Ensemble Studio Theatre and Youngblood's UNFILTERED Plays Now thru 1/11

Unfiltered 2012, the Ensemble Studio Theatre/Youngblood's under-30, 2012 Obie Award-winning playwright incubator that has produced talents such as Annie Baker, Amy Herzog, Jon Kern, Lucy Alibar, and Robert Askins, has new dates. Unfiltered 2012 opens tonight, November 16, at 7:00pm and now runs through January 11 at Ensemble Studio Theatre (EST), 549 West 52nd Street. (Original dates were November 9 through December 7.)

The EST/Youngblood playwrights with plays in Unfiltered 2012 are Darcy Fowler, Chiara Atik, Angela Hanks, Alexander Borinsky and Ryan Dowler.

The festival features five brand new full-length plays from these playwrights in Studio Productions, with a new play opening each week and rotating in rep. Unfiltered productions frequently mark each playwright’s professional debut.

“The Unfiltered festival is where plays like last season’s Hand to God by Rob Askins can really get their first shot,” says William Carden, EST Artistic Director. “That’s often the most valuable thing you can give to a playwright – that first shot. You've never heard of these playwrights, but you will! People forget that EST debuted John Patrick Shanley, Richard Greenberg, Chris Durang, José Rivera and Albert Innaurato, among others. More recently, writers like Annie Baker, Amy Herzog, Lucy Alibar and Rob Askins saw their early plays produced in this program after they left college but before they established careers. Unfiltered is creative risk-taking at its purest. And the audience is key: the public response helps these new plays get going."

The Secret Catcher

First up in the festival is The Secret Catcher by Chiara Atik, directed by Tom Wojtunik, in which a young woman negotiates her first romance while trying to determine the truth of a family curse.

DATES -- The play opens tonight, November 16, at 7:00pm and continues Saturday, November 17, at 7:00pm; Sunday, November 18, at 3:00pm; Tuesday, November 27, at 7:00pm; and concludes Wednesday, November 28, at 7:00pm.

The Bird and The Two-Ton Weight

Next is The Bird and The Two-Ton Weight by Darcy Fowler, directed by John Giampietro. Faced with an unhappy present, a woman discovers her late mother's journal and escapes into the wild times of a young actress in a bygone decade, in London and on her own for the first time.

DATES -- The play opens on Thursday, November 29, and continues on Friday, November 30; Saturday, December 1, at 2:00pm; Thursday, December 6; and concludes Saturday, December 8, at 7:00pm.

Myrna In Transit

The third show is Myrna In Transit by Angela Hanks, directed by Chuck Patterson. After her sister passes, Myrna is haunted by the sorrows of everyone in her Texas hometown. Wherever she goes, everyone feels a little bit better, except her.

DATES -- Performances are on Wednesday, December 5, at 7:00pm; Friday, December 7, at 7:00pm; and conclude on Saturday, December 8, at 2:00pm.

Going Out and Coming Back

Going Out and Coming Back by Alexander Borinsky, directed by Colleen Sullivan, is the tale of a young girl who spends two summers coming of age as a member of an all-women trombone ensemble.

DATES -- The play opens on Wednesday, December 12, at 7:00pm and continues on Thursday, December 13, at 7:00pm; Friday, December, 14, at 7:00pm; Saturday, December 15, at 2:00pm; and concludes Saturday, December 15, at 7:00pm.

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