"Once Upon a Park Bench" - Nine All-New Original Short Plays at the Actors Workout Studio in North Hollywood, California

Two people meet at a park bench. Maybe they know each other. Maybe they don't.

They start to talk. And pretty soon it becomes apparent that they want different things. Opposite things. Things that matter to each other, deeply. Things they're willing to fight for.

The Jogging Trail

What follows can be very dramatic. Or it can be funny as hell. Or both at the same time.

That's life. And that's what Once Upon a Park Bench at the Actors Workout Studio is all about.

This brand new collection of nine short plays by members of the AWS Writers Workshop—running Oct. 20-Nov. 18, at the Actors Workout Studio in the heart of the NoHo Arts District—presents a range of stories, all of which take place on a park bench.

These plays range from the comedic to the dramatic, from a pair of mismatched exercise buddies who come together in Mick Montgomery's "The Jogging Trail" to the complex relationship between two male friends—one gay, one straight—in Eric Seppala's "The Best Man."

Family Traditions

Sammy Williams, a Tony Award-winning member of the original cast of "A Chorus Line" on Broadway, plays a retired colonel seeking to recruit a former CIA assassin for one last important job in Christopher Hardie's "The Executioner."

Broadway actress Wren Taylor stars as a homeless woman receiving a visit from an affluent young executive in Sunta Izzicupo's "A New Wardrobe."

Other play titles include "Family Picnic" by Mick Montgomery, "Family Traditions" by Eric Seppala, "The Proxy" by Sunta Izzicupo, and "Suzanne" and "The Vote" by Johnny Cho.

The show was written and developed by members of the Writers Workshop at the Actors Workout Studio, a unique creative forum that brings writers and actors together to sharpen talents and exchange ideas in the development of new material.

The Vote

Since its inception in August 2005, the workshop has produced four shows, including last spring's hit production, "Love in Pieces," and the recent production of "The Bench."

These previous productions have received several positive reviews. Backstage West called Sunta Izzicupo's "A Runaway Bride" in "The Bench" a "charmer of a play." Backstage West also praised Mick Montgomery's "Ground Rules" in "Love in Pieces" as a "superb piece" that "unleashes a blizzard of timely and very funny dialogue."

Love. Laughter. Loss. Life.

Just another day at the park.