THEATRE
I was considering taking another acting class. My kids were 2 and 6 at the time, my event business was flourishing and I needed to get out and do something for myself. My friend said, “Why don’t you take this class, Creating A One Person Show, at Ensemble Studio Theatre?”
I said, “What, are you crazy? I’m not Eric Bogosian, Sandra Bernhardt, John Leguiziamo.”
Just the thought of it was terrifying. It was sooooo not who I was. I was shy, nothing that dramatic ever happened in my life that would merit making anything to make a show out of it. I was not a character actor. I was not a comedian. I was not confident enough. All I could think about were all the reasons why not to do it and what I was NOT.
“Why NOT? You like acting. You like writing."
At the first class we had to write 20 mins on a specific word. Mine was Shoes. Then we went around the room and read what we had written. After I finished, people were like, “Wow, you’re like Lou Reed, Eric Bogosian, Patti Smith. "I thought, 'This? This shit? This is what I write every day. 'I’d been journaling for years. I couldn’t believe that my crazy stream of consciousness would appeal to anyone, but it did and truthfully, all my art stems from this place...this place of an oftentimes overwhelming rapid fire barrage of words, thoughts, feelings...what I thought was 'crazy' was exactly the thing that resonated.
...and guess what? That monologue on Shoes became my first play, The Canarsie Line.
"I have not seen or heard someone as fearless... Mase tells it like it is and leaves you powerless.” — SkopeMagazine.com
"Confidently tramping through the combat boot worn path blazed by artists like Patti Smith and Karen Finley, the work of New York based, envelope pushing artist Marla Mase is a hardcore romp through the ins and outs of life as an artist, mother & woman." — 8th-Circuit
Booking inquiries? Questions? Send Marla a note and say hi!
Booking inquiries? Questions? Send Marla a note and say hi!
Being Somebody
Being Somebody is a father/daughter tour de force of storytelling, music, and song about growing up Brooklyn in the postwar gleam of the 1940’s/50’s and the gritty disco era of the 1970’s. A coming-of-age tale that reminds us that we never stop living and we never stop becoming…
Written and Perfomed by Howard & Marla Mase
Directed by Elizabeth Browning
Songs by Mase/Doncker
TADA (2023), AMT (2023) & Theatre Row (2023)
The Pill
Described as "a cubist documentary into the lives of every American family today", The Pill is a play about a family dealing with a teenage daughter struggling with depression, suicide ideation, and an eating disorder. Based on Marla’s family experience, it was written by Marla, her son, her daughter and her parents . The Pill had a sold out run at La Mama ETC, In NYC (2018) and spearheaded a national program using theatre as a tool for learning empathy for future medical clinicians in the USA. Rutgers University (2019).
Conceived by Marla Mase
Written by The Family
Original production : 2018 @ La Mama ETC
Directed by Randolph Curtis Rand
Score & Sound Design: Tomás Doncker
Ensemble: Winsome Brown, Adam Patterson, Roger Rathburn, Marina Re, Graham Stevens, Joshua Turchin, Zoe Wilson
Produced by La Mama ETC
LEARN MORE… http://thepilltheplay.com/
Miracles Lost & Found
MIRACLES~LOST & FOUND is a post truth fairy tale about love, loss, and faith in America today.
Based on Marla's album Miracles ~ Lost & Found
Written & Performed by Marla Mase
Original Production: Tribeca Firehouse (2017), White Eagle Hall (2019) via JCTC, Nuyorican Poets Café (2019)
Directed by Lisa Milinazzo
Songs: Marla Mase/Tomás Doncker
Movement: Heather Benton
Featuring The True Groove All-Stars & A Choir of Other-Worldly Creatures
Original Ensemble: Peter Appel, Declan Maloney Drummond, Lily Johns, Jason Nadal, Sergey Nagorny, Ingrid Roumengas, Janet Sarno, Samantha Spellman, Shoko Tamai, Gwendolyn Torrence, Robert Tunstall, Martin Vidnovic
Requirements: Full Band, 5 actors, 7 dancers (can be scaled down)
Speak
An empowering multimedia compilation concert (7 dancers, 5 actors, 10 piece band, large scale projections) that examines and gives voice to socio-political themes concerning women, including: body image, sexuality, oppression, motherhood, sisterhood, & celebration of the feminine.
Based on Marla's album SPEAK (Deluxe Edition)
Written & Performed by Marla Mase
Original Production: NYC Summerstage 2013
Directed by Sara Berg
Choreography: Adrienne Hurd
Music Director: Tomás Doncker
Songs: Mase/Doncker
Lighting: Lutin Tanner
Ensemble: Christine Campbell, Kim Chinh, Denise Hurd, Heather Hooten, Cleo Rivera
Dancers: Khiara Bridges, Lauren Evans, Selina Hack, Alessandra Giambelli, Dakota Moore, Courtney Ross
Performed @ Herbert Von King Park (Brooklyn) & East River Park Bandshell (NYC)
A Brief Night Out
A rock opera that tells the tale of a middle-aged woman breaking down, having an affair, obsessed with war and brimming with a sexy brand of anxiety. She is suffering a mid-life rock-n-roll crisis!
Based on Marla's album A Brief Night Out
Written & Performed by Marla Mase
Songs: Marla Mase/Tomás Doncker
Performed at The Triad (2012 ), The Laurie Beechman Theatre (2011), The Delancey (2010), The Duplex (2008, 2009) and various NYC clubs.
Man/Woman
The story of a woman having an affair during the breakdown of society and rise of fascism in future USA.
Written by Marla Mase
Original Workshop Production @ The Abingdon Theatre (2004)
Production Requirements: Woman, Lover, Husband, Therapist, Father, Judge, Fact Checkers, Carnival/Circus Performers (can be scaled down -- all sideman roles can be played by 1 or 2 actors)
The Canarsie Line
I really want to slip my shoes off...after Canal Street.
Jump onto The Canarsie Line, and get a glimpse into the lives of a Brooklyn family living in 1970’s Canarsie, Brooklyn. Through a series of monologues and short scenes the play, like a family album, invites onlookers to see beyond the snapshot and into the crevices of everyday Americans, who clip coupons, and carry their hopes and dreams in lunchpails and Tupperware.
Written by Marla Mase
Original Production @ The Bank Street Theatre (2002)
Directed by Kathryn Rossetter
"Somewhere in New York City, armed with lyrical dexterity and rugged charm is an artist known as Marla Mase....”