AracaWorks Presents DAYS OF RAGE and STOCKTON Readings, 12/10 & 13

The Araca Group has announced a biannual series of new play readings will return for the fifth time for an abbreviated edition today, December 10th and the 13th.

AracaWorks premiered in December 2010, showcasing both established playwrights and emerging voices; past slates have featured the New York premieres of Suicide, Incorporated by Andrew Hinderaker (Roundabout Underground, Fall 2011), How the World Began by Catherine Trieschmann (South Coast Repertory, Fall 2011), Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar (LCT3, Fall 2012), Warrior Class by Kenneth Lin (Second Stage Uptown, Summer 2012), and Recall by Eliza Clark (Colt Coeur, Summer 2012).

Araca has nnounced that Disgraced (AracaWorks 2010) is currently making its New York debut at LCT3 after a Jeff Award winning run at American Theater Company in Chicago earlier this year.

In addition, each AracaWorks series presents a play by the winner of our nationwide graduate playwriting award. Past winners: Lila Feinberg (Vertebrae), David Brian Colbert (C.O.A.L.), and Caroline V. McGraw (The Vaults).

This December, Araca is pleased to congratulate Mike Lew of Juilliard, recipient of the AracaWorks Graduate Playwriting Award, whose play, Stockton, will be presented Thursday, December 13th.

WHEN: December 10th @ 3PM & December 13th @ 7PM
WHERE: The Studio at Theater 511
511 West 54th Street
New York, NY 10036 (between 10th and 11th avenues)

Admission is free and open to the public.

Seating is limited. Reservations are suggested and may be made online at www.aracaworks.com

Schedule of Readings

Monday: Days of Rage – written by Steven Levenson/directed by Adrienne Campbell-Holt

About Days of Rage: December, 1969. As the summer of love darkens into a long and bitter winter, a dedicated group of young activists makes its plans for the Revolution from a remote and dilapidated farmhouse in upstate New York, but Jenny, a college dropout and a daughter of privilege, has begun to have second thoughts about her role in the movement. When Peggy, a young girl with a mysterious past, appears in their midst, trouble soon follows, and the outside world begins to encroach perilously upon the insular collective. As the war outside rages, the war within intensifies, and Jenny must choose between following the dictates of her heart and following a Revolution that may never come.

Thursday: Stockton– written by Mike Lew* Winner of AracaWorks Graduate Playwriting Award

About Stockton: Meet Fitz, EB, and Marie: three of the most fun, least motivated girls you'll ever see. They live in Stockton, California: birthplace of the art world darling Kara Walker and the graffitist Neck Face, home to an ok-but-not-great farmers’ market, and also the largest city in America ever to declare bankruptcy. Watch Fitz being haunted by Kara Walker’s maniacal talking silhouette! Watch EB reform the Stockton school system! Watch Marie follow Neck Face down a trail of graffiti that ends in wet paint…

The Araca Group is a theatrical production and live event merchandising company. As producers, Araca’s credits include: Urinetown: The Musical, Wicked, Cinderella, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The House of Blue Leaves, Catch Me if You Can, Lend Me a Tenor, A View From the Bridge, The Merchant of Venice, Boeing-Boeing, Match, The Wedding Singer, Fault Lines, The Scene, The Vagina Monologues, Debbie Does Dallas, The Laramie Project and Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune. As merchandisers, Araca’s operations include productions on Broadway and throughout the world.

PLAYWRIGHTS

Steven Levenson – Days of Rage
Steven Levenson's plays include The Language of Trees (Roundabout Underground), Seven Minutes in Heaven (HERE Arts Center; Emerging America Festival/Huntington Theater Company), Retreat (Edinburgh Fringe Festival), Almost Stuck, and Girls Day. His play The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin will have its world premiere at Roundabout’s Laura Pels Theatre in 2013. His work has been seen and developed by Roundabout, Lincoln Center Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, Atlantic Theater Company, MCC Theater, Ars Nova, Hartford Stage, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Berkshire Theatre Festival, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival. His plays are published by Dramatists Play Service and Playscripts. A graduate oF Brown University and the 2010 Artist in Residence at Ars Nova, Steven has received new play commissions from Roundabout, Lincoln Center, MCC, and Ars Nova. He is a member of the MCC Playwrights' Coalition, an alumnus of Ars Nova’s Play Group, and a founding member of Colt Coeur. Steven is currently writing for the new CBS series Vegas. Other current projects include the book for an original musical with Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.

Mike Lew – Stockton* AracaWorks Graduate Playwriting Award
Mike Lew’s plays include Bike America (Alliance, Atlanta; Juilliard and Lark workshops, NYC; Kennedy Center workshop, DC), microcrisis (Ma-Yi, NYC; InterAct, Philly; Next Act, Milwaukee); Stockton (Ensemble Studio Theatre workshop, NYC); and People’s Park (Victory Gardens Ignition Festival). His shorts include Tenure (24 Hour Plays on Broadway), In Paris You will Find Many Baguettes but Only One True Love and Roanoke (both at Humana). He is a resident writer for Blue Man Group and winner of the Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition, the Heideman Award, and the Battle of the Bards. Along with his wife Rehana Lew Mirza, he is co-director of the Ma-Yi Writers’ Lab, the largest collective of Asian-American Playwrights in the country. Training: Juilliard (2013), Yale (2003). Check out his website at mikelew.com.

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