Selected Shorts: For Better or Worse - Tales of Marriage
Saturday, April 30, 2022 at 8pm
presented by Irvine Barclay Theatre

Artist Sponsor
Jennifer Klein

This performance will include a 15-minute intermission.

Hosted by Wendie Malick

Tate Donovan
Wendie Malick 
Michaela Watkins

Hosted by Wendie Malick

A World Without Selfie Sticks by Etgar Keret
Translated by Sondra Silverston
Performed by Tate Donovan

The Cult in My Garage by Duncan Birmingham
Performed by Michaela Watkins

Intermission

The Laurel and Hardy Love Affair by Ray Bradbury
Performed by Tate Donovan

Chasing Birds by Cristina Henríquez 
Performed by Wendie Malick

Duncan Birmingham is a writer, TV producer, and filmmaker. As a writer, his television credits include Maron and Blunt Talk. His short fiction has appeared in the Mystery Tribune, Volume 1 Brooklyn, Joyland, and Maudlin House, among other publications. Birmingham’s debut story collection, The Cult in My Garage, was published in 2021. Most recently he wrote and directed his first feature film, Who Invited Them.

In a career spanning more than seventy years, Ray Bradbury (1920 - 2012) inspired generations of readers to dream, think, and create. A prolific author of hundreds of short stories and close to fifty books, as well as numerous poems, essays, operas, plays, teleplays, and screenplays, Bradbury was one of the most celebrated writers of our time. His groundbreaking works include Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, Dandelion Wine, and Something Wicked This Way Comes. He wrote the screenplay for John Huston's classic film adaptation of Moby Dick and was nominated for an Academy Award. He adapted sixty-five of his stories for television's The Ray Bradbury Theater and won an Emmy for his teleplay of The Halloween Tree. Bradbury was the recipient of the 2000 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, the 2004 National Medal of Arts, and the 2007 Pulitzer Prize Special Citation, among many honors.

Tate Donovan has appeared in more than 45 films, including Respect, Worth, Rocketman, The Upside, Manchester by the Sea, Argo, Good Night and Good Luck, Memphis Belle, Ethan Frome, Love Potion #9, Clean and Sober, and the title voice in Disney’s animated feature Hercules. His television credits include MacGyver, The Man in the High Castle, 24, Damages, The OC, and Friends. Donovan has appeared on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning productions of Good People, Amy’s View, and Picnic. He has also directed several episodes of Madam Secretary, Damages, Glee, Weeds, Gossip Girl, Nip/Tuck, The OC, and Bloodline, as well as the ESPN documentary Arthur and Johnnie about the tennis star Arthur Ashe, for which he won an Emmy Award. 

Cristina Henríquez is the author of The Book of Unknown Americans, a New York Times Notable Book that was longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and was a finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. Henríquez is also the author The World In Half and Come Together, Fall Apart: A Novella and Stories. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The Oxford American, The American Scholar, and elsewhere. Henríquez was a 2020 Fiction judge for the National Book Awards. She earned her undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her novel, The Great Cut, about the building of the Panama Canal, is forthcoming from Ecco in 2024.

Etgar Keret was born in Ramat Gan and now lives in Tel Aviv. A recipient of the French Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, the Charles Bronfman Prize, and the Caméra d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, he is the author of the memoir The Seven Good Years and story collections including Fly Already; The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God; The Nimrod Flipout; and Suddenly, a Knock on the Door. His work has been translated into over forty-five languages and appeared in The New Yorker, the Wall Street Journal, Paris Review, and The New York Times, among other publications.

Wendie Malick is a two-time Emmy and Golden Globe nominee, best known for her work on Dream On, Just Shoot Me, Frasier, and Hot in Cleveland. Recent television credits include Grace & Frankie, BoJack Horseman, This Is Us, American Housewife, Mom, The Ranch, Bluff City Law, Physical, Darrow & Darrow, Dear White People, Young Sheldon, and Billions. Malick’s film credits include The American President, Waiting, Jerome, 50 Nothing, and The Surrogate. She was last seen onstage at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Big Night. Upcoming projects include Meli, Mother of All Shows, The Re-Education of Molly Singer, and Mack & Rita.

