Directed by Kathryn McConnell

Featuring:
Annalisa Loeffler*
Zohra Benzerga
Kate Garfield*
Marquis Wood*

*Appearing courtesy Actors’ Equity Association

Production Photos:

 

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PRESENTED JANUARY 2017

2017 Winter Reading Lab

Pinned Butterfly by Adam Esquenazi Douglas
Monday, January 23rd @ 7pm
When the members of BKPRIDE decide to hold the very first Brooklyn Gay Pride March…everything explodes. As marching drums beat in the distance, war brews among lovers, enemies, and hearts.

Directed by Kate Garfield
Featuring: Cesar J. Rosado*, Aimée Cucchiaro*, David Jenkins, Curry Whitmire*, Emily Daly*, and Nicholas Robert Ortiz.

*Appearing courtesy Actors’ Equity Association

The reading will take place at Theater for the New City, Cino Theater, 155 1st Avenue in Manhattan.

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PRESENTED OCTOBER 2016

The Unconventional Convention

The Unconventional Convention
Short Plays with Tons to Say

Featuring The Velodrome Company

Gimme an L by W.M. Akers
with Kate Garfield* and Sheila Joon*
After a rotten first date, Gilbert and Lora fight for a reason to take each other to bed.

Help Me If You Can by Myron Klopman
with Bill Kozy, Jackie Krim*, and Jeff Johnson
Two brothers devise a small scale money laundering scheme to pay their mother’s expenses: a fake psychotherapy office in a sketchy New York City storefront. It’s the perfect front – until Debbie walks in, seeking help.

Lumbricus Terrestris by Emily Daly
with Michael Menta, Curry Whitmire*, Ryan Clardy*, and Nicholas Yenson*
Two worms, one playground, and many hearts: Lumbricus Terrestris is a love story of two earthworms and the forces (like big kids) that come between them.

Really Absolutely Devastating by Robert Zander Norman
with Monica Jones
The Emerald Ash Borer has killed hundreds of millions of Ash trees since it arrived in North America, and it looks literally impossible to stop. It’s tough to comprehend true hopelessness, but this bug is forcing us to try.

Pretend by Dana Leslie Goldstein
with Kate Russo and Rachel Drayke
Eight-year-old Kitty and Lauren play a game of pretend and discover that sometimes even make believe can’t change reality.

Artichoke Hearts by Dylan Lamb
with Kevin Russo and Robyn Michele Frank
A lonely pair stumbles uncertainly toward the conclusion of their first date.

A Beautiful Circle of Love and Acceptance by J. Boyett
with Alisa Murray*, Timmy Condon*, and Jeff Johnson
Some families have a weekly game night. Phil’s had something…different.

Production Photos:

October 13-15 at 8pm,October 16 at 3pm
155 First Avenue, New York, NY

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PRESENTED JANUARY 2016

2016 Winter Reading Lab

Or Current Resident by Joan Bigwood
Saturday, January 30 @ 7pm
When Teddy Finch moves home from Folsom Prison, his multi-generational family has a lot of explaining to do.

Directed by Brandi Varnell
Featuring: Curry Whitmire*, Neal Mayer*, Robyn Michele Frank, Betty Hudson*, Mary Sheridan*, and Annalisa Loeffler*.

Dead Man’s Dinner by Squeaky Bicycle Resident Playwright W.M. Akers
Sunday, January 31 @ 7pm
After ten years of siege, three women are trapped in the middle of the most dangerous war zone in the world: the Upper West Side. In a frigid rent-stabilized apartment, Olympia and her daughter Petra have spent years surviving any way they can. When Petra falls in love with Jackie, an injured soldier, their food supplies are stretched to the limit. As death creeps closer, each woman will be torn between love and hunger—and hunger always wins.

Directed by Kathryn McConnell
Featuring: Annalisa Loeffler*, Rachel Drayke*, Kate Garfield*, and Michael Menta

*Appearing courtesy Actors’ Equity Association

Both readings take place at Theater for the New City, Cino Theater, 155 1st Avenue in Manhattan.

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PRESENTED OCTOBER 2015

Ten Ways on a Gun

by Dylan Lamb

Tommy Freely buys a gun online to gain control of his life, then timeshares it with his deadbeat co-workers once his vegetarian girlfriend finds out about it.

This is a play about a play about that gun.

Ten Ways On A Gun is a darkly comedic and heartfelt examination of American gun culture, and an exploration of why anyone, anywhere, does what they do.

Directed by: Kathryn McConnell
Presented at the Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue, New York, NY 10003

October 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 24 at 8pm;
October 11, and 25 at 3pm
October 12 at 7pm.

