Theaterlab Presents:
Out of Memory
A Reading of a play in three acts
Written by Joey Merlo
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Theaterlab welcomes back frequent collaborator, playwright Joey Merlo, for a staged reading of his poignant new work, Out of Memory. Inspired by the passing of his Nonna after a decade-long battle with Alzheimer’s, Merlo embarks on a deeply personal journey to uncover the untold stories of his family. Blending interview transcripts with auto-fictitious scenes, this hybrid docu-theater piece explores the mysteries of dissolving identity, the fragility of memory, and the enduring power of love across generations.
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Don’t miss this intimate exploration of family lore and the connections that transcend time and loss.
December 9, 2024 @7pm
MEET THE ARTISTS
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Joey Merlo (playwright) is currently the artist-in-residence at The William Steeple Davis House in Orient, NY. He is a theatermaker who has worked all over the world including Greece, Peru, and Ghana. They are a New York Foundation for The Arts Fellow whose recent projects include Midnight Coleslaw, “The year’s most twisted psychosexual melodrama. A bittersweet, yet biting piece” (NYT) and the “Brilliant/Highbrow” (NY Mag) On Set with Theda Bara. “Merlo is one of the most exciting and original voices writing for the New York stage at the moment.” (Theatermania). They hold a BFA from NYU Tisch and an MFA from Brooklyn College. www.joeymerlo.com
Orietta Crispino (cast) is an accomplished theatre artist, born in Italy. She is a graduate of the prestigious Piccolo Teatro School in Milan, where she worked with the major Italian directors Giorgio Strehler and Massimo Castri. She later taught acting and directing there. Among her many theatre projects are: Passport No. 23.922, a piece she wrote and directed on the life of Tina Modotti; and a three year-project in Trieste directing the plays of Pirandello’s Italian contemporaries. She is a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab and the League of Professional Theatre Women. In addition to her theatre work, Ms. Crispino has done art projects on the body in its performative aspect. Her body research culminated in a performance piece with the photographer Vibeke Jensen, Camera Obscura, shown at PS1 in New York, Bogota and Trieste. Her most recent productions at Theaterlab are Three Sisters Come and Go and Snow in the Living Room, a retelling of the Brothers Grimms’ Snow White. She is the founder and artistic director of Theaterlab.
Ms. Crispino’s acting credits include The Library (Crossing the Line Festival, FIAF); In the House of My Beloved (Women’s Project); The Living Room Series (HERE); Dancing, not Dead (The Internationalists); Dante (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum), and Snow in the Living Room (Theaterlab).
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Curtis Gillen (cast) is a proud graduate from Carnegie Mellon University with a B.F.A. in Acting. Off-Broadway credits include The Old Man and The Old Moon and Pericles directed by Trevor Nunn. Film credits include Ricky and the Flash and Hairbrained. Founding member of PigPen Theatre Co. the total theatre collective of actors, musicians, writers, directors and most recently composer and lyricists of Water for Elephants on Broadway. Follow him on Instagram and Facebook @curt_mcgurt.
Irene Glezos (cast) is an award-winning actress, writer and producer. A native of Washington DC, she graduated with a degree in drama from Catholic University and has pursued a career that includes stage, screen and television. Favorite stage roles include Maria Callas in Terrence McNally’s Master Class for which she was nominated Outstanding Leading Actress by the Connecticut Critics Circle and Lady in Tennessee Williams’ Orpheus Descending for which she was nominated Best Actress by the Big Easy Entertainment Awards in New Orleans. Other favorite theatrical credits include Fairouz in the U.S. premiere of Naomi Wallace’s In the Heart of America (directed by Tony Kushner at the Long Wharf Theatre), Claire in Tennessee Williams’ The Two Character Play with Playhouse Creatures Theater Company and Georgie in Simon Stephens’ Heisenberg directed by Austin Pendleton at TheaterLab in NYC. Her work in television includes numerous episodes of Law and Order, The Blacklist and And Just Like That. She’s appeared in many films including Gravitas Ventures’ Delusional playing Dr. Margaret Collins and Tony’s Auto Repair playing mob boss mom Belle. www.ireneglezos.com
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David Greenspan (cast) has appeared in his plays Dead Mother, She Stoops to Comedy, Go Back to Where You Are, I’m Looking for Helen Twelvetrees, The Memory Motel and his solo plays The Argument and The Myopia; performed solo renditions of Barry Conners’ comedy The Patsy, Eugene O’Neill’s six-hour, nine-act drama Strange Interlude and Gertrude Stein’s experimental Four Saints in Three Acts; acted in many contemporary plays, notably Terrence McNally’s Some Men, Joey Merlo’s solo play On Set With Theda Bara and revivals of Mart Crowley’s The Boys in the Band and Goethe’s Faust. Honors include an Alpert Award and six OBIES.
COVID-19 policy: In guidance with the city and state COVID-19 policies, we will no longer be requiring masks, but strongly recommend them.