In the Wilderness staged reading in the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity

A Boann Books and Media LLC production benefiting The Mercy Center
Written by John Kearns
Directed by Tim Ruddy

Where:

The Robert Moss Theater (3rd Floor) and Black Box Theater (4th Floor)
440 Lafayette Street
New York, NY

Subways: 6 to Astor Place, N, R, or W to 8th Street, B, D, F, V to Broadway-Lafayette.

Contact: scripts@kearnscafe.com

Price: FREE
 

About In the Wilderness

In The Wilderness depicts the struggle of teachers and students in an all-girls high school in the South Bronx in the late 1980's, when the neighborhood was rife with crime, crack addiction and AIDS. Dispirited from the stress of the school year, dedicated young teacher Paul Logan decides that if he can get just one student to be successful, then all of the frustrations would be worthwhile. Carmen Marquez, a smart, sexy sophomore who writes poetry and succeeds in school despite pressures from home and from her neighborhood, seems to be the one Paul is hoping for.

Feile-Festa literary journal reading

I will be reading my poem, "Aboard the Aran Seabord, Leaving Inishmore"

Where:

The KGB Bar
85 East 4th Street
New York, NY

Subways: 6 to Astor Place, B, D, F, V to Broadway-Lafayette.

Contact: scripts@kearnscafe.com

Price: FREE
 

Resignations in the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity

In an office that makes you laugh, a comedy that makes you think.

A Boann Books and Media LLC production benefiting China Tomorrow Education Foundation
Written by John Kearns
Directed by Erin Smiley

Where:

The Robert Moss Theater
440 Lafayette Street (across from the Public Theater), Third Floor
New York, NY

Subways: 6 to Astor Place, N, R, or W to 8th Street, B, D, F, V to Broadway-Lafayette.

Contact: scripts@kearnscafe.com

Price: $18

Tickets:

• • June 11   4:00 pm
  • June 13   8:30 pm
  • June 15   4:00 pm
  • June 17   8:00 pm
  • June 21   8:30 pm
  • June 25   6:00 pm

About Resignations

Joy and Grace, two young Chinese-American women who have been friends since high school, sit in the cubicles of an absurd office. Grace is growing content while Joy is getting restless. Over the course of a year, on five weekdays associated with five elements of Chinese medicine, the two friends struggle over their artistic dreams and their need for security.

Resignations is structured like a work week.  Each day of the week corresponds to a different season and an element of Chinese medicine: Monday in the winter (element: water), Tuesday in the spring (element: wood), Wednesday in the summer (element: fire), Thursday in the late summer (element: earth), and Friday in the fall (element: metal).  The play presents the same five elements of the women’s routine each day: morning coffee, a conference call, lunch, a Starbuck's run, and the end of the day.  

"I Knew You'd Say That!" in Strawberry One-Act Festival

American Theatre for Actors
314 W 54th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues)
2nd Floor
New York, NY
www.therianttheatre.com

Revised Excerpt of Resignations at Cold Cuts Reading, Algonquin Theatre

The Monday section of Resignations was selected to be part of the Cold Cuts series.

Resignations Staged Reading at the Algonquin Theatre

Featuring:

Amy Chang as JOY,
Jeanie Tse as GRACE, and
Alex Adams as THE PRESENTER/CONFERENCE CALL VOICE.

Tuesday, July 17th – 6:30 PM.

Friday, July 20th – 5:30 PM

Saturday, July 21st – 12:45 PM

Monday, July 23rd – 6:30 PM

Saturday, July 28th – 3:00 PM

Saturday, August 4th – 3:15 PM

Sons of Molly Maguire was selected for the Main Stage of the 2007 Midtown International Theatre Festival! It was performed at the Workshop Theatre, 312 West 36th Street (near 8th), Fourth Floor. Sons of Molly Maguire played to large audiences and was nominated for five MITF awards! Details on the Boann Books and Media website.

About Sons of Molly Maguire

In the coal mines of 1870s Pennsylvania, bosses discriminate against Irish immigrants. Jack Kilbride joins the Molly Maguires, a secret society that protests through terrorism. When the Molly Maguires are infiltrated and informed on by a Pinkerton Detective and fellow Irishman, Jack finds that the bosses own not only the mines but also the courts. In powerful dramatic and poetic terms, Sons of Molly Maguire examines this historical tale whose themes relate strongly to the issues of today: terrorism, immigration, corporate greed, inflammatory media, and corrupt courts.

