New York Premiere - Theatre for a New Audience
“I have a feeling God finds us pretty funny. But that’s all the speaking I should do for God—he doesn’t go around talking about me.”—Denis Johnson, New York Magazine
In a seedy apartment on the edge of Des Moines, an unlikely assortment of people come together for an impromptu party that takes them, by the evening’s end, on a dam bursting ride down a stream-of-consciousness deluge. Downing depth chargers and singing karaoke, they struggle with the strange and unholy trinity of life, death, and sex in this work filled with dark humor and mystery. “What I write about,” Johnson observed, “Is the dilemma of living in a fallen world and asking why it is like this if there’s supposed to be a God.”
Michiko Kakutani in her 2017 Appraisal of Denis Johnson in The New York Times observed, “He used his startling gift for language to create word pictures as detailed and visionary, and as varied, as paintings by Edward Hopper and Hieronymus Bosch, capturing the lives of outsiders — the lost, the dispossessed, the damned — with empathy and unsparing candor…There is a fierce, ecstatic quality to Mr. Johnson’s strongest work that lends his characters and their stories an epic, almost mythic dimension, in the best American tradition of Melville and Whitman.”
Writer: Denis Johnson
Director: by Arin Arbus
Cast: Johanna Day, Arliss Howard, Hari Nef, Michael Shannon, Heather Alicia Simms
Premiere - Telluride Film Festival 2022
“Raw and Revealing” - Indiewire
“Poignant, Moving… Packs a wallop” - Hollywood Reporter
Filmed using iPhones and laptops during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Same Storm is an intimate look into the lives of twenty-four characters as they journey through the spring and summer of 2020. With lockdowns, the Black Lives Matter movement and the looming 2020 elections as key backdrops, the film explores the necessity of human connection, family, love, and the ability to find empathy during a fraught, untenable time. Featuring an all-star cast, including Sandra Oh, Mary-Louise Parker, Elaine May, Moses Ingram, Raul Castillo, Noma Dumezweni, and many more, writer/director Peter Hedges crafts a unique piece of hopeful filmmaking that demonstrates and celebrates the ability of art to connect us.
Writer/Director: Peter Hedges
Producers: Dianne Dreyer, Elizabeth Cuthrell, David Urrutia
Cast: Sandra Oh, Mary-Louise Parker, Elaine May, Moses Ingram, Noma Dumezweni, Raúl Castillo, Rosemarie DeWitt, Ron Livingston, Alison Pill, John Gallagher, Jr.. Daphne Rubin-Vega, Joshua Leonard, Jin Ha, Judith Light, Ato Blankson-Wood, Cory Michael Smith, Rhenzy Feliz, Camila Perez, K. Todd Freeman, Danny Burstein, Joel de la Fuente, Raza Jaffrey, Brittany Bradford, David Zaldivar
In Theaters:
Hamptons Film Festival - October 10, 2022
QUAD, New York, NY - October 14, 2022
Laemmle Santa Monica - October 14, 2022
Harkins Arrowhead Theatre, AZ - October 13, 2022
Philadelphia Film Festival
Austin Film Festival
Press:
Winner - Sundance Film Festival 2022 - Special Jury Award
“The 10 Best Movies at Sundance 2022” - Rolling Stone
“Unassuming, Quietly observant…in a moment when human connection feels like a rare currency, this tender slice-of-life practically doubles as a salve.” - Rolling Stone
"Beautifully shot...absolutely stunning" - Deadline
"Juri is luminous...gorgeous cinematography" - Punch Drunk Critics
"A genuine display of beauty...Juri delivers a truly elevated performance" - Showbiz Cheat Sheet
After the death of her husband, a young woman travels to Japan where she finds solace in an old friend. But when his comforting turns to affection, she realizes she must give herself permission before she can fall in love again.
Writer/Director: Bradley Rust Gray
Producers: David Urrutia, Bradley Rust Gray, So Yong Kim, Elika Portnoy, Alex Orlovsky, Jonathon Komack Martin
Cast: Carla Juri, Takashi Ueno, Issey Ogata, Gustaf Skarsgärd
5 Tony Nominations, including Best Play and Best Actor
King Philippe V of Spain, plagued by insomnia, lies awake in his chamber. The Queen, desperate for a cure, hears of Farinelli—a castrato with a voice so divine it has the power to captivate all who hear it. Philippe is astonished when Farinelli sings, and begs him to stay. But will Farinelli, one of the greatest celebrities of his time, choose a life of solitude over fame and fortune in the opera houses of Europe?
