Mei Julia Sirna-Frest

122CC 
2nd Floor Theatre 
150 1st Avenue 
New York, NY

Tickets + Info: CLICK HERE

20 Best Shows of 2011

1. I don't believe in outer space (William Forsythe Company @ BAM)

2. KIN (by Bathsheba Doran; directed by Sam Gold @ Playwrights Horizons)

3. The Method Gun (Rude Mechanicals @ Dance Theater Workshop)

4. A Small Fire (by Adam Bock; directed by Trip Cullman @ Playwrights Horizons)

5. Radio Play (Reggie Watts & Tommy Smith @ Performance Space 122)

6. Invasion! (by Jonas Hassen Khemiri; directed by Erica Schmidt for Play Company @ Walkerspace)

7. Go Back To Where You Are (by David Greenspan; directed by Leigh Silverman @ Playrights Horizons)

8. The Inexplicable Redemption of Agent G (by Qui Nguyen; directed by Robert Ross Parker for Vampire Cowboys @ Incubator Arts Project)

9. Our Lot (by Kristin Newbom and W. David Hancock; directed by May Adrales for Clubbed Thumb @ Here)

10. The Cherry Orchard (adapted from Chekhov by John Christopher Jones; directed by Andrei Belgrader @ Classic Stage Company)

11. Now the Cats With Jewelled Claws (by Tennessee Williams; directed by Jonathan Warman @ LaMama)

12. Veux Carre (by Tennessee Williams; directed by Elizabeth LeCompte for The Wooster Group @ Baryshnikov Arts Center) 

13. The Tempest (by William Shakespeare; directed by David Herskovits for Target Margin @ Here)

14. 2 Kilos of Sea (Deganit Shemy & Company @ Baryshnikov Arts Center)

15. Your Brother, Remember? (Conceived, directed, edited, performed by Zachary Oberzan for Under The Radar @ Dixon Place)

16. Here At Home (by Eric Bland; directed by Shannon Sindelar for 31 Down @ Bushwick Starr)

17. Born Bad (by Debbie Tucker Green; directed by Leah C. Gardiner @ Soho Rep)

18. The Bardy Bunch (by Stephen Garvey; directed by Jay Stern for FringeNYC @ LaMama)

19. Sweet and Sad (written and directed by Richard Nelson @ The Public Theater)

20. Walk Across America for Mother Earth (by Taylor Mac; directed by Paul Zimet for Talking Band @ LaMama)

Best of 2011: #6 - Invasion!

The Play Company's INVASION! started off with an unforgettable bang - the kind of thing you wish would happen more often in the theater and it freaked the audience out.  At the performance I attended, I thought a known theater journalist was actually going to strike what turned out to be one of the actors.  And the rest of the play lived up to the bravura beginning.  The play was so tuned in to  contemporary America that it is hard to believe it was written by the Swedish playwright, Jonas Hassen Khemiria. Since I don't speak or read Swedish, special acknowledgement must go to Rachel Willson-Broyles for what must be a masterful translation. Long live Abul Kasem!

The 2011 OBIE Awards

The winners of the 2011 OBIE Awards were announced tonight at Webster Hall. And the winners are:

Best New American Play
The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity by Kristoffer Diaz (Second Stage)


Lifetime Achievement
Repertorio Espanol and its co-founder and artistic director, René Buch


Performance
F. Murray Abraham, sustained excellence of performance
André Braugher, The Whipping Man (Manhattan Theatre Club)
Michael Chernus, In the Wake (Public Theater)
Ethan Hawke, Blood from a Stone (The New Group)
Hamish Linklater, The School for Lies (Classic Stage Company)
Laurie Metcalf, The Other Place (Manhattan Class Company)
Thomas Sadoski, Other Desert Cities (Lincoln Center Theater)
Scott Shepherd, Gatz (Elevator Repair Service / Public Theater)
Brenda Wehle, The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism With a Key to the Scriptures (Signature Theatre / Public Theater)
Charlayne Woodard, The Witch of Edmonton (Red Bull Theater)

Playwriting
Samuel D. Hunter, A Bright New Boise (Partial Comfort Productions)
Jonas Hassen Khemiri, Invasion! (The Play Company)

Direction
Austin Pendleton, Three Sisters (Classic Stage Company)
Roger Rees and Alex Timbers, Peter and the Starcatcher (New York Theatre Workshop)
Leigh Silverman [pictured right], In the Wake (Public Theater) and Go Back to Where You Are (Playwrights Horizons)

Design
Jill BC Du Boff, sustained excellence of sound design
Donyale Werle, sustained excellence of set design

Special Citations
Design and choreography, Sleep No More (Punchdrunk Theatre) Felix Barrett, Livi Vaughan, Beatrice Minns, Maxine Doyle, Stephen Dobbie, Euan Maybank, and David Israel Reynoso
Young Jean Lee, We're Gonna Die (13P / Joe’s Pub)
debbie tucker green and Leah C. Gardiner, Born Bad (Soho Rep)

Obie Grants ($2,500 to each theater)
Metropolitan Playhouse
Wakka Wakka

The Ross Wetzsteon Award
Belarus Free Theatre

A Good Week: The Method Gun & Invasion!

Ludlow Lad sees a lot of theater. Much of it isn't very good - or at least isn't work that Ludlow Lad enjoys. That is why seeing two pieces as good as The Rude Mechs' The Method Gun and The Play Company's Invasion! in the same week can be a revelation...and inspiring.

At the center of The Method Gun is the missing (and fictitious) Stella Burden, whose high-concept production of A Streetcar Named Desire that omits the characters of Blanche, Stanley, Stella and Mitch she has abandoned. The Rude Mechs "recreate" the post-Stella rehearsals, her unique acting techniques, her rituals and ultimately the production itself. Its two coup-de-theatres - one physical and one emotional are worth the price of admission alone.

The Play Company's Invasion!, by Jonas Hassen Khemiri, translated from Swedish by Rachel Willson-Broyles, begins with a a coup-de-theatre and takes off from there telling the story of Abulkasem from multiple points of view. Invasion! is about language, terrorism, misunderstanding, and about twenty other things and it is expertly directed by Erica Schmidt and the cast of four is outstanding.

Like Ludlow Lad said - a good week.