Manhattan Theatre Club's Ernst C. Stiefel 7@7 Reading Series, formerly known as 6@6, is an annual series of rehearsed play readings dedicated to the support and development of innovative new work. Since 1999, plays developed through these readings have gone on to full productions at MTC, elsewhere in New York and around the country.
*NEW* Beginning in 2013, 7@7 is going paperless! All announcements about the series will be made by email and on the MTC website. If you would like to be added to our email list, please write to readings@mtc-nyc.org. Please note that reservations made through this email address will not be processed.
All readings are free and take place on Mondays at 7 PM at New York City Center, Stage I at 131 West 55th Street. Seating is limited and reservations are required.
To RSVP for the Ernst C. Stiefel 7@7 Reading Series, please CLICK HERE.
The 2013 7@7 series schedule is as follows:
March 4: THE WHO & THE WHAT
by Ayad Akhtar
directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch
Zarina has a bone to pick with the place of women in her Muslim faith, and she's been writing a book about the Prophet Muhammad that aims to set the record straight. When her traditional father and sister discover the manuscript, it threatens to tear her family apart. With humor and ferocity, Akhtar’s incisive new drama about love, academia, and religion examines the chasm between our traditions and our contemporary lives.
Ayad Akhtar’s play Disgraced played at Lincoln Center Theater/LCT3 in 2012, and will premiere at the Bush Theater in London in May 2013. Disgraced won the Jeff Equity Award for Best New Play in 2012.
March 11: ODYSSEY ROOM
by Greg Pierce
directed by Daniel Aukin
Three estranged friends meet at their condemned middle school on the day before its demolition. A little more than memories come out of the woodwork in this vivid, honest and haunting tale.
Greg Pierce’s play Slowgirl was the inaugural production at Lincoln Center Theater/LCT3. The Landing, Greg’s musical written with John Kander, will be produced at the Vineyard Theatre next season.
March 18: THE MORNING THE SUN FELL DOWN
by Jonathan Caren
directed by Evan Cabnet
Brandon returns home to get his mother’s engagement ring so he can propose to his girlfriend and move on with his life. But there is a massive hole in the ceiling and a rift in his family that threatens to draw him right back in. An insightful, hilarious and timely story about the power of grief and the strength it takes to move on.
Jonathan Caren has had his work produced and developed at numerous theaters, including The Roundabout Underground, Ensemble Studio Theater, The Lark, New York Stage and Film, The Keen Company and The Old Globe.
March 25: TUMACHO
by Ethan Lipton
directed by Leigh Silverman
In a small frontier town in the Old West, the men are dropping like flies at the hands of no good gangster Big Bill Yardley. But when the demon ghost Tumacho rolls back into town, all the rules will change. An uproarious tale about cowboys, coyotes, and chronic halitosis. Yeehaw!
Ethan Lipton’s plays include No Place To Go (Joe’s Pub), Red-Handed Otter (Playwright's Realm), Luther (Clubbed Thumb), Goodbye April Hello May (HERE), The Barber and The Farmer (3LD) and 100 Aspects of the Moon (The Ohio).
April 1: PROVENANCE
by Ben Ockrent
directed by Trip Cullman
After the death of their mother, four siblings gather at their family home to divvy up the property. When one of them reveals the truth behind an old family painting, alliances are formed and battle lines are drawn. A suspenseful drama about the true price of art and family.
Ben Ockrent is a British writer who writes for television and theatre. His play Honey was nominated for an Olivier Award.
April 8: MRS. HUGHES
book by Janine Nabers
music and lyrics by Sharon Kenny
directed by Kate Whoriskey
Sylvia Plath’s and Ted Hughes’ tempestuous marriage is one of legend. Fueled by passion and poetry, Sylvia was certain she had found her soul mate. But Ted’s wandering eye could not be stayed, and the love triangle that ensued was destined to end in tragedy. This poignant musical explores the ardent affair that catapulted these poets into history.
Janine Nabers is a 2012 New York Theatre Workshop playwriting fellow. She is working on commissions from Playwrights Horizons and Berkeley Repertory and is a Lila Acheson Wallace playwriting fellow at Juilliard.
Sharon Kenny is a songwriter who has performed sold out shows at Joe's Pub and Le Poisson Rouge among other venues. She received a MAC nomination for her piece "Leaky Ceiling."
April 15: FIVE MILE LAKE
by Rachel Bonds
directed by Daniella Topol
Jamie lives a quiet life in his small Pennsylvania town, fixing up his grandfather’s old lake house and pining after Mary, his troubled coworker. When his brother comes back to town with his new girlfriend, Jamie’s peaceful world is turned upside down. A quiet story about those who stay and those who go away.
