In Sarah Einspanier’s tart, heartsick comedy “Lunch Bunch” (presented by PlayCo and Clubbed Thumb, at 122CC, through April 22), a group of public defenders—zipping around in rolling office chairs—distract themselves from their punishing family-court caseloads with a weekly gourmet-vegetarian lunch-sharing plan (barbecued jackfruit sandwiches, salads with turmeric, seasonal vegetables, always lovingly described). Their work is full of defeat and other people’s loss, so small pleasures assume ridiculous levels of import; an enthusiastic newbie (Julia Sirna-Frest) rubs the group’s perfectionist (Ugo Chukwu) the wrong way and we worry for her future, since an ejected member of the group (David Greenspan) was cast very far out—all the way back to the prehistoric past, when lunches were more mammoth-forward. In a stacked cast, Sirna-Frest and Jo Mei, who plays the most unflappable of the lawyers, stand out for their, respectively, flustery and chilly comic approaches; Chukwu manages to be charismatic even in quivering breakdown. The director Tara Ahmadinejad keeps the pace high for this snack-size, hour-long show, but you digest it over the next several days, as you remember the real-life details—families torn apart, the advocates’ emotional burnout, the grinding judicial system—served as side dishes alongside the absurd main course.
KILLIN' IT : a web series (in development)
THE TANK PRESENTS ZOË GELTMAN’S PUFFY HAIR
DIRECTED BY JULIA SIRNA-FREST, NOVEMBER 4–20
Existential Stand-Up Meets Raw Feminist Rant in One-Woman Show
DOLLY SAVES AMERICA AT THE BELL HOUSE
JULY 3 2021
Poet/Performer/Playwright Jane Elias has been writing Corona Style Poems (a series of poems in which the last line of a poem serves as the first line for the next poem) in the Time of Corona. Jane writes each poem for a specific actor. She has been writing a poem a day since April and will continue to do so until the vaccine is made available. I chose to compose a song for my sonnet and take advantage of our recent snow storm. Check out Jane’s other sonnets on Twitter: @eliastories
The Play Company and Clubbed Thumb to Present LUNCH BUNCH
I'm thrilled to be joining the Cast of Riddle of the Trilobites!
Lunch Bunch is a NYT Critic's Pick and 4 Stars from TimeOut!
TICKET HERE
I'm in a webseries! It Premiers 2/25/19!
DOLL PARTS AT THE BELL HOUSE
WINTERWORKS 2019
An evening of new plays directed by our 2018-2019 Directing Fellows.
Kate Eminger directing
RATS!
by Bryna Turner
featuring Jane Bradley, Laura Esterman, Layla Khosh, Ellie MacPherson and Kelly McAndrew
sound design by Ben Vigus | stage manager Christina Woolard
Tara Ahmadinejad directing
LUNCH BUNCH
by Sarah Einspanier
featuring Eliza Bent, Ugo Chukwu, Flora Diaz, Nadine Malouf, Keilly McQuail, Julia Sirna-Frest and Paco Tolson
design by Oona Curley | stage manager Matthew Henao
Sarah Blush directing
BULLY
by Amina Henry
featuring Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Maechi Aharanwa, Hannah Cabell, Polly Lee, Elia Monte-Brown and Carmen Zilles
choreography by Kelly Bartnik | stage manager Lauren Veit
Seven Performances Only! Seating is extremely limited:
Wednesday January 16th at 7pm
Thursday January 17th at 7pm
Friday January 18th at 3pm and 7pm
Saturday January 19th at 3pm and 7pm
Sunday January 20th at 3pm
Runtime is approximately 2 hours followed by drinks and snacks in the Clubbed Thumb office.
at Playwrights Downtown
440 Lafayette Street, 4th floor, New York, NY 10003
Tickets are free but you must make a reservation by emailing kim@clubbedthumb.org
MORE ABOUT THE PROGRAM AND THE FELLOWS:
In partnership with Playwrights Horizons Theater School, The Clubbed Thumb Directing Fellowship is a five month new play directing intensive, under the mentorship of alumni artists Anne Kauffman and Ken Rus Schmoll.
Fellows work on new plays by Clubbed Thumb playwrights over the course of a semester with Playwrights Horizons Theater School student performers. Then, they build on this work with workshop productions of the same plays with professional actors, presented for industry audiences at Winterworks.
Run-Ins//Pitch Her Productions
A SHORT SERIES ABOUT THE WORST TYPE OF HUMAN INTERACTION.
Written by Justine Neubarth, Run-Ins is a comedy series about those unwanted, awkward encounters in New York that we've all begrudgingly endured. Each episode features a different female director and female cinematographer, creating a mosaic boasting different female voices and aesthetics.
DOLL PARTS AT THE WP GALA!
It was an honor to help WP Theater celebrate 40 years!
Very excited to head to North Hampton and return to Karinne Keithley Syers amazing play!
[Porto] is a New York Times and New York Magazine Critics Pick
"excellent cast led by the wonderful Ms. Sirna-Frest."-New York Times
New York Times Critics Pick-Review HERE
“Our heroine is Porto, the expressive Julia Sirna-Frest [her] performance is a thoughtful, rewarding slow burn.”-NYmag
New York Magazine Critics Pick- Full Review Here
"Sirna-Frest’s Porto is an emphatic blend of warmth, pensivity and dread. It’s a joy to watch her face process the beats of her inner monologue as the narrator moves through a laundry list of anxieties."-NY Theater Review
[Porto] Extends to March 4th!
Great Press for Seder!
"Julia Sirna-Frest brings sweetness and softness to the insecure Margit"-Hartford Courant full review HERE