"Copy 8852," a collaboration with Jason Szalla for the Experimental Text Festival at the Ontological Hysteric Theatre.

Copy 8852 is concerned, in part, with the goals and process of making Copy 8852 and with the relationship between art and pop culture.  The piece is structured around the themes of innocence, temptation, death, and rebirth, inspired by the name and biography of the actor, River Phoenix.  Copy 8852 is unified by mythological themes and wordplay rather than by plot and setting.  The title, Copy 8852,indicates that the piece is the product of an iterative process, not that it is a replica or reenactment of another work or event. 

Copy 8852 began with meetings of artists, writers, actors, curators, and designers in various pubs in Downtown Manhattan.  At the meetings, participants discussed goals for the play/artwork and how to bring together all of its seemingly disparate elements. The meeting discussions were recorded and transcribed.  Eventually, selections from the transcripts, items from Szalla’s conceptual lists, and additional material written by Szalla and Kearns were woven together and edited in an iterative process resulting in a final script. 

Thursday
July 20

8:30 PM

In a Bucket of Blood in Midtown International Theatre Festival 

In a Bucket of Blood has been accepted into the Midtown International Theatre Festival! Tickets are available on Smarttix.com. To save $3 before May 30th, use the discount code: dool1. Tickets for the first three shows are available now. The rest will go on sale on June 1^st. Thanks!

Based loosely on the exploits of the Irish-American gang known as "The Westies," In a Bucket of Blood is a drama of loyalty, betrayal, guilt, and ambition set among the Hell's Kitchen Irish Mob of the 1980s. Late on a Sunday night in a Hell's Kitchen dive called Fergus's Pub, Eddie Carey waits for his boss and lifelong friend, Jimmy Nolan. As he waits, he receives several visitors who lead him to question whether the loyalty he has demonstrated toward his boss is being returned. In a Bucket of Blood runs about seventy minutes without intermission.  

Where: Where Eagles Dare Theatre
347 West 36th Street (near 9^th Avenue), Ground Floor
New York, NY.

Subway: 1, 2, 3, 7, A, C, E, N, R, Q, W to 34th Street;
Cross-town buses on 34th Street.

Contact: Scripts@kearnscafe.com, www.boannbooksandmedia.com/plays.html

Prices: $18. Advance tickets $15. Before May 30^th, Go to
http://www.smarttix.com/show.aspx?showcode=INA1

and enter the discount code: dool1.

Sunday,

July 23

4:30 PM

Monday,

July 24

6:15 PM

Saturday,

July 29

4 PM

Wednesday

August 2

6:15 PM

Friday

August 4

8:30 PM

Tuesday – Thursday
May 23rd, 24th, 25th

8PM

Tuesday – Thursday
May 30th, 31st, June 1st

8PM

Previews of In a Bucket of Blood at Ryan’s Daughter 

Based loosely on the exploits of the Irish-American gang known as "The Westies," In a Bucket of Blood is a drama of loyalty, betrayal, guilt, and ambition set among the Hell's Kitchen Irish Mob of the 1980s. Late on a Sunday night in a Hell's Kitchen dive called Fergus's Pub, Eddie Carey waits for his boss and lifelong friend, Jimmy Nolan. As he waits, he receives several visitors, including his wife, his criminal buddies, and his mistress, who lead him to question whether the loyalty he has demonstrated toward his boss is being returned. In a Bucket of Blood runs about seventy minutes without intermission.  

Where: Upstairs at Ryan’s Daughter
350 E 85th Street (near 1^st Avenue)
New York, NY.

Subway: 4, 5, 6 at 86th Street.

Contact: Scripts@kearnscafe.com

Price: Free.

Friday, September 30, 2005 at 8 PM

Saturday, October 1, 2005 at 8 PM

Sunday, October 2, 2005 at 8 PM

Designers with Dirty Faces in Fashion PlayFest

Two years after its production in Woodside, Designers with Dirty Faces takes to the Manhattan stage with a punched-up script, an almost entirely new cast, and perfect surroundings – NYC’s Garment District! The full-length parody of 1930s Cagney gangster movies, of Hamlet, and of Greek and Irish myth will close the Fashion PlayFest at 37^th Street and 8^th Avenue !  

