"East Side Stories" at the Metropolitan Playhouse

As you know, we're big fans of the Metropolitan Playhouse in the East Village, where we've spoken a couple of times in conjunction with main stage productions. In addition to the revivals that are the mainstay of the Metropolitan's season, each year they also produce an East Village theater festival, showcasing short new works about the East Village and the Lower East Side.

A few nights ago, we were able to see "Pioneers," one of four nights in this year's festival, and it was great. Michael Bettencourt's "The Origins of Zoos" pits birth control pioneer Margaret Sanger against Bronx Zoo founder Madison Grant in a Lower East Side coffee house. "The Invention of the Living Room," by Andrew R. Heinze imagines the birth of Levittown in a Lower East Side tenement. "Occupy Avenue A" (Josh Gulotta) brings the conversation into the present, and "Delicacy" (Toni Schlesinger) moves it into the world of Dreams -- and the Second Avenue Deli. If the other three nights are as good as this one, you're in for a treat no matter which night you go.

Tickets and more information at: http://www.metropolitanplayhouse.org/EVTF2013.

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Find out more about the Lower East Side and East Village in
our book:

Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City.

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