The Mysteries

Now Extended through July 14

Featuring:
Drama Desk Special Award Winner, Director Ed Sylvanus Iskandar
Drama Desk Nominee, Costume Designer Loren Shaw

New York Times Critics’ Pick!

“A theatrical journey that begins in wonder and ends in wisdom.”
-Curtain Up

“Breathtaking in its scope…a radical reclamation that can be appreciated by believers and nonbelievers alike.”
-TheaterMania

A World Premiere Event from the Special Drama Desk Award Winning Director who brought you These Seven Sicknesses and Restoration Comedy.

The Flea embarks on an extravaganza with 48 playwrights and 48 actors retelling the entirety of The Bible in a single night.

52 World Premiere plays telling the entire History of Man’s Salvation from The Fall of Lucifer through and including Judgment Day.

Conceived and Directed by Ed Sylvanus Iskandar
Dramaturgy by Jill Rafson

Written by 
Marc Acito, Johnna Adams, Liz Duffy Adams, Mallery Avidon, Trista Baldwin, Bill Cain, CollaborationTown, Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas, Erin Courtney, Eisa Davis, Gabriel Jason Dean, Chris Dimond, Yussef El Guindi, Amy Freed, Madeleine George, Kate Gersten, Sean Graney, Sevan K. Greene, Kirsten Greenidge, Lillian Groag, Jordan Harrison, Ann Marie Healy, Lucas Hnath, David Henry Hwang, Nick Jones, Meghan Kennedy, Kimber Lee, Kenneth Lin, Craig Lucas, Laura Marks, Ellen McLaughlin, Michael Mitnick, Kate Moira Ryan, Don Nguyen, Qui Nguyen, Dael Orlandersmith, A. Rey Pamatmat, Billy Porter, Max Posner, José Rivera, Najla Said, Jenny Schwartz, Jordan Seavey, Matthew Stephen Smith, Lloyd Suh, Jeff Whitty, Jason Williamson, Bess Wohl

Featuring 48 members of The Bats

David Dabbon Original Musical Direction
David Dabbon Arranger and Original Music
Jody Schum Musical Director
Chase Brock Choreography
CollaborationTown Additional Creative Support
Michael Wieser Fight Direction
Amy Jo Jackson Voice and Text Direction

Jason Sherwood Scenic Design
Seth Reiser Lighting Design
Loren Shaw Costume Design 
Jeremy S. Bloom Sound Design
Marissa Bergman Props Master
Jennifer Ahlfeld Make-Up Design
Kara Kaufman Production Stage Manager

Assistants and Associates:
Associate Directors: Tom Costello, Benjamin Kamine, Kristan Seemel, Brandon Stock, Danya Taymor, Courtney Ulrich Assistant Directors: Rachel Dart, Estefania Fadul, Kristin McCarthy Parker, Joel Soren Associate Dramaturg: Olivia O’Connor Assistant Choreographer: Cameron Burke Assistant Set Designer: Mia Cook Assistant Lighting Designer: Rachel Fae Szymanski Associate Costume Designers: Kara Branch, Rien Schelcht Assistant Costume Designers: Jennifer Ahlfeld, Heather Carey, Jonathan Reilly Assistant Sound Designer: Lee Kinney Assistant Props Master: Jackie Rivera Assistant Stage Managers: David Delaney, Ria T. DiLullo, Chongren Fan, Anne Haney, Daniela Hart, Rachel Karp, Molly Marinik, Michael Raine, Austin Regan, Stebos, Kat Yen Wardrobe Supervisor: Meredith Sweeney

THE MYSTERIES will feature The Bats, the resident acting company of The Flea Theater – 54 of which will take part in this extravaganza. Each year over a thousand actors audition for a place in this unique company. The Bats perform in extended runs of challenging classic and new plays. The Bats have recently appeared in premieres by A.R. Gurney, Will Eno, Adam Rapp, Beau Willimon, Mac Wellman, Elizabeth Swados, Thomas Bradshaw, Itamar Moses, Sheila Callaghan, Julian Sheppard, Ken Urban, Tommy Smith, Jonathan Reynolds, Trista Baldwin, Laurel Haines, Qui Nguyen, Sean Graney, and Amy Freed.

