TIO NYC: Telluride Playwright Festival, “Ayn/Sister”

22 Jan TIO NYC: Telluride Playwright Festival, “Ayn/Sister”

Last summer, the Telluride Playwright Festival featured a new work by the nonprofit’s artistic director Jennie Franks.

Jennie’s play,”Ayn/Sister,” is about the Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter Ayn Rand, whose sister pays her a surprise visit from the Soviet Union of the 1970s.

The goal of the Telluride Playwrights Festival is to provide an opportunity for the Town of Telluride to view and comment on new work and then watch them take wing. It is also to help take the playwrights and plays to the next level: finding productions in larger cities.

Another example of what happens in Telluride, often does not stay in Telluride – because so many Telluride cultural initiatives warrant a broader audience. Case in point: “Ayn/Sister.”

Franks’ play about Ayn Rand is about to further its journey from page to stage, with a reading at the historic National Arts Club in Gramercy Park, New York. The event takes place Monday, January 26, 7 p.m.

The reading is directed by Linda Selman and features two top New York Broadway actors in the main roles. Ayn Rand will be read by Tony winner Tovah Feldshuh; Ayn’s husband, Frank will be read by veteran film and theatre actor Larry Pine, last seen in the award-winning film “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” One actor from the Telluride Playwright Festival who will be reprising the role of Lee Aarron Rosen, a TV talk show host.

The Telluride Playwrights Festival’s parent nonprofit, SPARKy Productions, also hosts free outdoor movies in Mountain Village (SPARKfilms) and National Theatre Live simulcasts at The Palm, such as the upcoming “Of Mice and Men,” featuring Golden Globe® winner and Academy Award® nominee James Franco (“127 Hours,” “Milk”) and Tony Award® nominee Chris O’Dowd (“Bridesmaids,” “Girls”). That no-miss show takes place Tuesday, January 27, 6 p.m.