Rachel Bonds is an Affiliated Artist of New Georges, a Member of EST’s Youngblood, an Alum of Ars Nova’s Play Group, and a recent winner of the 2012 Sam French Short Play Festival.
PAST PROGRAMMING
7@7 2012:
Death of the Author by Steven Drukman
Phaedra by Adam Bock
Important Hats of the Twentieth Century by Nick Jones
The Village Bike by Penelope Skinner
Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England by Madeleine George
The Seduction Community by Greg Keller
Donny’s Brain by Rona Munro
7@7 2011:
Reverberation by Matthew Lopez
Carl’s Sister by Alfred Uhry
The Recommendation by Jonathan Caren
Tender by Kelly Younger
The Chooky Brae by D.C. Jackson
A Lasting Mark by Michael Elyanow
The Great Immensity written and directed by Steven Cosson
7@7 2010:
Retreat by Steven Levenson
Nocturama by Anne Baker
Pieces of Vincent by David Watson
There Are No More Big Secrets by Heidi Shreck
Stunt Girl Book and Lyrics by Peter Kellog
How the World Began by Catherine Trieschmann
Oblivion by Carly Mensch
7@7 2009:
Dreams of Violence by Stella Feehily
Night for Day by Nicholas Kazan
Magic Forest Farm by Zayd Dohrn
Recall by Eliza Clark
Close Up Space by Molly Smith Metzler
The Color of Desire written and directed by Nilo Cruz
Funked Up Fairytales, Book, Music & Lyrics by Kirsten Childs
7@7 2008:
Shoe Story by Ben Snyder
Calvin Berger Book, Music & Lyrics by Barry Wyner
Wisdom by Simon Vinncombe
Willing by Amy Herzog
The Imprisonment of the Eye by Sam Marks
Fake by Eric Simonson
Kissing the Floor by Ellen McLaughln
6@6 2007:
Horse Latitudes by Hillary Fannin
Stunning by David Adjmi
A Sleeping Country by Melanie Marnich
The Front Music & Lyrics by Paul Gordon & Jay Gruska, Book by Seth Friedman
The Last Best Place by Bathsheba Doran
Human Voices by Sarah Treem
6@6 2006:
Men of Tortuga by Jason Wells
Strike-Slip by Naomi IIzuka
Good Boys and True by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
The Little Flower of East Orange by Stephen Adly Guirgis
Fallout by Shelagh Stephenson
The Girl in the Frame Book, Music and Lyrics by Jeremy Desmon
6@6 2005:
Based on a Totally True Story by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Durango by Julia Cho
American Klepto by Allison Moore
Edible Oils and Fats by Phil Porter
Story of My Life, Music and Lyrics by Neil Bartram, Book by Brian Hill
The Hopper Collection by Mat Smart
6@6 2004:
The Ugly American written and performed by Mike Daisey
Red Light Winter written and directed by Adam Rapp
The Scene by Theresa Rebeck
A Likely Story written and performed by David Cale
The Adventures of Barrio Grrrl! by Quiara Alegria Hudes
Dance the Holy Ghost: A Play on Memory by Marcus Gardley
6@6 2003:
Not Waving by Ellen Melaver
The Dreams of Sarah Breedlove by Regina Taylor
Dissonance by Damian Lanigan
Chrysalis words and music by Gilles Chiasson
Drug Buddy by David Folwell
Bay Windows and Shakes by Joe Hortua
6@6 2002:
40 Years in the Sunshine by Annie Weisman
Motherhouse by Victor Lodato
Coming Up Next, Music and Lyrics by Norman Noll, Book by Itamar Moses
Pro Bono Publico by Peter Morris
Jump/Cut by Neena Beber
Eyolf by John Belluso
6@6 2001:
Slag Heap by Anton Dudley
Preserve by Courtney Baron
Placement by Blair Singer
Carol Mulroney by Stephen Belber
3 1⁄2 Catholics by Julia Jordan
Joe! Book, Music and Lyrics by Dan Lipton and David Rossmer
6@6 2000:
97 Orchard Street, Music by Frederick Freyer, Book and Lyrics by Patrick Cook
Jerusalem by Seth Greenland
Crazy Jane on God by Dan O’Brien
Underneath the Lintel by Glen Berger
Suicide Weather by Jeff Whitty
Illuminating Veronica by Rogelio Martinez
The Tulip Craze by Jay Reiss
6@6 1999:
Innocence is a Sin by Lucy Thurber
Intrigue With Faye by Kate Robin
Peaking by Eric Winick
A Hole in the Dark by Hilly Hicks
Proof by David Auburn
Musical of Musicals, Music by Eric Rockwell, Lyrics by Joanne Bogart