2 hours (with one intermission)

Featuring:
Brandi Varnell*
Laura Darrell*
Alisa Murray
Dylan Lamb
Nathaniel Kent
Michael Menta
Timothy Condon*
Leajato Robinson*
Sheila Joon*
Nathan Brisby*

*Appearing courtesy Actors’ Equity Association

Lighting Design: Tracy Lynn Wertheimer
Set Design: Kathryn Lieber
Sound Design: Ian Wehrle
Costume Design: Pegeen Lamb
Stage Manager: Sinead Heavin
Production Manager: Roisin McAtamney

Production Photos:

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PRESENTED OCTOBER 2014

2014 Fall Reading Lab

 

The Boat House

by Eva Adderley

Featuring
Rachel Drayke
Nicholas Yenson*
Brandon Kalm
Dan Teachout*
Kelly Kay Griffith*
Jeff Johnson

Directed by
Kathryn McConnell

*Appearing courtesy Actors’ Equity Association

 

TEN WAYS ON A GUN

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PRESENTED MAY 2014

Tales of Love & Lasers

TALES OF LOVE & LASERS

By W.M. Akers
Directed by Kathryn McConnell

Featuring performances by:
Kate Garfield *
Kevin Russo
Nathan Brisby *

TALES OF LOVE & LASERS
includes a special presentation of:
Hyperion Calling
Directed by Kerry Kastin

Production Photos:

May 6, 7, 11, 13, 14, 18, 20, 21 at 7PM
The Drilling Company Theater
236 West 78th Street, Third Floor

Produced in association with The Drilling Company
An Equity Approved Showcase
*Members appearing courtesy Actors’ Equity Association

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PRESENTED DECEMBER 2013

2013 Fall Reading Lab

Stella Starlight: Queen of Space 
by W.M. Akers 
An interstellar adventure fantasy featuring the precocious Stella and the loyal bodyguard who has dedicated his life to protecting her. Imaginary reviewers are already calling it “the most anticipated play in galactic history.”

Directed by Kathryn McConnell
Featuring:
Robyn Michele Frank
Sergio LoDolce
Nathan Brisby*


Private School 
by Dylan Lamb 
Life isn’t fair. In a world plagued by corruption, discrimination, and overzealous media outlets, six high school students try to make it through senior year with their integrity and/or popularity intact.

Directed by Kelly Kay Griffith
Featuring:
Erin E. McGuff
Amy Stockhaus
Keilly McQuail
Kevin Russo
Sergio LoDolce
Joel Hughes

Ground Glass 
by Jonathan Kravetz 
John is obsessed with the playground where his young daughter was murdered. Abby, desperate to save her husband from oblivion, plans to confront the man responsible. As the couple faces the consequences of their actions, they begin to see that morality is not so easily pinned down.

Directed by Kathryn McConnell
Featuring:
Bart Shatto*
Aleisha Force*
Sean Hudock*
Nathan Brisby*

* appearing courtesy Actors’ Equity Association

The Theater at Joria Productions
260 West 36th Street, 3rd Floor
Between 7th and 8th Avenues

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PRESENTED JUNE 2013

Alligator Summer

It’s the dark-dark-darkly comic memory play about young Antietam Julep, a closeted prepubescent coming of age during the reptilian rapture in 1940s Louisiana. Sequestered with his family and the neighbors who have well-outstayed their welcome, Antietam discovers that the real blood-thirsty beasts are not the ones that lurk below. With wit, gore, sentiment, idiocy, archetypes, accents, and Gators, Alligator Summer is the guiltiest of pleasures for the refined sadist in all of us.

Featuring Dylan Lamb, Nicholas Yenson*, Erin E. McGuff, Mark A. Keeton*, Jackie Krim*, Annalisa Loeffler*, and Nathan Brisby*

Theatrical Design by Kathryn Lieber, Bethany Johnsrud, Christopher D’Angelo, and Emily Auciello

Directed by Brandi Varnell

Stage Management: Robyn Michele Frank

Production Photos:

June 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, & 29 at 8:00pm
June 22, 23, 29, & 30 at 3:00pm
July 1, 2, 5, & 6 at 8:00pm
July 6 & 7 at 3:00pm

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PRESENTED FEBRUARY 2013

2013 Winter Reading Lab

 

Featuring: 

Alligator Summer
by Dylan Lamb

Tennessee Williams gets absurd in this dark-dark-darkly comic memory play of a closeted pre-pubescent, Antietam Julep, coming of age during a reptilian apocalypse in 1940s Louisiana. With wit, gore, sentiment, idiocy, archetypes, accents, and Gators, Alligator Summer is the guiltiest of pleasures for the sadist freak in all of us.

Featuring:
Nicholas Yenson*
Bryan Marshall
Sharon Hunter*
John Say*
Annalisa Loeffler*
Nathan Brisby*
Laura Ramadei
Jeff Johnson

Directed by:
Brandi Varnell

And

 

Far From the Trees
by Christina Gorman

A middle-aged widower learns his beloved forest of petrified trees, which he has spent years painstakingly unearthing, is priceless. He can save his family from bottomless debt if only he will sell. Why then, can’t he let go?

