Photo Flash: SUMMER SHORTS 4 Opening Night

ThroughLine Artists with J.J. Kandel and John McCormack will present SUMMER SHORTS 4, their fourth annual festival of new American short plays, at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street). Performances began Friday July 30th, and continue through Thursday September 2nd.

Featured will be eight World Premieres from some of New York's finest established and emerging playwrights, including Jonathan's Blaze by Christopher Stetson Boal (Order, recently seen on Theatre Row), directed by Alexander Dinelaris; Play With The Penguin by Roger Hedden (Bodies, Rest & Motion), directed by Billy Hopkins; The Graduation Of Grace by Wendy Kesselman (My Sister in This House, new adaptation of The Diary Of Anne Frank), directed by Stephanie Berry; Fit by Neil Koenigsberg (producer of such films as Pollack, A Walk on the Moon, and High Art), directed by Merri Milwe; Romance by Neil LaBute (reasons to be pretty, The Shape of Things), directed by Dolores Rice; The Expenses Of Rain by Deb Margolin (Obie Award for Sustained Excellence), directed by Laura Barnett; An Actor Prepares by Timothy Mason (Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical, Babylon Gardens), directed by Maxwell Williams; Happy by Alan Zweibel (700 Sundays, "Saturday Night Live"), directed by Fred Berner ("Law & Order")*.

Rob Gould will provide scenic design, with costume design by Michael Bevins and lighting design by Greg MacPherson.

Summer Shorts returns for another summer of new American one-acts featuring original plays by the country's top playwrights. Representing some of today's best writing, directing and acting talents, Summer Shorts celebrates theatre, summer and the short form. The festival's two separate series offer a diverse range of voices, styles, and subject matter. Summer Shorts 4 offers eight world premiere one-act plays, in two separate evenings. The two series will run in rotating repertory. The New York Post declared "one-act shorts fit nicely in summer heat!

59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) is the Drama Desk Award-winning state-of-the-art theater complex located on 59th Street between Park and Madison Avenues in Manhattan. Owned and operated by the Elysabeth Kleinhans Theatrical Foundation, a not-for profit operating foundation, 59E59 Theaters has set an invigorating policy of bringing new, challenging and entertaining work to a new Off Broadway neighborhood.

Performances will be Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 7:15, Thursday through Saturday evenings at 8:15pm, with matinees Saturdays at 2:15 and Sundays at 3:15. Tickets are $18 each (59E59 Members $12.60). Tickets can be purchased from the Box Office (Monday 12pm - 6pm, Tuesday - Sunday 12pm - final curtain.), by phone through Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 or online at www.59e59.org. Service fees apply to phone and web purchases.
For more information, please visit www.59e59.org or www.summershortsfestival.com

Photo flash: Fernando Leon