Writer: Claire Van Kampen
Director: John Dove
Cast: Mark Rylance, Sam Crane, Huss Garbiya, Colin Hurley, Edward Peel, Iestyn Davies (at select performances)
North American Premiere at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival
Winner, Tribeca Online Festival Best Feature Film
"Transcendence in action." - Hollywood Reporter
“Full of flare and exuberance…stunning cinematography.” - Screen Daily
"Ravishing visuals and an abundance of Indian dance and music provide a sensory tonic in Khyentse Norbu's tale of forbidden love." - Variety
In a rural Indian village, a young temple dancer falls in love with a poor sculptor, and puts both their lives at risk when she agrees to model for him in secret. Acclaimed writer/director Khyentse Norbu (The Cup, Travelers and Magicians) leads an international cast and crew including Bradford Young (cinematographer), William Chang Suk Ping (editor), and Nitin Sawhney (composer). Vara was shot on location in Sri Lanka.
VARA A Blessing had its world premiere as the opening fim at the Busan International Film Festival (WINNER: Shahana Goswami, Best Actress award at the first-ever Marie Claire Asia Star Awards), followed by screenings at The BFI London Film Festival, Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, Asiatica Film Festival, Goa International Film Festival, Kerala International Film Festival, and the upcoming Munich International Film Festival.
Writer/Director: Khyentse Norbu
Producer: Nanette Nelms
Executive Producers: Elizabeth Cuthrell, David Urrutia, Jeremy Thomas, Suresh Jindal
Cast: Shahana Goswami, Devesh Ranjan, Rohit Raj, Pakaj Pawan, Geeta Chandran, Swaroopa Ghosh
Available on ITunes, DVD, all digital platforms and Netflix
A group of girls gather secretly in the woods at night and a Hudson River town is shaken to its core. Mary, Catherine, and Lavinia - ordinary high school freshman, or a coven of witches seducing other girls one by one? When classmate Emily Parris exposes this secret society, the accusations quickly multiply over the social networks, and a media frenzy gains unstoppable momentum. But the girls of the elusive Sisterhood refuse to say anything. Why are they willing to risk so much, just for a nighttime gathering in the woods?
Adapted from Pulitzer Prize-winner Steven Millhauser’s story, The Sisterhood of Night chronicles three girls' unique and provocative alternative to the loneliness of adolescence and the digital abyss, revealing the tragedy and humor of growing up in the Internet age.
Director: Caryn Waechter
Writers: Marilyn Fu (screenplay), Steven Millhauser (short story)
Producers: Lydia Dean Pilcher, Elizabeth Cuthrell
Executive Producer: David Urrutia, Steven Tuttleman, Taha Altayli
Cast includes: Georgie Henley, Kara Hayward, Kal Penn, Laura Fraser, Willa Cuthrell, Olivia DeJonge, Jessica Hecht and Neal Huff.
The Sisterhood of Night website
An African priest struggles with his passion and conscience. The award-winning Kuhani is the eclectic tale of the moral clash in Uganda, where church, state and populism repress sexual minorities. Inspired by the work of Catholic priest Anthony Musaala, persecuted as part of the contentious anti-gay law. The film has been featured in dozens of film festivals including Slamdance, Outfest, Rotterdam, and The African Film Festival at Lincoln Center.
Writer/Director Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine is a first generation Ugandan-American whose career encompasses photography, theatre, film and television, including work as actor, writer, and director.
"Truthful, Raw and Immediate! See this play!" - Gloria Steinem
“Creating a space for girls, their families, and the audience to communally work through a complicated and painful issue.” - Newsweek
“To miss it would be a shame. Compelling and heartfelt performances by the impressive all-female cast. A powerhouse script.” - Time Out New York
On a cold night in New York City, Joey Del Marco puts on her favorite dress, her highest heels, and meets up with her oldest friends, George, Luke, and Tim, for a little pre-gaming. They play video games, dance, and down an entire bottle of Absolut. Everything is hazy fun, until they squeeze into the back of a cab... Inspired by experiences of the teen cast members, the critically-acclaimed new play SLUT explores the sexual assault and shaming of a 16-year-old girl. Through Joey's story and those of girls in her community, witness the damaging effects of slut culture and the importance of being heard.