Featuring:
William Kozy
Kelly Kay Griffith*
Sergio LoDolce
Brandi Varnell*
Mark A. Keeton*
Jeff Johnson

Directed by:
Kathryn McConnell

Both readings hosted by
The Drilling Company
236 West 78th Street, Third Floor
New York, NY 10024

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PRESENTED JULY 2012

Pop Dies in Vegas

Our hero is Casper, a golden-voiced pop idol who has just made the mistake of turning eighteen.  Forgotten by his public, Casper faces the ugly choice of fading into obscurity or, worse, growing up.  Instead he embarks on a poorly executed attempt to retire a legend by faking his own death.  All that stands in his way is common sense and a bathtub full of blood.

The author of this teenybopper murder-farce is W.M. Akers, a reporter, NYU alum, and recipient of the John Golden Playwrighting Prize in Excellence.

Developed as part of our annual Winter Reading Lab, Pop Dies in Vegas is Akers’ first collaboration with Squeaky Bicycle Productions.

POP DIES IN VEGAS
by W.M. Akers
Directed by Kathryn McConnell

Featuring:
I.B. White*, Don Carter*, Deven Walker*,
Jeff Johnson, Chet Siegel*, and Romy Nordlinger*

July 13 – 29, 2012

at The Drilling CompaNY Theatre
236 West 78th Street
New York, NY

Creative Team:
Stage Manager: Briana Valderrey
Lighting Design: Tracy Wertheimer
Sound Design: Emily Ausiello
Set Design: Brandon Pietras
Costuming: Bethany Johnsrud
Special Music courtesy Chris Frank

Production Photos:

*Members appearing courtesy Actors Equity Association

Pop Dies in Vegas is an Equity Approved Showcase

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PRESENTED MARCH 2012

2012 Spring Reading Lab

Squeaky Bicycle’s Reading Lab is back, and we have some great work to show you! The Reading Lab focuses on helping emerging playwrights develop new work. This year, we’re featuring two promising new plays: Jeff Ronan’s Positive and W.M. Akers’s Pop Dies in Vegas.

And we need you! As audience members, you not only get the chance to hear readings of two insightful new scripts, but you will also be able to help in the development process by participating in a short talk back and reception (including wine and refreshments). With your help, we’ll be able to get these shows ready for fully-staged productions.

Here’s everything you need to know about our 2012 Spring Reading Lab:

March 23, 8:00pm:
POSITIVE
By Jeff Ronan

Featuring: Sergio LoDolce, Kyla Schoer*, John Say, Sarah Cooper, and Jessica Mortellaro*

Jake may finally be in a healthy relationship…if only he can learn to stop focusing on the negative. A dark comedy about modern dating, ‘Positive’ follows four 20-somethings as they learn that the biggest obstacle to happiness is yourself.

March 24, 7:00pm:
POP DIES IN VEGAS
By W.M. Akers

Featuring: Ian White*, Don Carter*, Laura Ramadei, Alison Mahoney*, Jeff Johnson, Toni Stanton*, and Kevin Russo

For three years, Casper has been the country’s most beloved pop idol, but on his eighteenth birthday his star has begun to fall. Rather than fade quietly into obscurity, Casper embarks on a daring scheme to fake his own death, ensuring decades of record sales and allowing him to retire as a legend. Nothing stands in his way besides common sense and a bathtub full of blood.

$10 Donation for Refreshments

Joria Productions
260 W 36th St, 3rd Floor

Reserve your seat now at [email protected]

*Member Appearing Courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association

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PRESENTED NOVEMBER 2011

POISONED

Poisoned, by J. Boyett, is a brilliant play from our Winter Reading Lab that’s been further developed as a full-scale production.When Tom’s sister Samantha disapproves of his new girlfriend, he figures it’s simply because she’s half his age. But she has more than one reason not to like her… Past transgressions and modern technology collide in this drama by Squeaky Bicycle Productions’ resident playwright J. Boyett (MITF award nominee for “The Reunion Plays”). With Poisoned, Boyett delivers a play that fearlessly tackles the delicate topics we often avoid, painting characters that are strong, raw, and above all, real.

POISONED
Directed by Kathryn McConnell

Featuring: Kelly Kay Griffith*, Dennis Brito, and Kate Eastman

Production Photos:

November 19 through December 10, 2011
at Theater Three at the Mint Space
311 West 43rd Street
New York, NY.

Poisoned is an Equity Approved Showcase.