Where: Actors Movement Studio (AMS)
302 W. 37th Street (just west of 8th Avenue), 6th Floor
New York, NY.

Subway: A, C, E, 1, 2, 3, B, D, F, N, Q, R, V, W at 34^th Street.

Contact: AMS Phone: 212-736-3309

Prices: Tickets $12. See ticketcentral.com  

CHECK OUT BACKGROUND INFORMATION!  

Friday, August 26, 2005 at 8PM

Saturday, August 27, 2005 at 5 PM

“I Knew You’d Say That!” at TSI/PlayTime

My new one-act play about a couple discussing commitment on the subway while three 

mysterious strangers reveal themselves to be the New York Times, Post, and Daily News 

debuts at Theatre Studio Inc -- my first play in the Theatre District!    

Where: TSI/PlayTime
750 Eighth Ave Suite 200 (between 46th & 47^th –
directly across from Kevin St. James pub), New York, NY.

Subway: 1 at 50^th Street, C or E at 50^th Street, A at Port Authority.

Contact: www.theatrestudioinc.org

Prices: Tickets $15 in advance and $18 at the door. See http://www.theatermania.com  

Friday, June 17, 2005

Saturday, June 18, 2005

7PM

8-Minute Madness Playwright Festival 2005

“The Importance of Loving Shakespeare” has been selected from “hundreds of submissions” 

to be produced at this festival by Turtle Shell Productions!  Performances of my play are 

on June 17th & 18th.  Audience members get to vote on who makes it to the finals on 

June 23rd and 24th.

Where: The Little Theatre at the West Side Y
5 W. 63rd Street, between Broadway and Central Park West, New York, NY.

Subway: 1/9 at 66^th Street, Lincoln Center. A, B, C, D at Columbus Circle.

Contact: www.turtleshellproductions.com

Prices: Tickets $15 from Smarttix.

Monday, May 2, 2005

7PM

Reading at Mugshots in Philadelphia! Coffee House and Juice Bar

I will be reading from my novel, The World, at this, my second reading in Philadelphia! 

Where:

Mugshots Coffee House and Juice Bar
21st and Fairmount Avenue (across from Eastern State Penitentiary)
Philadelphia, PA

Contact: www.mugshotscoffeehouse.com

Prices: Free!

Friday, March 4^, 2005

Friday, March 11^, 2005

7:30 PM

Knitting Factory Irish Rhapsody Readings for St. Patrick’s Day!

I will be hosting and reading from my Dreams and Dull Realities and The World at two Irish Rhapsody readings at the Knitting Factory on March 4th & 11th.

On March 11th, I will be reading with:

• Tim McLoughlin,
• Imelda O’Reilly,
• C.J. Sullivan,
• Mary Cremen, and
• Erik Johnson

On March 4th, I read with:

• Barry McCrea,
• Kevin R. McPartland, and
• Kathleen Donohoe

Where:

Knitting Factory (In the Old Office)
74 Leonard Street
New York City , NY 10013
Contact: 212-219-3132
www.knittingfactory.com

Prices: Free!

Tuesday,

February 22, 2005

7:30 PM

In the Wilderness at Cold Cuts 

Actors will do a cold reading of 15-20 minutes of In the Wilderness at the Cold Cuts reading series.  

Where: The Dekk
134 Reade Street, New York, NY.

Subway: 1, 2, 3, 9 to Chambers Street.
See http://thedekk.com/location.htm.

Contact: www.tengrandburger.com

Prices: Free!

Tuesday,

January 11, 2005

7:30 PM

Designers with Dirty Faces at Cold Cuts 

Actors will do a cold reading of 20-25 minutes of Designers with Dirty Faces at the 2005 Cold Cuts Kickoff.

Where:

Arthur Seelen Theatre
250 W. 40th Street, near 8th, under the Drama Book Shop, New York, NY.

Subway: 7 to Times Square. Trains to Port Authority.

Contact: www.tengrandburger.com

Prices: Free!

Friday,

December 10, 2004

8:40 AM

The World at The Prep 

Reading of excerpts from and talking to students about The World at my alma mater, St. Joseph’s Prepatory School.  
Mr. O’Brien’s Freshman and Junior English classes.  

