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Event Program
WED, JAN 22
Hosted by Amor Towles
Mobilization by Allegra Hyde
Performed by Jane Kaczmarek
The Import by Jai Chakrabarti
Performed by Arjun Gupta
The Dark by Jess Walter
Performed by Richard Kind
There will not be a book signing at this event.
Tag us on Instagram @symphonyspace to be featured!
Real-time captioning (CART) will be available in our theater for patrons with hearing loss, deafness, different language and learning needs, and anyone whose experience will be enhanced by CART. To access CART on your individual smartphone or tablet, please visit bit.ly/SymphonySpace_Captions.
Arjun Gupta is a storyteller known for his diverse roles as an actor, from the brooding Penny in The Magicians to the sober nurse in Nurse Jackie, the clown in Paradise, and the grieving Arun in his self-produced short film Inheritance. His work seeks to reveal the humanity in characters often overlooked. This passion has led him to explore various forms of storytelling, including founding the Ammunition Theatre Company in LA, producing a play in NYC, and creating short films in both the US and India. He’s also developing three feature films, which he hopes to begin filming soon. Beyond acting and producing, Arjun writes children's books that use play and mindfulness to help kids navigate their emotional experience; two are currently out with publishers. In addition to his creative endeavors, Arjun serves on the board of the Stella Adler Center of the Arts. He also co-owns Fontainhas + /du.kaan/, a "third space" in Dumbo, offering the best chai, great minimal intervention wines, and delicious food, with his wife and a close friend. He invites you to visit and say hello!
Arjun Gupta is a storyteller known for his diverse roles as an actor, from the brooding Penny in The Magicians to the sober nurse in Nurse Jackie, the clown in Paradise, and the grieving Arun in his self-produced short film Inheritance. His work seeks to reveal the humanity in characters often overlooked. This passion has led him to explore various forms of storytelling, including founding the Ammunition Theatre Company in LA, producing a play in NYC, and creating short films in both the US and India. He’s also developing three feature films, which he hopes to begin filming soon. Beyond acting and producing, Arjun writes children's books that use play and mindfulness to help kids navigate their emotional experience; two are currently out with publishers. In addition to his creative endeavors, Arjun serves on the board of the Stella Adler Center of the Arts. He also co-owns Fontainhas + /du.kaan/, a "third space" in Dumbo, offering the best chai, great minimal intervention wines, and delicious food, with his wife and a close friend. He invites you to visit and say hello!
Jane Kaczmarek is best known for her role as Lois on Malcolm in the Middle, for which she received 7 consecutive Emmy nominations as well as nominations for the Golden Globe and SAG awards. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin and Yale School of Drama, Kaczmarek made her television debut on The Paper Chase and Hill Street Blues. On stage, she has appeared on Broadway and off, and for 6 seasons at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Her recent theater credits include Long Day's Journey Into Night with Alfred Molina and in a co-production of Our Town with Deaf West Theatre and the 2023 Tony Award–winning Pasadena Playhouse. Kaczmarek was recently featured in The Changeling on Apple TV+, starring LaKeith Stanfield, and the short film Now I Lay Me Down, which was screened at the Santa Barbara Film Festival in 2024. Upcoming projects include a special four-episode reboot of Malcolm in the Middle and on Disney+ and the Netflix series The Boroughs, produced by the Duffer Brothers. Her favorite job is raising her three kids and reading/hosting Selected Shorts across America.
Jane Kaczmarek is best known for her role as Lois on Malcolm in the Middle, for which she received 7 consecutive Emmy nominations as well as nominations for the Golden Globe and SAG awards. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin and Yale School of Drama, Kaczmarek made her television debut on The Paper Chase and Hill Street Blues. On stage, she has appeared on Broadway and off, and for 6 seasons at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Her recent theater credits include Long Day's Journey Into Night with Alfred Molina and in a co-production of Our Town with Deaf West Theatre and the 2023 Tony Award–winning Pasadena Playhouse. Kaczmarek was recently featured in The Changeling on Apple TV+, starring LaKeith Stanfield, and the short film Now I Lay Me Down, which was screened at the Santa Barbara Film Festival in 2024. Upcoming projects include a special four-episode reboot of Malcolm in the Middle and on Disney+ and the Netflix series The Boroughs, produced by the Duffer Brothers. Her favorite job is raising her three kids and reading/hosting Selected Shorts across America.
Richard Kind was recently featured in the star-studded rotating cast of All In: Comedy About Love on Broadway, and has also starred in Broadway productions of Kiss Me Kate, The Producers, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, and The Big Knife, for which he received a Drama Desk Award. His film credits include Wolfs, The Out-Laws, Beau Is Afraid, Argo, A Serious Man, The Visitor, The Station Agent, and Bombshell, as well as voicing characters in Inside Out, A Bug’s Life, Cars, Big Mouth, Family Guy, and Toy Story 3. His television appearances include Spin City, Mad About You, Only Murders in the Building, Evil, Girls5eva, Night Court, The Other Two, East New York, The Watcher, History of the World: Part II, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Gotham, I’m Dying Up Here, Burn Notice, Luck, Red Oaks, and Brockmire, among others. Kind served as John Mulaney’s sidekick for Mulaney’s talkshow, Everybody’s in L.A.
