03/17/13 9:00am

Chain

Image Source: Variations Theatre Group

Venus and Mona are twins. They are also young, strong, hard-edged…and trapped on the roof of their mother’s mobile home. Although their mother is at death’s door, the sisters wage war on one another while a demon circles the trailer, hoping that one of the combatants will slip and fall into his clutches. This play, which runs until March 30, is part of Variations Theatre Group‘s first season at the newly opened Chain Theatre. Venus and Mona also marks the first production to come out of the Minor Variations Project, which brings a second life to a play by taking an already realized work and through collaboration between the playwright and actors, retools the piece.

The Chain Theatre
21-28 45th Road, LIC
March 15-17, 20-24, 27-30
8pm, Wed.-Sat.; 2pm, Sun.| $18
MMAM

Image Source: This is Marylin

There’s excitement in beginnings — especially when they involve Queens and Marilyn Monroe. After producing plays and festivals in Manhattan, Variations Theatre Group has seen the light and created a multi-discipline performing arts center in the former US Chain Factory in Long Island City. On January 17, The Chain Theatre opens with After The Fall, written by prolific playwright Arthur Miller. Though it hasn’t been performed as much as Miller’s magnum opus Death of a Salesman, After The Fall is regarded as the New York City native’s most autobiographical work, intimately exploring his failed marriage to Marilyn Monroe and her suicide. With dark undertones, this drama deals with a grieving man’s tortured thoughts.

After The Fall
The Chain Theatre
21-28 45th Rd., Long Island City
Thursday, January 17, through Saturday, February 2
7pm – 9pm with 2 pm shows on weekends | $18