Where: St. Joseph’s Preparatory School
1733 W. Girard Avenue, Philadelphia, PA

Wednesday,

November 3, 2004

7:30 PM

The World at Astoria’s Book Value 

Reading of excerpts from The World in this, fittingly enough, traditionally Greek and Irish neighborhood.  

My first reading at a bookstore!  

Join us afterwards for drinks at Gibney’s, Citysearch’s best neighborhood bar in NYC.   

Where: Book Value Book Store
3318 Broadway (@ 33^rd Street), Astoria, NY.

Subway: N train to Broadway. (About two blocks from the station.)

Contact: Book Value: www.astoriabook.com or 718-267-7929.

Prices: Free! The World costs $12.

Monday,

October 11, 2004

7:30 PM

“I Knew You’d Say That!” A debut reading of my new one act play at the

Cold Cuts Reading Series, presented by Ten Grand and a Burger Productions 

Where:

11th Street Bar (@ Avenue A)
510 E. 11th Street, NYC.
L train at 2nd Avenue. 6 train at Astor Place.

When:
Actors arrive at 7. Reading begins at 7:30. Every other Monday starting May 17th.

For more information, see Ten Grand and a Burger or email me.

Wednesday, 

August 4, 2004 

8 PM

The Narrowback* Reading: Writing from Irish America

Rocky Sullivan's Pub
129 Lexington Ave. (between 28th and 29th Sts.),
212-725-3871;
www.rockysullivans.com

Irish-American writers from Brooklyn and Philadelphia, Kevin McPartland, Kathleen Donohoe,
Kathy Lynch, and John Kearns read from their novels and short stories.

Debut reading of the short story, “Backstage” by John Kearns

* "Narrowback" is a term used by Irish immigrants to describe their Irish-American descendants.

May 17, 2004

And every other Monday after that.

May 17th marks the beginning of a biweekly series of script readings, called “Cold Cuts.” Cold Cuts will present actors’ doing cold readings of scripts chosen ahead of time.

The first evening will feature three works by John Kearns:

• Scenes from Designers with Dirty Faces,
• Scenes from In the Wilderness (a debut), and
• The one-act play, “The Importance of Loving Shakespeare.”

Where:

11th Street Bar (@ Avenue A)
510 E. 11th Street, NYC.
L train at 2nd Avenue. 6 train at Astor Place.

When:
Actors arrive at 7. Reading begins at 7:30. Every other Monday starting May 17th.

For more information, see Ten Grand and a Burger or email me.

April 27, 2004 8 PM

Philadelphia Reading: Excerpts from The World at Bubble House Restaurant

I will be the featured reader at the weekly poetry reading at the Bubble House Restaurant, an Asian fusion restaurant and tea house near the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, doing two 15-20 minute readings of excerpts from The World.

Bubble House Restaurant
3404 Sansom Street
(Between Chestnut and Walnut Streets)
Philadelphia, PA 19104
(215) 243-0804

March 13, 2004
8PM

St. Patrick’s Day reading!

In the Old Office of the Knitting Factory
From The World and other works.

Rhapsody Spoken Word:
Colum McCann, Mary Cremens, John Shea, John Kearns, Tim McLoughlin.

Tickets: $5 and are available on line.
www.knittingfactory.com

Knitting Factory (In the Old Office)
74 Leonard Street
New York City , NY 10013
212-219-3132

The World will be available for $10.

February 9, 2004
6:30 PM:

Young Irish Writers Reading

A reading from my novel The World, (and possibly some newer stuff) at:

American Irish Historical Society
991 Fifth Avenue (at 80th Street, across from the Metropolitan Museum.)
Subway: 4, 5, or 6 at 86th & Lexington or 6 at 77th & Lexington
www.aihs.org

There will be 2 other readers as well. The event is free. The novel will be available for $12.

The American Irish Historical Society is located in a Beaux-Arts townhouse on Fifth Avenue on the Upper East Side.
There will be a short reception after the reading with wine, cheese, soda, etc. If you can attend the reading, the Society asks that you call (212) 288-2263 x31or send an email to events@aihs.orgto reserve a place. Making the reservation on the day of the event is usually fine.