Developed by The Arts Effect All-Girl Theater Company
Wriitten by Katie Capiello
Directed by Katie Capiello and Meg McInerney
Produced by Elizabeth Cuthrell, David Urrutia, Katie Capiello and Meg McInerney
Slut was first performed at the New York Fringe Festival and Fringe Encores followed by a three-city national tour to Los Angeles, Fargo, and back to New York City
"A New American Classic" - Time Magazine
"...a tough, quiet revelation of a movie...a bracingly original foray into territory that remains, in every sense, unsettled." - NY Times Critics Pick
"It is an American independent in the truest sense of the word, and it may well be the best homegrown movie we'll see this year." - Slate Magazine
"Reichardt has crafted a haunted dream of a movie to get lost in." -Rolling Stone
2011 Gotham Award nomination, Best Film
Top Films of the Year Lists include The New York Times, The Guardian, and Cashiers Du Cinema
The year is 1845, the earliest days of the Oregon Trail, and a wagon team of three families has hired the mountain man Stephen Meek to guide them over the Cascade Mountains. Claiming to know a short cut, Meek leads the group on an unmarked path across the high plain desert, only to become lost in the dry rock and sage. Over the coming days, the emigrants must face the scourges of hunger, thirst and their own lack of faith in each other’s instincts for survival. When a Native American wanderer crosses their path, the emigrants are torn between their trust in a guide who has proven himself unreliable and a man who has always been seen as the natural enemy.
Meek's Cutoff premiered in competition at the 2010 Venice Film Festival (winner, SIGNIS ecumenical award), and played at the Toronto Film Festival (Best Film, IndieWire critics' poll), the New York Film Festival, the London BFI Film Festival, and many others.
Director: Kelly Reichardt
Screenplay: Jon Raymond
Producers: Neil Kopp, Anish Savjani, Elizabeth Cuthrell, David Urrutia
Cast: Michelle Williams, Will Patton, Bruce Greenwood, Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Shirley Henderson, Neal Huff, Tommy Nelson, and Rod Rondeaux.
"In a sea of one-note symphonies, this touching feature is bleak and comic, heartbreaking and affirmative, romantic and tragic, gimlet-eyed and sympathetic, all at the same time." - LA Times
"Jesus' Son surprises me with moments of wry humor, poignancy, sorrow and wildness. It has a sequence as funny as I've seen this year, and as harrowing, and it ends in a bittersweet minor key." - Roger Ebert
"Mr. Crudup plays a lost, irresponsible and stupid young man with discipline and intelligence, using every muscle in his face to suggest the unreachable emotion and the accidental goodness of his character. His F.H. is authentically creepy and unexpectedly charming. If you saw him on the street, you wouldn't know whether to cross to the other side, give him a quarter or take him home with you." - NY Times
Jesus’ Son takes place in the drug subculture of the 1970’s. The hero of the story – a young man in his twenties – careens through days of getting stoned, stealing or scamming a quick buck, and trying to make sense of the destructive passion he shares with a beautiful woman named Michelle. He is also driven by an overwhelming desire to help those around him, save them from a fate they all seem destined to, but he repeatedly fails. He fails so often that, even among the lost souls and thieves with whom he hangs out, he is known only as “Fuckhead,” or FH for short.
Almost by miracle, redemption does come to FH, who, from the start struggles to focus his life. But it sneaks up on him almost imperceptibly, through barely noticed lessons learned from a quirky parade of characters that range from a crazed, pill-popping hospital orderly, to a half-paralyzed woman who teaches him about love. FH’s first attempts to prove his worth are oddly touching, and often farcically futile.
Bit by bit, however, he stumbles to sobriety and to a job at an old age home where he discovers the depth of his own compassion for others, and the grace that comes with it.
The film is based on the powerful collection of short stories “Jesus’ Son” by Denis Johnson. Selected to be on the New York Times Best Books List of 1992, it has been described as a “50,000 volt kick to the head,” and cited by the New York Times Book Review for its “imagery of ferocious intensity” and “menacing sense of humor.”
