The City in the City in the City

Two women, each marked by loss and linked together by a strange twist of fate, journey to an ancient city—a storied city without borders—in search of answers and escape. But what they discover there will change their lives in ways neither of them could expect.

Two actors (Eboni Booth and Mary Cavett) play more than thirty characters on this wild ride through a city of doubles, monastic cheese, octogenarian vocalists, dizzying bureaucracy, ancient graves, and lives more expansive and singular and wondrous than found even in myths and legends.

Tess is supposed to go to the ancient city-state of Mastavia with her mother to retrieve a package left by Tess’s estranged father. Laura finds herself estranged from everyone she knows. A simple Craigslist ad brings them together.

This is a story of Mastavia. And the walls we build to divide one place from another.

Tess and Laura land in Mastavia and begin their mission, but Tess encounters a problem. The two of them go out on the town, and find that this city may be far more mysterious and complex than they imagined.

This is a story of Mastavia. And the wars we wage to define ourselves.

Laura returns to the bar in search of connection, and Tess learns more about just who it is she’s traveling with. The two hatch a plan to retrieve the package.

This is a story of Mastavia. And the maps we draw to find our way home.

After retrieving the package, Tess and Laura journey deeper into the city in search of answers. What they discover at its center will change the course of their mission.

This is a story of Mastavia. And what secrets we may find (and keep) in the ancient technology of the written word.

Now separated, Tess and Laura plan to leave Mastavia. But they’ll each soon discover that the city isn’t done with them yet.

This is a story of Mastavia. And the myths we make to slip beyond the reach of death.

In the finale of THE CITY IN THE CITY IN THE CITY, Tess and Laura confront the mysterious old woman who’s been following them their whole journey. Secrets will be revealed, and they will each have to make a choice.

MATTHEW CAPODICASA
Producer/Writer/Director

Matthew Capodicasa’s plays include Next/Life, All the People You’ve Been, The City in the City in the City, The Scenarios, You Remind Me of You, Frelmetsch the Maneater, The City Of, and Chaos and Caesar Salad. His work has been presented or developed at theatres around the country and internationally. He is the recipient of the Woodward/Newman Drama Award, and his plays have been finalists for the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and the Heideman Award. His work has been published by Samuel French, and his fiction has appeared in West 10th. You can also hear him nerd out on various podcasts from the Glass Cannon Network. BFA, NYU/Tisch. MFA, Fordham/Primary Stages. Recent grad: Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program at the Juilliard School. He currently teaches at NYU. Visit matthewcapodicasa.com.

KATE MARVIN
Original Music/Sound Design/Mixing

Kate Marvin is a composer, designer, and musician based in New York. Recent: TheDownThere (Podcast), Twelfth Night (Two River Theater), King Lear (Northern Stage), Queen (Geva Theatre Center), Lifespan of a Fact (Cincinnati Playhouse), jazz singer (Abrons Art Center), Wives (Playwrights Horizons), Happy Days (Mark Taper Forum), Chimpanzee (HERE Arts Center), Men on Boats (American Conservatory Theatre), A Doll’s House, Part 2 (Actors Theatre of Louisville), Indecent (Guthrie Theater), [Porto] (Women’s Project Theater), Wilder Gone (Clubbed Thumb), Fidelio (Heartbeat Opera). Kate is an Associate Artist with Target Margin and Little Lord. MFA in Sound Design, Yale School of Drama. Visit katemarvinsound.com.

EBONI BOOTH
Tess, et al.

Eboni Booth is a writer and actress from New York City. Her play Paris had its premiere at the Atlantic Theater Company. As an actress, Eboni has appeared in productions at Playwrights Horizons, LCT3, Manhattan Theater Club, Ars Nova, WP Theater, Page 73, Soho Rep., Clubbed Thumb, and more. Eboni is a graduate of the University of Vermont and Juilliard’s playwriting program.

MARY CAVETT
Laura, et al.

Mary Cavett is an actor, dancer, and collaborator. Theatrical events include: The Shape She Makes (ART); The Liar, Macbeth, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Santa Cruz Shakespeare); Macbeth, Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar, Much Ado About Nothing (Smith Street Stage); ENDURE: A Run Woman Show (Edinburgh Fringe, London, NYC); Radio City Christmas Spectacular (Rockette); The Ragdoll Engine Collective (NOLA Fringe, Galapagos Art Space, Triskelion Arts). TV: PAN AM; All My Children. Film: Surrogate Valentine; Stage V; various collaborations with Derrick Belcham. Education: BFA NYU (Stella Adler Studio/RADA); MFA Juilliard.

Artwork by
ANGELINE BABCOCK

Special Thanks:
CAITLIN BAIRD & GRANT BERGER