LTV Studios and Playwrights' Theatre of East Hampton, in association with Where Are They Going Theater Company, will host the world premiere of "(O)n the 5:31," a new play by Mando Alvarado, on Thursday at 7:30 p.m., with additional performances set for Friday and Saturday, also at 7:30.
Directed by David Zayas Jr. and produced by Sawyer Spielberg and Josh Gladstone, the play travels back and forth over a 10-year period in the lives of its three protagonists, Benny (Diego Aguirre), Sandra (Raye Levine), and Gina (Ivette Dumeng).
As he struggles to complete his wife's dying wishes, a grieving Benny tries to piece the fragments of their life together from memory. In the end, he'll come to understand that he wasn't the only one who lost the love of their life. The play "examines the twists and turns of life and the space between what really happened versus how we want to remember it," says a release.
Mr. Spielberg called it a play "that will take you on a journey into a lustful world whose power draws specifically from memory. You will ask yourself what is the truth and what do we create in our imagination. This will be a story told to you by some of New York City's best talent."
Mr. Spielberg wanted to bring the play to LTV last summer, but instead he and Mr. Gladstone collaborated on "Stupid Fucking Bird" because "it was a more playful choice and a better fit for high summer, when everybody's looking for a laugh," said Mr. Gladstone.
"Sawyer reached out to me in the new year and said he had a window. He had been busy shooting 'Masters of the Air' on Apple TV, his wife, Raye Levine, just did an independent film, and they have two little kids, so finding a time they're free is tricky."
When Mr. Spielberg asked if LTV had any time in April, because he wanted to go back to "(O)n the 5:31," Mr. Gladstone told him, "Of course, any time you want to come and do a workshop or a play here, come, because this is a sandbox."
"We're trying to make this a place where artists can come and develop plays and explore," Mr. Gladstone said. "I'm sort of calling us the Off Broadway of the Hamptons, because we've got all these downtown actors and the director is a real Off Broadway guy. '(O)n the 5:31' is a think piece. It rewards concentration and it's written like a jigsaw puzzle through time."
Mr. Alvarado's plays have been produced at the Atlantic Theater Company in Manhattan, the Kennedy Center, and Teatro Vista at Victory Gardens in Chicago. He also co-wrote the book for "El Otro Oz," a musical adaptation of "The Wizard of Oz" that is currently touring Los Angeles and playing in New York.
An actor and theater and film director, Mr. Zayas Jr. is a member of the Actors Studio's Playwright/Directors Unit and LAByrinth Theater Company. He has directed at LAByrinth, the Planet Connections Theatre Company, the Chain Theatre, and the New York Theater Festival, among others.
Ms. Levine's theater credits include "Extinction" at Guild Hall, "Leviticus" at Jessica/EST, 59East59, and Zoo Venues @ Edinburgh Fringe, and "Park Slope" at the Cherry Lane Theatre. She recently starred in "Merry Good Enough," an independent film about how a dysfunctional family copes with Christmas.
Mr. Aguirre has appeared onstage in "Queen of Jacks" at the Chain Theatre and "Occupied Territories" at 59East59. His film credits include "The Ballad of a Hustler," "The Upside," and "Sometime Other Than Now."
Ms. Dumeng played Esperanza in John Patrick Shanley's play "Candlelight," Julie in August Strindberg's "Miss Julie," and Charlie Chaplin in "The Chaplin Plays" by Don Nigro. She is also the artistic director of Nylon Fusion Theatre Company in New York City.
The Playwrights' Theatre was founded in East Hampton in 1992 by Mitzi Pazer, a producer and Springs resident from the Roundabout Theatre Company along with her husband, Perry Pazer, an attorney. They started the series at LTV, where it operated every summer for 10 years before shifting to the John Drew Theater at Guild Hall for another ten seasons.
Tickets are $20 and can be purchased on the website.
