The New School for Drama and Naked Angels: The Start of Something Big
Seeing and hearing newly produced plays by some of the theatre industry’s most revered and promising talent can be an exciting prospect. But it’s rare to get a glimpse into the process of creation.
On November 4, The New School for Drama and the Naked Angels presented Angels Ajar, an exclusive preview of brand new full-length works, still in progress, by award winning Jon Robin Baitz (New School for Drama Faculty and Naked Angels Founding Member), Janine Nabers (New School for Drama MFA ’08); and Kirit Limperis; a gifted participant from 3Thursdays, Naked Angels’ public high school outreach program.
Participants included Tony Award winning Broadway star Nathan Lane, Peter J. Fernandez, Kathryn Rossetter, Debargo Sanyal, Sarah Steele, as well as The New School for Drama MFA Actors ’14: Brennan Lowery, Kelsey Foltz, and Leif Steinert. Daniel Aukin will direct.
Jon Robin Baitz’s plays include The Film Society, The Substance of Fire, Three Hotels, A Fair Country, Ten Unknowns Mizlansky/Zilinsky, The Paris Letter, and Other Desert Cities. His work has been produced in New York by Playwrights Horizons, The Roundabout Theatre, Lincoln Center Theatre, & The Second Stage. Janine Nabers plays include Welcome to Jesus, Serial.Black.Face, Annie Bosh is Missing, A Swell in the Ground, West of the Willow Tree, Juniper, and Jubilee. Recent awards include the 2012 New York Theatre Workshop fellowship and the 2011 Page 73 Playwriting Fellowship.
Angels Ajar is one of the first events in the recently announced partnership between Naked Angels and The New School for Drama. The unique collaboration offers New School students the opportunity to train with Naked Angels through its renowned development programs–including Tuesdays@9, 1st Mondays, the Naked Radio podcast and 3Thursdays– while providing the company with a home– the New School’s Bank Street complex– to produce its dramatic works.
The event took place at The New School for Drama Theater (151 Bank Street, 3rd floor). Proceeds went to the professional theater artists, their new works, and the New School students participating within Naked Angels’ 2013-2014 core programming.