The 06 Ensemble Presents BENCH PROJECT 2, Now thru 12/9

Bench Project 2 features seven short works that take place on benches written specifically for The 06 Ensemble and runs tonight, December 7th through December 9th, 2012 at the Pear Avenue Theater, located at 1220 Pear Avenue, Unit K in Mountain View, near the intersection of Highway 101 and Shoreline Boulevard, with admission consisting of warm jackets that will be donated to those in need, just in time for Winter.

Bench Project 2 features:

And Then She Fell in Love, Really in Love for the First Time in her Life by Julia Cho
Jan likes to be in control of the things in her life. She buys milk. She makes pancakes. She does her laundry. Every Sunday she does her laundry. What she doesn’t know is that this Sunday, the potential love of her life is doing his laundry as well.

naked, naked, dark and silent by Philip Kan Gotanda
A dead man lays on the floor. Aya is in front of him. A mysterious woman appears and unravels the story behind Aya and the dead man before her.

The Lookout by Jake Arky
Cynthia “Cadillac Grills” Baldwin works for D-Stack as his “lookout.” All seems like business as usual until Bernard – Cadillac Grills’ boyfriend’s twin brother – shows up with a special proposal for her.

Dodging Bullets by Skyler Garcia
Captain Bautista and Private Mercado are sent to scout the enemy alone. The two men try to stay focused on the task at hand but when they find themselves under fire, their words take a different tone.

Soap Boxing by Colette Freedman
Eve - a young, radical liberal – sets up her soapbox next to a bench to protest anything and everything corporate but while on top of her soapbox, her beauty catches the eye of the very corporate Adam.

Brendan’s Damn Good Day by Jeffrey Lo
Brendan loves love. He is very romantic. Brendan is also a bench. Unfortunately for Brendan, people like to break up on him. Brendan hates people breaking hearts on him and today is the day he makes a stand.

Romero and Julianne by Conrad Panganiban
Romero is a good-hearted homeless man who lives on a bench. Julianne is a good-hearted city worker who is given the task of moving Romero’s bench. Romero just wants to keep his home. Julianne just wants to do her job. Can they come to a compromise?

On November 4th, The 06 Ensemble and artists involved with Bench Project 2 gathered at the San Jose Repertory Patron Lounge for a company introduction and the first read through of all seven scripts written for Bench Project 2.

The 06 Ensemble is a multicultural theater troupe based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The ensemble was founded unknowingly in the Summer of 2006 when a group of young theater artists decided to sneak into their old high school’s theater put on an original play titled “With Love, Jaysson.” This project turned into an annual event where members of their community would gather to see what the group would come up with next. Known for telling earnest stories that resonate with the diverse community they live in, the group’s talents continued to develop and The 06 Ensemble was born.

The 06 Ensemble endeavors to create a poignant body of work for the Bay Area community that both explores the human experience and redefines “traditional” American theater. We will work to reclaim the American identity by creating work that more closely reflects the diverse community we live in today. We seek to give voice to emerging playwrights, to produce established plays with nontraditional casts, and to create a new cannon of ethno-American plays. We strive to create lifelong patrons in our multicultural community, to train future artists and to deeply engage with our community through the transformative vehicle of theater. Through our productions, outreach, and education, The 06 Ensemble invites everyone into the theater to tell their story and share the human experience within each and every one of us.

Pictured: Actress Addie Walters, Actor Paul Henry and Actor Gina Marie Hayes reading Conrad Panganiban's Romero and Julianne.