Rattlestick Playwrights Theater to Present LA Premiere of SLIPPING, 4/6-5/5

Rattlestick's 18th season features daring new works by Adam Rapp, Jon Fosse, Jesse Eisenberg, Jonathan Tolins, Mando Alvarado, Jessica Dickey, and Lyle Kessler.

In bringing productions to Los Angeles, the media capital of the world, Rattlestick is exploring ways to creatively collaborate with the local theater, film and television communities. Screens are ubiquitous in our culture; video has replaced printed text as the main mass communication mode for many Americans. Rattlestick sees this as a great opportunity for talented playwrights. After all, some of the best new art now happens on television, and, as a medium for storytelling, it shares many characteristics with theater. Writing for television also enhances a writer's facility, which, in turn, helps them write better plays.

Rattlestick seeks to create a satellite home on the West Coast comprised of both Los Angeles and New York artists. The company is also looking to the Los Angeles playwriting community for compelling new works to produce in both New York and Los Angeles. Artistically ambitious Southern California playwrights are encouraged to submit work for consideration by email in PDF format to submissions.rattlestick@gmail.com, along with a cover letter and resume.

David Van Asselt, the artistic director and a co-founder of Rattlestick, has extensive experience in the theater. He is a playwright (Dog Daze, Incident at Irving's Pet Place [a radio play], A Trip to the Beach, Winning, and The Messenger). He has also directed plays, led a playwrights' group, and taught playwriting, as well as designed and built sets. His plays have been produced in New York, Washington D.C., Virginia, and Arizona. Van Asselt has a B.F.A. from NYU Film School as well as an M.A. in Philosophy from NYU.

Daniel Talbot is an actor, director, playwright, producer, literary manager of Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, and artistic director of Rising Phoenix Rep (recipient of the 2007 NYIT Caffe Cino Fellowship Award). His most recent play, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, America, Kuwait, was commissioned by Rattlestick and Encore Theatre Company, was presented at A.C.T.'s Costume Shop in San Francisco this past summer, and is being further developed by both companies. His play Yosemite premiered last season at Rattlestick, and other plays include Sam and Gus, What Happened When, and Slipping (published by Dramatists Play Service, named one of the top ten plays of 2009 by The Advocate, and a 2011 Lambda Literary Award finalist for drama). His most recent work as an actor includes the Theatre for One project in Times Square and around NYC, and a recurring role on The Big C for Showtime. Recent directing work includes Follow (Balancin' Productions), Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, America, Kuwait (Rattlestick/Encore), Much Ado About Nothing (Boomerang), Lake Water (Neighborhood Productions), Eightythree Down (Hard Sparks), Squealer (Lesser America at Theater for the New City), and The Umbrella Plays (the teacup company/FringeNYC, where it won the Overall Excellence Award for Outstanding Play; also presented at The Tank). Recent producing credits include the Off-Broadway productions of Elective Affinities with Zoe Caldwell, Too Much Memory, and the Cino Nights series. He received a 2011 Theater Hall of Fame Fellowship and was named one of the 15 People of the Year 2006 by nytheatre.com. He is a graduate of Juilliard and of Solano College Theatre's ATP, and teaches at Primary Stages/ESPA.

"Rattlestick is not only thrilled to bring some of its innovative New York productions to Los Angeles audiences," says Rattlestick Artistic Director David Van Asselt, "We are also seeking to collaborate and intercross with the remarkable theater and media communities in Los Angeles."

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