WHAT'S IN A NAME has been selected for inclusion in this year's PLAYS AND PLAYWRIGHTS anthology of new plays, published by Indie Theatre Now. 

In announcing this year's collection, Martin Denton wrote: 

Timothy Nolan’s What’s in a Name is ... a bona fide thriller, as we trace–through flashbacks–the long-stored secrets of its heroine; and also, compellingly, an exploration of identity and reputation and memory. The question posed by the play’s title is thoroughly examined here, with memorable and insightful results. 

Read all about the PLAYS AND PLAYWRIGHTS 2014 collection here, and the anthology is available from Indie Theatre Now here. 

Proud and humbled to announce being named a 2013 Indie Theater Person of the Year by Indie Theater Now. And yes, it's true, there will be a new play seeing the light of day in 2014. 

TIMOTHY NOLAN is a veteran playwright, and the Literary Manager of Variations Theatre Group. One Memorable Thing He Did in 2013: His most recent play, What’s in a Name?, was produced by Variations Theatre Group at The Chain Theatre last spring. Plans for 2014: Timothy will continue his stewardship of Variation Theatre Group’s staged reading series, Minor Variations Project, and hopes to get a new play development lab off the ground. He is also working on a new play of his own. 

Read about all the amazing artists named in 2013 here. 

Check out our review from Cliff Kasden's A View From The Cliff column for the Queens Courier:

What's In A Name at Chain Theatre in LIC

A View From The Cliff

by Cliff Kasden, Queens Courier 

“Got a revolution. Got to revolution!”

Jefferson Airplane 1969

The bold revolutionaries of the 1960s triggered undeniable social change. But the most militant American rebels suffered an unexpected fate. They became perpetual fugitives from justice, changing their identities to survive.

Playwright Timothy Nolan offers What’s In A Name. It is a two act nightmarish revelation in which the protagonist confronts her decades of deception. It is also a window into the tormented woman’s emotional breakdown. Producers Kirk Gostkowski and Rich Ferraioli utilize very capable performers, some with numerous TV and media credits along with AEA credentials. Director Greg Cicchino employs a sparse set and actors who change accents and attitudes in mid sentence. The result is a deliberately ambiguous transformation in locations, timeline and characterizations. All without changing costumes, scenery or adding cast members.

Maria Deasy is Price/Doherty, the crumbling victim of her lost ideals. Her performance is riveting as she unravels emotionally before the audience, almost from her first moments onstage. Lenny Thomas as doomed Black Panther Clarence is invisible to all onstage except Price/Doherty. Thomas’ persona is simultaneously sinister and seductive yet seldom sympathetic. He fills the stage with his presence, providing an eerie glimpse into the anger of a revolutionary. Sutton Crawford as the police officer and Lauren Roth as the waitress Em provide pivotal links that cannot be underestimated.

The Variations Theatre Group has built their new venue at the Chain Theatre located at 21-28 45th Road. They represent another bona fide jewel that sparkles on the side streets of Long Island City. Hopefully their success will grow geometrically. It should grow in conjunction with not in competition against other outstanding troupes that have emerged in the area.

Call 646 580-6003, www.variationstheatregroup.com or www.chain-theatre.org  for this and future productions.

As always, save me a seat on the aisle.

From Martin Denton's review on NYTheatre.com:

"What's In a Name plumbs...this situation with real invention and insight...The brilliance of Nolan's work here is its immediacy. It's absolutely worth seeing, and also a piece that deserves a long life in productions elsewhere." 

Read the entire review here. 

Thrilled to announce that WHAT'S IN A NAME, in its new, fully fleshed-out full-length form, will open April 12 at the Chain Theatre, produced by my beloved Variations Theatre Group. Greg Cicchino directs a cast that includes Marie Deasy, Lenny Thomas, Lauren Roth, and Sutton Crawford. 

The Chain is at 21-28 45th Street in the mighty LIC. We open April 12th at 8 pm and run the 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 24, 25, 26, 27 at 8 with matinees on April 14 and 21 at 2. 

The story thus far...



The play takes place in the back of a bar. A well-dressed woman, barely awake and laden with bags, stumbles in. Confronted by the past, the present, and the police, she sees for the first time the results of the choices she made so many years ago and finds that the secrets that are hardest to keep are hardest to tell. Does she trash her present to rectify her past, or does she double-down on a life she can no longer lead but can’t escape from?

What's In A Name, which was a Critics' Choice winner at the 1994 Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival, emerged from a long hibernation at this year's Bococa Arts Festival in Brooklyn.  The run was a huge success, both artistically and commercially. 

Eileen Trilli, Bococa Arts Festival director, and yours truly at our podcast. Hear it here with Martin Denton of NY Theater.com and Indie Theater Now.