Cast
Angel Chorus: Emilie Bienne, Molly Kate Brog, Jessica Cannizzaro, Anna Dart, Métushalème Dary, Adrienne Deekman, Jack DellaTorri, Kelley Nicole Dugan, Rebecca Gastfriend, Kerri George, Lauren Hayes, Kelly Higgins, Gaby Hornig, Andy Miller, Toren Nakamura, Emily Olcott, Xan Russell, Sarah White

Cast:Justin Ahdoot, Alice Allemano, Allison Buck, Jessica Cannizzaro, Matthew Cox, Anna Dart, Ricky Davila, Jack DellaTorri, Asia Kate Dillon, Julie Ann Earls, Sam Garber, Tyler Gardella, Jack Gilbert, Alex J. Gould, Lauren Hayes, Alex Haynes, Kyle Hines, Matthew Jeffers, Ahmed Kouddous, Rory Kulz, Edan Jacob Levy, Andy Miller, Alesandra Nahodil, Karsten Otto, Tara Pacheco, Jeff Ronan, Xan Russell, Peter Sansbury, Alex Siefe, Eliza Simpson, Matt Stango, Kate Thulin, Elijah Trichon, Paul Truitt, Jen Tsay, Colin Waitt, Sarah White

Ed Sylvanus Iskandar is a two-time Drama Desk nominee for his direction of Amy Freed’s Restoration Comedy and Sean Graney’s These Seven Sicknesses at The Flea (NY Times Critic’s Picks). He is the current recipient of the Emerging Professional Award, jointly given by National Theatre Conference (NTC) and Bill Rauch, Artistic Director of Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF). As Founding Artistic Director of Exit, Pursued by a Bear (EPBB), he has served over 10,000 home-cooked meals over the course of staging 8 Labs and 40 Salons (all NY premieres), including multiple collaborations with Tony winners Billy Porter and Jeff Whitty, and Tony nominee Anthony Heald. Ed is a New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) Usual Suspect and Artist-in-Residence at Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT) where he is cultivating a creative pipeline of Singapore – US collaborations. Past honors: NYTW Emerging Artist Fellow, Drama League Directing Fellow, two-time OSF Resident Director, alumnus of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab, and recipient of the Robert M. Golden Medal and the Sherifa Omade Edoga Prize. Ed has taught at Stanford (BA Modern Thought & Literature, and Drama) and Carnegie Mellon (MFADirecting). Ed is currently reimagining Restoration Comedy as an immersive nightlife adventure in collaboration with Jake Shears and Babydaddy of The Scissor Sisters (2014). Beyond 2014, he is developing Jason Williamson’s Lesser Mercies trilogy, a chronicle following two mixed race brothers before, during and after the Civil War; Gabriel Jason Dean’s Jaavaneh (In Bloom), a political thriller about American altruism in the world of Afghan dancing boys; and Sean Graney’s All Our Tragic, a 2-day play based on all the surviving Greek tragedies.

Jill Rafson is the Literary Manager of Roundabout Theatre Company, where she also serves as Associate Producer for Roundabout Underground, a theatrical development program that supports the work of emerging playwrights. Plays developed with Roundabout include Stephen Karam’s Speech & Debate and Sons of the Prophet (Pulitzer Finalist), Adam Gwon’s Ordinary Days, Kim Rosenstock’s Tigers Be Still, David West Read’s The Dream of the Burning Boy, Steven Levenson’s The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin, and Joshua Harmon’s Bad Jews. Jill has worked with The Broadway League, New York City Center, and ART/NY and has been a Dramaturg and member of the Artistic Council for the O’Neill Playwrights Conference, in addition to reading scripts for Vineyard Theatre and Deutsch/Open City Films. Jill is a dramaturg for rising theater company CollaborationTown, served as script consultant for “The Importance of Being Earnest HD” (screened worldwide), and has been a lecturer for the Commercial Theatre Institute and guest blogger for World Theater Day. She is nominator for Off-Broadway’s Lucille Lortel Awards, a member of NYFA’s Emerging Arts Leaders Boot Camp, and a graduate of Johns Hopkins University.

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