Michaela Watkins is best known for her leading role on the Hulu series Casual and starring most recently in the comedy series The Unicorn on CBS. Recurring TV roles include Search Party, Big Mouth, Transparent, Enlightened, and New Girl, as well as starring on Trophy Wife for ABC. Additional film roles include Werewolves Within, Brittany Runs a Marathon, The Way Back, Sword of Trust, and as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. Watkins will appear in the forthcoming miniseries The Dropout and will star opposite Owen Wilson in the film Paint. 

“A World Without Selfie Sticks” by Etgar Keret, originally published in McSweeney’s. Copyright © 2021 by Etgar Keret, used by permission of The Wylie Agency, LLC. 

“The Cult in My Garage” by Duncan Birmingham, from The Cult in My Garage (Maudlin House, 2021). Copyright © 2021 by Duncan Birmingham. Used by permission of the author.

“The Laurel and Hardy Love Affair” by Ray Bradbury, first published in Playboy. Copyright © 1987 by Ray Bradbury. Used by permission of Don Congdon Associates, Inc. 

“Chasing Birds” by Cristina Henríquez, first published in Ploughshares. Copyright © 2006 by Cristina Henríquez. Used by permission of The Book Group.

Over thirty-five years ago, Selected Shorts was born on the stage at Symphony Space and quickly became one of the best known shows of its kind spawning a popular public radio show, podcast, audio collections, and national tours. The series was conceived with a simple premise: take great stories by well-known and emerging writers and have them brought to life by terrific actors of stage and screen. Whether featuring stories around a lively theme, the favorite works of a guest author, or a special collaboration, each Selected Shorts event is a unique night of literature in performance.

The radio show is recorded live from performances at the Peter Sharp Theater at Symphony Space in New York, as well as around the U.S. on tours. Selected Shorts began in 1985 and still enjoys sell-out audiences today during its season on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. As one of the premiere reading series in New York City, the show attracts some of the biggest names in entertainment. The Selected Shorts podcast consistently ranks as one of the most popular Apple podcasts.

There is a theme to each Selected Shorts episode and performance. Several stories are presented around each theme. The stories are almost always fiction, sometimes classic, sometimes new, always performed by great actors from stage, screen and television. Evenings are often co-hosted by writers, literary producers, and other interesting characters.

Recent readers include Ellen Burstyn, Kathleen Turner, Edie Falco, Claire Danes, Michael Shannon, Tony Shalhoub, Michael C. Hall, Paul Giamatti, Jane Curtin, Zachary Quinto, Anika Noni Rose, Bebe Neuwirth, Sigourney Weaver, Holly Hunter, Tony Hale, Josh Radnor, Maggie Gyllenhaal, BD Wong, and many more.

Selected Shorts made a book! In celebration of our 35th anniversary, we commissioned 35 brand-new short stories. Purchase Small Odysseys: Selected Shorts Presents 35 New Stories in the lobby today, or at the University Bookstore.

Executive Director: Kathy Landau
Founding Artistic Director: Isaiah Sheffer*
Managing Director: Peggy Wreen
Director of Literary Programs: Jennifer Brennan
Lead Producer of Literary Programs: Drew Richardson
Producer of Literary Programs: Vivienne Woodward
Consultant for Literary Programs: Matthew Love 

*In memoriam

Selected Shorts is supported by the Dungannon Foundation, creator of The Rea Award for the Short Story. Support is also provided by the Howard Gilman Foundation, the NYC COVID-19 Response and Impact Fund in The New York Community Trust, The Shubert Foundation, the Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund, the Charina Endowment Fund, The Achelis and Bodman Foundation, the Henry Nias Foundation, the Consolidated Edison Company of New York, the Vidda Foundation, the Axe-Houghton Foundation, the Lemberg Foundation, and The Grodzins Fund. Selected Shorts is also made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts, and with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature. Symphony Space thanks our generous supporters, including our Board of Directors, Producers Circle, and members, who make our programs possible with their annual support.

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