*Appearing courtesy Actors’ Equity Association

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PRESENTED JULY 2011

REPUTATION CONTROL: Emerging Playwrights’ Rep

This latest production of our 2011 season will showcase two exciting works:

Feedback, a play from our Winter Reading Lab that’s been further developed as a full-scale production, and The Tragedie of Cardenio, nominee for Best Overall Production at the 2010 Midtown International Theatre Festival

FEEDBACK
By Jane Miller
Directed by Laura Pestronk

Featuring: Alison Mahoney*, Jessica Mortellaro*, Kyla Schoer, Sergio LoDolce, and Leah Maddrie*

Holly is a young woman coping with a death and a breakup and generally stuck in a life rut. She decides to get “re-branded” by a personal marketing firm, Perceptions, which promises to make her more accessible to her “target demographic.” Through the process, Holly and Elizabeth – her facilitator – forge a meaningful bond as Holly becomes brand Holly 2.0.

Feedback Production Photos:

THE TRAGEDIE OF CARDENIO
By Ben Bartolone
Directed by Kathryn McConnell

Featuring: Jeff Ronan, John Say, Brandi Varnell*, Jeff Johnson, Kelly Kay Griffith*, and Paul Sabala*

Introducing crime novelist Jeffrey Rome: Jeffrey has the life every aspiring celebrity dreams about– all the fame and none of the friends. When he finds his big break in the form of a lost Shakespeare play, Jeffrey’s plans for greatness are set into motion, but he finds that what he is really looking for is something much bigger.

Tragedie of Cardenio Production Photos:

The Drilling CompaNY Theatre
236 W 78th St, 3rd Floor
New York, NY

Creative Team
Lindsay Famula – Projection Design/Marketing
Melissa Jalali – Costume Design
Freddie Mac – Sound Design
Ben Oleshansky – Production Stage Manager
Cory Rodriguez – Set Design
Lindsay Rae Schwak – Assistant Director, Cardenio
Tracy Lynn Wertheimer – Lighting Design
Donna Stout – Dramaturg, Cardenio

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PRESENTED FEBRUARY 2011

2011 Winter Reading Lab

The Winter Reading Lab focuses on helping emerging playwrights develop new work. the 2011 event featured readings of two new plays.  Audience members got the chance to hear readings of two insightful new scripts, as well as help in the development process by participating in a short talk back to help get the shows ready for fully-staged productions.

February 26 · 7:30pm

FEEDBACK
by Jane Miller

Featuring: Brandi Varnell*, Jessica Mortellaro*, Simone Zvi, Max Brand, Leah Maddrie*, and Jeff Johnson

Holly is a young woman coping with a death and a breakup and generally stuck in a life rut. She decides to get “re-branded” by a personal marketing firm, Perceptions, which promises to make her more accessible to her “target demographic.” Through the process, Holly and Elizabeth – her facilitator – forge a meaningful bond as Holly becomes brand Holly 2.0

February 27 · 7:30pm

POISONED
by Squeaky Bicycle Productions’ Resident Playwright, J. Boyett

Featuring: Kelly Kay Griffith*, William Kozy, Mandy Nicole Moore, and Kerry Kastin

Sam has come from across the country with some words of advice for her big brother about his upcoming wedding. She’s only trying to help.

… Right?

Joria Productions
260 W 36th St, 3rd Floor

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PRESENTED NOVEMBER 2010

J. Boyett’s

THE VICTIM

Squeaky Bicycle Productions presents an encore performance of J. Boyett’s THE VICTIM:

“After more than a decade, April meets Grace to discuss an event that has shaped the course of her life–but first she has to persuade her that it happened at all.”

THE VICTIM was first produced as a part of the Midtown International Theatre Festival, where it was nominated for Outstanding Production. The encore production, on stage November 11-12 and 17-20 at WorkShop Theater Company’s Jewel Box Theater 312 W. 36th Street, 4th floor, will also feature three short companion plays: THE TRACKS ARE ELECTRIFIED, by Jane Miller; THE AIRPORT, by Alec Gutherz; and MEMORY, by Pamela Scott.

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PRESENTED JULY 2010

For Better or Worse: The marriage of two one-acts that explore the complications of saying “I Do”

Featuring:
Saturday Pleasures
by Michael Burgan

There’s nothing like a friend’s wedding to illuminate a case of Peter Pan syndrome.

Someone Borrowed, Someone Screwed
by J. Boyett

Planning a wedding is tough enough, but when a certain guest arrives, everyone’s screwed.

Directed By:
Kathryn McConnell

Featuring:
Brandi Varnell*
Jeff Johnson
Melissa Jalali

Friday & Saturday, July 16th & 17th @ 8pm
Sunday, July 18th @ 3pm

Tickets: $10

The Drilling CompaNY Theatre
236 West 78th Street, 3rd Floor
(Between Broadway and Amsterdam)

EQUITY APPROVED SHOWCASE

*Members appearing courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association