East Sides Stories, Actually is a collection of 5 contemporary plays written by living artists, all with themes linking them to the Lower Eastside of NYC. An open call to the Metropolitan Playhouse mail list, press list, playwright programs, and the New Play Exchange is put out. A crew of readers, including directors, actors, and affiliated artists, read submissions and make recommendations. Then the artistic director Alex Roe with the director makes the final selection. This production grouping is unique because all the plays are cleverly woven together by I’m Waiting for My Man, written by Tom Lavagnino. The other plays selected this year were The Plan by Bara Swain, Lenin in Love on the Lower by Jonathan Ward, Cooperative by Christian Missonak, and Additional Information Regarding the Odd Incident That Occurred in the 1st Ave L Station on Tuesday Night by Natalina Lopez.
Casey Killoran and Alexander M. Cole in Tom Lavagnino’s “Lenin in Love” Photo: Vadim Goldberg.Photo credit: Metropolitan Playhouse.
The Metropolitan Playhouse transforms into the L station/Venus Records and a block in alphabet city with the help of Jacob Brown’s set design and the superb cast transporting us to various scenes in the neighborhood. We get to look in and eavesdrop on different conversations and decisions, from where to move your parent from a rent-controlled apartment when they can no longer live alone as in Swain’s The Plan, to witnessing Kurt Cobain trying to ingest aspirin meant for flowers in Additional Information Regarding the Odd Incident That Occurred in the 1st Ave L Station on Tuesday Night by Lopez. Only in NYC.
Ryan Wright and Rebecca Ana Peña in Tom Lavagnino’s “The Cooperative.” Photo: Vadim Goldberg
The production is a stroll down memory lane for those who grew up commuting the L train. Joan Porter as Marge in The Plan gives a poignant portrayal of the feisty parent who is not going out without a fight. Trying desperately to open her beer, her daughter Sandy (Casey Killoran) listens dutifully to her mother’s musings and reminds her, “I can actually hear you, mom.” We will all experience this, so take notes if you haven’t been here already.
Rhasaan Oyasaba Manning’s performance, a Yale Architecture graduate, is so convincing in his part as Elliot in I’m waiting for my Man, that he unnerves you and makes the audience back up in their chairs as if he will lunge at them. He hovers over Tad (Alexander M. Cole) in line waiting to get Lou Reed’s signature outside of Venus Records, and to Tad’s credit, he pretty much ignores Elliot’s advances, accusations, and just general personal space invasion. That’s a good suspension of disbelief and inserting the audience smack dab right in the middle.
As the play concludes with Additional Information Regarding the Odd Incident That Occurred in the 1st Ave L Station on Tuesday Night, written by Natalina Lopez, the audience is treated to seeing, one last time, select characters from the other plays as they enter, arriving on L trains as the stage morphs into a subway platform, and just like that this slice of life is all but gone.
Joan Porter and Casey Killoran in Tom Lavagnino’s “The Plan.” Photo: Vadim GoldbergPhoto: Vadim Goldenberg
Set design by Jacob Brown. Photo credit: Elizabeth Ann Foster.
Jacob Brown transformed the theater into a station on the L line. Photo credit- Sora Vernikoff.
East Sides Stories, Actually
I’m Waiting For My Man by Tom Lavagnino
Additional Information… by Natalina Lopez
Cooperative by Christian Missonak
The Plan by Bara Swain
Lenin in Love on the Lower by Jonathon Ward
Alexander M. Cole (Tad- I’m Waiting/Matt- Lenin), Hannah Hakim (Rachel-Lenin/Shelly-Additional Information), Casey Killoran (Eugenia-Lenin/Sandy-The Plan), Rhasaan Oyasaba Manning (Elliot- I’m Waiting/Isaac-Cooperative), Ron Moreno (Vladimir/Cesar – Lenin/ Petro – Additional Information), Rebecca Ana Pena (Alej- Cooperative/Callie- Additional Information), Joan Porter (Marge – The Plan), Ryan Wright (Lucas-Cooperative/Johnny, Kurt- Additional Information).
Artistic director Alex Roe; direction by Rachael Langton; stage manager Madeleine Blossom; set design Jacob Brown; costume design Sabrinna Fabi; lighting design Nicholas Palatella; sound design Josh Samuels; assistant stage manager Abi Walls; electrician Noah Platte; scenic painting Lassen Paulk.
Metropolitan Playhouse 220A East Fourth Street NY NY10009
$20 for general admission, $18 for students/seniors, and $10 for children 18 and under. www.metropolitanplayhouse.org/tickets or call 800 838 3006.
May 19 – May 29, 2022
Thursday – Saturday evenings at 8 pm; Sunday afternoons at 3 pm
OPENING NIGHT: Thursday, May 19 at 7:30 pm CLOSING: Sunday, May 29 at 3:00 pm
Run time 90 minutes with one 10-minute intermission.
This is the Metropolitan Playhouse Season 31 Awakening Fall 2022-Spring 2023
Memberships on sale for $100 include admission to all events, discounts for guests, repeat visits, and reserved seats:
The Sea Lady by Neith Boyce; She’s got Harlem on Her Mind, three one-act plays by Eulalie Spence; The Gentle People by Irwin Shaw, Plus Concerts and performances and new adventures in the virtual playhouse.
MetropolitanPlayhouse.org/Season31
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