Official Selection:
-Telluride Film Festival
-Venice Film Festival
-Toronto Film Festival
-New Directors New Films Festival
-London Film Festival
-Paris Film Festival
Director: Alison Maclean
Screenplay: Elizabeth Cuthrell, David Urrutia, Oren Moverman
Producers: Elizabeth Cuthrell, Lydia Pilcher, David Urrutia
Cast: Billy Crudup, Samantha Morton, Denis Leary, Jack Black, Will Patton, Holly Hunter, Dennis Hopper
a play by Denis Johnson
Off-Broadway, Dimson Theater
Part Two in Johnson’s trilogy about the Cassandra family, Shoppers delves deeper into the plight of the Cassandra brothers, sister, their father, and grandmother, all thrown together at a family reunion/wedding/melee at their shabby homestead in Ukiah, California.
Director: David Levine
Producers: Elizabeth Cuthrell, David Urrutia
Cast: Gretchen Cleevely, Kevin Corrigan, Emily McDonnell, Betty Miller, Will Patton, Michael Shannon, Adam Trese, James Urbaniak and Kaili Vernoff.
Set Design: Marsha Ginsberg; Costume Design: Mimi O’Donnell; Lighting Design: Sarah Sidman; Sound Design: Robert Kaplowitz.
A Public Service Announcement
Mary-Louise Parker and Elizabeth Cuthrell conceived, wrote, and produced this PSA in collaboration with The Ad Council. The PSA called for an end to the violence and racial discrimination toward Arab-Americans and people of color after the attacks of 9/11. Stop the Hate aired nationally in every major market, and was awarded the 2002 Courage Award, given by the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission.
Credits:
Conceived, Written, and Produced by Mary-Louise Parker and Elizabeth Cuthrell; Associate Produced by David Urrutia; Line Produced by Sally Roy; Cinematography by Peter Nelson; Edited by Neil Krupnick; featuring Mary-Louise Parker, Steve Buscemi, John Turturro, Billy Crudup, Samantha Morton, Dennis Quaid, Lili Taylor, Adam Duritz, Ed Kowalczyk, Harry Belafonte, Mia Farrow, Jimmy Fallon, Heather Matarazzo, Serena Altschul, Shannon Elizabeth, Mark Consuelos, Omar Epps, Ana Gasteyer, Rosie Perez.
Written by and starring Roger Rees
American Conservatory Theater, San Francisco
"What You Will makes Shakespeare as familiar as breathing, which is yet another beguiling aspect to Rees' delightful show." - San Francisco Chronicle
Roger Rees stars in What You Will, a very hysterical (somewhat historical) one-horsed gallop through all things Shakespearean.
Rees received international acclaim, winning both the Olivier and Tony Awards for his portrayal of the title role in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. American television audiences know him as the dashing English tycoon Robin Colcord on Cheers, British Ambassador Lord John Marbury in The West Wing and Dr. Colin Marlow on Grey’s Anatomy. His films include Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Frida, The Pink Panther, The Prestige and many others.
What You Will is the one-man everything there is “to be or not to be” about William Shakespeare.
a play by Jonathan Cott from the words of Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson
Cherry Lane Studio Theater, New York City also: The New York Botanical Gardens; The Flea Theater, New York City; Lesley University, Boston; The Housing Works Bookstore, New York City; The Vineyard Playhouse, Martha's Vineyard
Profoundly different with regard to their literary styles and lifestyles, Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson are yet deeply connected and similarly obsessed by the subjects of love, death, body, soul, nature, time, immortality, eternity, impermanence, separation, ecstasy. They are the spiritual father and mother of American poetry. Emily Dickinson wrote: “This world is just a little place, just the red in the sky before the sun rises, so let us keep fast hold of hands, that when the birds begin, none of us be missing."
Jonathan Cott is the author of sixteen books, including Pipers at the Gates of Dawn: The Wisdom of Children's Literature, Wandering Ghost: The Odyssey of Lafcadio Hearn, Conversations with Glenn Gould, The Search for Omm Sety, and three volumes of poems: City of Earthly Love, Charms, and Homelands. A contributing editor at Rolling Stone magazine since its inception, he has also written for The New York Times, The New Yorker, and Parabola.
Director: Jeremy Bloom
Producers: Elizabeth Cuthrell, David Urrutia
Cast: Neal Huff and Birgit Huppuch
