Black Box: Week One

Black Box New Play Festival

Feb. 17 – Feb. 20, 2022

Thurs – Sun @ 7:30pm EST

Black Box New Play Festival

The 25th annual new play festival will feature world premieres of short plays written specifically for Zoom, to view online from the comfort of your own home. Performances will be streamed online at 7:30pm EST Thursday through Sunday each week (link to be provided) – no downloads necessary!

First Week: February 17 – 20

  • TIME IN A BOX by Ken Levine
    Directed by Elizabeth Bove

    Two people open a time capsule in 2121 and look back at how people lived in 2021, and examine whether they’d want to go back there if they could.

    Jessica Baird (Eva) has participated in eight “remote theater” projects during COVID limitations, and she is delighted to be able to perform these fun and lighthearted pieces during difficult times. A student of T. Schreiber Studios, she has worked on the New York stage, in film and television, and was last seen on the Oxygen Network’s Killer Couples.

    Elizabeth Bove (Director) Full-length directing credits include: A Man for All Seasons, Uncle Vanya, Still Life, Cracks. Over 50 one-acts and readings, including on Zoom, at Gallery Players, the Strawberry One-Act Festival, HB Studio, the Heights Players, and the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival. www.elizabethbove.com

    Ken Levine (Playwright) is an Emmy-winning writer/director/playwright/major league baseball announcer. His full-length plays have been performed in New York, Los Angeles, and throughout the country. His many short plays have been produced around the world and have won numerous festivals and competitions. Ken was the head writer of “MASH,” producer of “Cheers,” and has written over 200 episodes of television for such shows as “MASH,” “Cheers,” “Frasier,” “The Simpsons,” and “Wings.” He co-wrote the movie Volunteers starring Tom Hanks and John Candy, has been the play-by-play voice of the Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners, and San Diego Padres, and hosted “Dodger Talk” for eight seasons. He’s done more but that’s enough.

    Philip Tosserello (Stuart) Ever since he was a child, Philip wanted to be in the Air Force and be an actor. After serving 6 years in the military, he set out to pursue his true passions, acting and music. He attended Savannah College of Art and Design, obtaining his second degree, a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Performing Arts. Since relocating to Manhattan in 2019 he has been cast in numerous film, TV, theatre, musicals, voice over, and digital game projects; and has won 3 film festival awards. He is incredibly honored to be a part of Liz Bove’s vision again, and excited for what the future holds; both in the play and in life. His website is Tross785.com.

  • Call Me by Carolyn Boriss-Krimsky
    Directed by Whitney Stone

    The boundaries of family and promise of love are tested as two estranged women meet on Zoom during a global pandemic.

    Carolyn Boriss-Krimsky (Playwright) is a playwright, visual artist, arts writer, and co-author of the award-winning biography, Yoko Ono: Collector of Skies (Abrams Books, 2013). She also co-authored Little Mr. Wonderful, included in Best Contemporary Monologues for Kids Ages 7-15 (Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, 2015). A member of The Playwright/Directors Unit of Actors Studio (NYC), HB Studio Playwrights Forum (NYC), and Write On (Boston), her plays focus primarily on art, love, loss, and obsession. Her latest work is Women in Flux, a series of short interwoven plays that explore boundaries, connections and the search for wholeness. www.carolynboriss-krimsky.com

    Annette Fox (Louise), New York based actor. Recent roles include: Marquise de Saint Meran and Heloise Villefort in The Count of Monte Cristo, Mrs. Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility, both for Hudson Classical Theater; Emily in Fractals by Carolyn Boriss-Krimsky, for Smartphone Theater; Susan in City Girls and Desperadoes for the Secret Theatre with Austin Pendleton; and Maura in Scarlet Ribbons for the Manhattan Repertory Theater, directed by Arthur French. Other favorite roles include Margo in a staged reading of Numbers by Carolyn Boriss-Krimsky at HB Playwrights Theatre and a solo performance for Generation Women, Stories About Getting Older. @annettefoxactor, www.annettefoxactor.com, SAG-AFTRA

    Clare Louise Frost (Pauline) is thrilled to be a part of Gallery Players’ Black Box New Play Festival. Clare works both in the US and in Turkey. She plays a young Agatha Christie in Netflix’s upcoming Midnight at the Pera Palace. In New York, with writer/director Micah Stathis, Clare is a partner-filmmaker in SK Deli Market Productions, writing and producing independent films. A feature film, The Sisters Karras, is slated for film festivals this year. Clare trains at The Barrow Group.

    Whitney Stone (Director) is a storyteller dedicated to dissecting the human condition and depicting real life on stage. She returns to Galley Players after directing Every Single Sunday by Chris Karmiol and Vacancies by Scott C. Sickles in previous festivals. Whitney is enrolled in the Arts Leadership & Cultural Management Graduate Certificate Program with the University of Connecticut. She studied directing with Seth Barrish of The Barrow Group, and she has a BFA in Theatre Arts Performance from Hofstra University. Whitney is a former Marin Theatre Company intern, an alumna of Directors Lab West, and an associate member of SDC.

  • Ladies Doth Protest by Kay Ellen Bullard
    Directed by Noel MacDuffie

    Two estranged sisters meet in the dark theater after the premiere of the older sister’s production of Hamlet. Conversation centers around Hamlet’s mother, Queen Gertrude. Or does it?

    Elizabeth Bove (Gwen) professional theater debut at Florida Rep Carbonnell (Award for Best Actress: nomination). Theater: The Guthrie Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Metropolitan Playhouse. European tour of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Currently in Fugitive Colors at Gallery Players. Film: Irrefutable Proof (Beverly Hills Theater Festival, Best Film), The Bench (Best Actress – LA Short Film Festival). TV: “Law & Order,” every New York soap, BBC (Armando Iannuzzi, director). www.elizabethbove.com and imdb.com

    Kay Ellen Bullard’s (Playwright) plays have been read or produced by multiple theatres including: Boston Theatre Marathon, Culture Park New Bedford, Acme Theatre Maynard, Gallery Players, SunDog Theatre Staten Island, and Wilbury Theatre Group Studio W New Works. She is a member of the Dramatist Guild and the Blue Cow Group, a group of female identifying Providence-based playwrights. This is her third production (in person and Zoom) at Gallery Players, for which she is exceedingly grateful.

    Noel MacDuffie (Director) is happy to return to Black Box for this virtual version of the festival. His work has been seen at HERE Arts Center, Theatre Row, Brooklyn College, the Brighton Fringe Festival, Fringe NYC, Brooklyn Music School and American Theater of Actors. He holds an MFA/Directing from Brooklyn College.

    Margaret Sullivan (Sara) is an actress and singer last seen as Rita in Casa Valentina at the Heights Players. Previous to that she was Berthe in Pippin for the Brooklyn Players Community Musical Theater. She has also appeared at the Heights Players as Lady Alice More in A Man for All Seasons as well as at the Gallery Players Black Box New Play Festival in The Audition. Other favorite roles are Mrs. Bramson in Night Must Fall, Deirdre O’Malley in Waiting in the Wings, Mrs. Paroo in The Music Man, Maggie in The Women, and Heidi Schiller in Follies.