New American drama about facing old demons and embracing new beginnings premieres.
September 5 - 22, 2024 at The Players Theatre
"Engaging and believable, resulting in a surprising and solidly emotional ending. It is a play worth seeing." -- Scotty Bennett, TheaterScene.net
"In Kara Ayn Napolitano's exceptional new play, In Search of Elaina, everything is new, real, and earned. The play is well-served by excellent direction, by Joy Donze, and vivid, convincing acting... It is a first-class production of a first-class play." -- Wendy Caster, Show Showdown
"Gripping, funny and heartbreaking... a wonderful play that offers a glimpse into a world we don’t get to see very often." -- Naranjani Reddi, Theatre Beyond Broadway
Drift In Act Out will present the World Premiere of IN SEARCH OF ELAINA, new play by Kara Ayn Napolitano about facing old demons and embracing new beginnings. Directed by Joy Donze, previews begin September 5 at The Steve & Marie Sgouros Theatre at The Players Theatre.
IN SEARCH OF ELAINA opens on Annette, living comfortably in her city life. When she learns that an old, dear friend has passed away, someone from the youth she worked hard to leave behind, a haunting regret is reignited. This drives Annette to travel home and face what she has worked so hard to bury. Past and present collide as Annette is pulled apart by who she is trying to be and who she undeniably once was. Friends and family reunite, reliving old times, traversing grief, and somehow finding their way forward.
IN SEARCH OF ELAINA runs September 5 - 22, Thursdays - Saturdays at 7pm and Sundays at 3pm. The Players Theatre is located at 115 MacDougal Street, New York NY 10012 (accessible from the A,C,E trains at West 4th Street). Run-time: 110 minutes. Please note that the theatre is located on the 3rd floor of a walk up building; there is no elevator. Tickets are $62 - $87. For tickets and more information, visit www.insearchofelaina.com.
IN SEARCH OF ELAINA stars Rachel Griesinger, Aimée Fortier, Jamie Effros (Give or Take with Norbert Leo Butz and Cheri Oteri; The Footage, Back of the Throat and The Great Recession at The Flea), Alexandra Gellner, Garrett Richmond, Greg Carere (Pete Rex at 59E59), and Lee Tyler (Best Actor nominee for Townhouse Confidential at the 2022 New York Independent Film Festival). The production team includes Rachel Razor (scenic design), Sasha Lysenko (lighting), Robert Gonyo (sound design), Arielle Legere (stage manager), Rosie Kolbo (co-producer), and Jake Platt (co-producer).
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Kara Ayn Napolitano is a writer, environmental educator, and storyteller, performing an ongoing Storytime event through Bryant Park and managing the educational programming for New York City’s recycling facility. Her produced plays include Leah in Vegas (full length play, FringeNYC), Prohibition Blues (short musical), and Life Recital (one act musical), along with numerous ten-minute plays. She is a founding Artistic Director of Drift In Act Out, a medium of artistic growth for theatre artists, and spent four unforgettable years as the Managing Artistic Director for Writopia Lab's Worldwide Plays Festival, a festival of plays and musicals by writers aged 6 - 18, performed and directed by adult professionals. In her spare time, she is a professional singing teacher, a dedicated Burner, an enthusiastic naturalist, and an amateur puppeteer and hula hoop dancer.
Joy Donze is an award-winning Actor/Director/Producer based in Brooklyn. Recent directing credits include: Rocky Horror (Pendragon - BroadwayWorld nom for Best Direction of a Musical), Parentheses (Frigid Festival - winner of the 2023 Queerly Award & Best Two Hander), and Handmaids Tale: The Musical Parody (Kennedy Center & The Cutting Room. As an actor and director, Joy specializes in the development of new narratives with an emphasis on queer and female identified stories. Recent acting credits: POTUS at Geffen Playhouse, Bekah Brunstetter's The Cake at Crescent City Stage. LGBT proud. www.joydonze.com