VILLIAN ERA - a world premiere
as part of 59E59 East of Edinburgh
59E59’s East to Edinburgh
Presents
“Stone is wonderful in her acting abilities, able to use her physicality and voice to embody a series of different, clearly-defined characters.” - The Reviews Hub
"Do not miss the rising star, named appropriately, Star Stone!" - Noho Arts District
Villain Era
A World Premiere
Written by and Starring STAR STONE
Directed by RYAN CUNNINGHAM
THREE-NIGHTS ONLY
JULY 9 – JULY 11, 2024 AT 59E59 THEATERS
TICKETS ON SALE NOW AT 59E59.ORG
59E59’s East to Edinburgh is pleased to announce the limited Off-Broadway engagement of Star Stone’s VILLAIN ERA, directed by Ryan Cunningham. An autobiographical tale about Stone’s own experience facing public-shaming and cancel culture, VILLAIN ERA will play three performances only at Off-Broadway’s 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, New York, NY, 10022). Performances begin Tuesday, July 9, and continue through Thursday, July 11. Opening Night is Tuesday, July 9 (8:30 p.m.). Tickets are $20 and available at https://www.59e59.org/shows/show-detail/e2e-villain-era/. Press are invited to attend any performance.
Set in 2018 Los Angeles, actress Star Stone accepts a casting for a reality competition show on YouTube. Receiving little instruction from the director, a flustered Stone is thrust onto a soundstage to shoot the episode. Aiming to win the game and receive the prize money, Stone successfully completes the episode, submits a confessional, and goes about her life. A few weeks later, the video went viral with 17 million views. Great! There’s just one problem…Stone was given the villain edit, and she faces a barrage of harassment, ranging from hateful messages to literal death threats. Sharing her story publicly for the first time, Star reveals it all from battling bots, trolls, and the online vegan mafia, and the real effects it had on her in this one-woman multi-media comedy show.
“A social media comment section is the new witch hunt,” Star says. “Compounded by the anonymity, Cyber-bullying does not have any recourse, and therefore people can easily post threatening, hurtful messages, and in fact, are encouraged to do so creating a mob-mentality. Yet, those on the receiving end, have real psychological and emotional effects from it, equivalent to an in-person offense. It’s surprising that psychological harm created by social media is still not taken seriously, even when there’s so much evidence that it has long term mental health effects on its victims. I am proud to take what was my worst nightmare and recreate it into a comedy show exploring these issues.”
VILLAIN ERA is directed by Ryan Cunningham. Publicity by Katie Rosin/Kampfire PR.
VILLAIN ERA plays the following performances: Tuesday, July 9 at 8:30 p.m. | Wednesday, July 10 at 8:30 p.m. | Thursday, July 11 at 8:30 p.m.
Tickets are $20 and are now available online at https://www.59e59.org/shows/show-detail/e2e-villain-era/.
Running Time: 60 minutes (no intermission)
Website: https://www.59e59.org/shows/show-detail/e2e-villain-era/
For more information, visit www.starstonespeaks.com
BIOGRAPHIES
STAR STONE (playwright, producer, performer) is an actress, producer, and playwright. She is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Theatre and a graduate of UCB LA's Improv School. Star is the writer and creator of #MeToo, a one-woman show (Edinburgh Fringe, SOLOFEST, United Solo, Second City, Hollywood Fringe) and the creator of Villain Era. She is a former member of the Oakland Slam Poetry Team and has performed at NYTW, La Mama Galleria, NY Poetry Festival, and more. Since 2022, Star has worked as an advocate for survivor’s voices including partnerships with The NYC Mayor’s Office to ENDGBV, Beyond the Violence: Stop Domestic Violence, and RAINN Speaker’s Bureau. Star is a recent recipient of The V-Day Foundation’s grant award.
RYAN CUNNINGHAM (director) is a queer writer/director and Emmy & Peabody award-winning producer in film, television, and theater. Directing credits: Samantha Bee presents Wits End (NYCF, SXSW), Sugar Daddy (SoHo Playhouse NYC & Soho Theatre London), Alan Cumming’s Club Cumming Presents a Queer Comedy Extravaganza! (Showtime), Ilana Glazer: The Planet is Burning (Amazon), Expecting Amy (HBO Max), and the upcoming feature Lone Wolves. Ryan is also slated to direct the docuseries JOHN LENNON 1980 for XTR. TV producing credits include Broad City (Comedy Central), Search Party (TBS/HBO Max), Inside Amy Schumer (Comedy Central), The Last O.G. (TBS), and Ziwe (Showtime). Film producing credits include Keep the Change (winner Tribeca Film Festival 2017) directed by RISD FAV Alumni Rachel Israel, and Becks (winner, Los Angeles Film Festival 2017), directed by Dan Powell and Liz Rohrbaugh.
East to Edinburgh at 59E59 Theaters is a unique showcase of 16 New York shows headed to Scotland for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (the largest arts festival in the world).
East to Edinburgh was created as a way to help shows get on their feet so companies experience the same production constraints that all shows experience during the Fringe, while giving companies a clean, comfortable, and nurturing space to fine-tune their productions. This year's whirlwind festival features sixteen adventurous productions from around New York and across the US.
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