The Flea Theater to Present Tommy Smiths' NECTARINE EP, 2/8-17

The Flea goes audio with the upcoming workshop production of Tommy Smith's NECTARINE EP. A sonic reverberation of Homer's The Odyssey - filtered through the lens of downtown artist Tommy Smith - the audio-fueled "extended play", NECTARINE EP, de-stimulates the audience's perception through visual and auditory manipulation. This experimental production is both written and directed by Tommy Smith and features The Bats, the resident Acting Company at The Flea. (PLEASE NOTE: This production is not open for review.)

NECTARINE EP features additional direction by Tom Costello and Benjamin H. Kamine. Original Music by Julian Hill, John Osebold, and Michael McQuilken. Sound Design by Michael McQuilken, and Lighting/Projection Design by Sarah Lasley. The cast features Jamie Bock, Jenelle Chu, Jessica Frey, Marlowe Holden, Christine Lee, Cristina Pitter, Michelle Silvani, Lulu Ward and Mari Yamamoto.

The production plays February 8 through 17 at 9pm on Friday and Saturday and at 7pm on Sunday. All tickets are $20 and are available at www.theflea.org or by calling 212-352-3101.

Tommy Smith's work includes LOTUS EATERS EP (IRT Theater), PIGEON (Ensemble Studio Theatre; dir. Billy Carden), THE WIFE (Access Gallery; dir. May Adrales), WHITE HOT (HERE Arts Center; dir. May Adrales), SEXTET (Washington Ensemble Theatre; dir. Roger Benington), PTSD (Ensemble Studio Theatre; dir. Billy Carden), AIR CONDITIONING (Eugene O'Neill Playwrights Conference; dir. Steve Cosson), among others. His work has also appeared at PS 122, The Ontological Theatre, Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, The Yale Cabaret; internationally, he has been produced in Prague, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Montreal, Berlin and Athens. His award-winning theatrical collaborations with Reggie Watts have played at The Public Theatre, Lamama, The Warhol Museum, MCA Chicago, ICA Boston, On The Boards and PICA: TBA, among others. He is the recipient of the PONY fellow at The Lark, a two-time winner of the Lecomte du Nouy Prize, a recipient of the E.S.T. Sloan Grant, a winner of the Page73 Productions Playwriting Fellowship, and a recipient of the Creative Capital award. Publications include PIGEON for Dramatists Play Service, WHITE HOT in the New York Theatre Review. Recently, his feature film FIGMENT was optioned by Ridley Scott's Production Company ScottFree. He is a graduate of the playwriting program at The Juilliard School. He lives in New York City.

The Bats are the resident Acting Company members of The Flea Theater. Each year over a thousand actors audition for a place in this unique company. The Bats perform in extended runs of challenging classic and new plays. The Bats have recently appeared in premieres by A.R. Gurney, Will Eno, Adam Rapp, Beau Willimon, Mac Wellman, Elizabeth Swados, Thomas Bradshaw, Itamar Moses, Sheila Callaghan, Julian Sheppard, Ken Urban, Tommy Smith, Jonathan Reynolds, Trista Baldwin, Laurel Haines, Qui Nguyen, Sean Graney, and Amy Freed.