Richard Kind was recently featured in the star-studded rotating cast of All In: Comedy About Love on Broadway, and has also starred in Broadway productions of Kiss Me Kate, The Producers, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, and The Big Knife, for which he received a Drama Desk Award. His film credits include Wolfs, The Out-Laws, Beau Is Afraid, Argo, A Serious Man, The Visitor, The Station Agent, and Bombshell, as well as voicing characters in Inside Out, A Bug’s Life, Cars, Big Mouth, Family Guy, and Toy Story 3. His television appearances include Spin City, Mad About You, Only Murders in the Building, Evil, Girls5eva, Night Court, The Other Two, East New York, The Watcher, History of the World: Part II, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Gotham, I’m Dying Up Here, Burn Notice, Luck, Red Oaks, and Brockmire, among others. Kind served as John Mulaney’s sidekick for Mulaney’s talkshow, Everybody’s in L.A.
Amor Towles is the author of the New York Times bestselling novels The Lincoln Highway, A Gentleman in Moscow, Rules of Civility, and a bestselling story collection, Table for Two. His books have been translated into more than thirty languages.
Amor Towles is the author of the New York Times bestselling novels The Lincoln Highway, A Gentleman in Moscow, Rules of Civility, and a bestselling story collection, Table for Two. His books have been translated into more than thirty languages.
Jai Chakrabarti is the author of the novel A Play for the End of the World, which won the National Jewish Book Award for Debut Fiction, was a finalist for the Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize, and was long-listed for the PEN/Faulkner Award. He is also the author of the story collection A Small Sacrifice for an Enormous Happiness. His stories have won an O. Henry Prize and a Pushcart Prize, and have been anthologized in The Best American Short Stories.
Jai Chakrabarti is the author of the novel A Play for the End of the World, which won the National Jewish Book Award for Debut Fiction, was a finalist for the Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize, and was long-listed for the PEN/Faulkner Award. He is also the author of the story collection A Small Sacrifice for an Enormous Happiness. His stories have won an O. Henry Prize and a Pushcart Prize, and have been anthologized in The Best American Short Stories.
Allegra Hyde is the author of the story collection The Last Catastrophe, which was an Editors’ Choice selection at The New York Times. Her debut novel, Eleutheria, was named a Best Book of 2022 by The New Yorker and short-listed for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. Her first story collection, Of This New World, won the John Simmons Short Fiction Award. She teaches creative writing at Oberlin College.
Allegra Hyde is the author of the story collection The Last Catastrophe, which was an Editors’ Choice selection at The New York Times. Her debut novel, Eleutheria, was named a Best Book of 2022 by The New Yorker and short-listed for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. Her first story collection, Of This New World, won the John Simmons Short Fiction Award. She teaches creative writing at Oberlin College.
William Sidney Porter, known by the pseudonym O. Henry, was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, in September 1862. The pseudonym “O. Henry” first appeared over the story “Whistling Dick’s Christmas Stocking,” which was published in the December 1899 issue of McClure's Magazine. Cabbages and Kings was his first collection of short stories. The Four Million, his second collection of short stories, was published in 1906. Additional collections include The Trimmed Lamp, Heart of the West, The Voice of the City, The Gentle Grafter, Roads of Destiny, Options, Strictly Business, and Whirligigs. Sixes and Sevens, Rolling Stones, and Waifs and Strays were published posthumously.
William Sidney Porter, known by the pseudonym O. Henry, was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, in September 1862. The pseudonym “O. Henry” first appeared over the story “Whistling Dick’s Christmas Stocking,” which was published in the December 1899 issue of McClure's Magazine. Cabbages and Kings was his first collection of short stories. The Four Million, his second collection of short stories, was published in 1906. Additional collections include The Trimmed Lamp, Heart of the West, The Voice of the City, The Gentle Grafter, Roads of Destiny, Options, Strictly Business, and Whirligigs. Sixes and Sevens, Rolling Stones, and Waifs and Strays were published posthumously.
Jenny Minton Quigley is the author of a memoir The Early Birds and editor of the anthology Lolita in the Afterlife and The Best Short Stories: The O. Henry Prize Winners.
Jess Walter is the author of ten books, most recently the 2022 story collection The Angel of Rome and the 2020 bestselling novel The Cold Millions. Among his other books are Beautiful Ruins (2012), a number one New York Times bestseller; The Zero (2006), a National Book Award finalist; and Citizen Vince (2005), winner of the Edgar Award. His books have been published in thirty-four languages, and his stories have appeared three times in The Best American Short Stories. He lives in his hometown, Spokane, Washington.
Jess Walter is the author of ten books, most recently the 2022 story collection The Angel of Rome and the 2020 bestselling novel The Cold Millions. Among his other books are Beautiful Ruins (2012), a number one New York Times bestseller; The Zero (2006), a National Book Award finalist; and Citizen Vince (2005), winner of the Edgar Award. His books have been published in thirty-four languages, and his stories have appeared three times in The Best American Short Stories. He lives in his hometown, Spokane, Washington.
Continuing a century-long tradition of cutting-edge literary excellence, The Best Short Stories: The O. Henry Prize Winners contains prizewinning stories chosen from the thousands published in magazines over the previous year. The winning stories are accompanied by an introduction by the guest editor, observations from the winning writers on what inspired them, and an extensive resource list of magazines that publish short fiction. Jenny Minton Quigley is the series editor.
“The Import” first appeared in Ploughshares and subsequently published in A Small Sacrifice for an Enormous Happiness: Stories. Copyright © 2023 by Jai Chakrabarti. Used by permission of the author and Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.
“The Dark” first appeared in Ploughshares. Copyright © 2023 by Jess Walter. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Mobilization” first appeared in Story and subsequently published in The Last Catastrophe: Stories. Copyright © 2023 by Allegra Hyde. Used by permission of the author and Vintage Books, an imprint of Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.
Selected Shorts is supported by the Dungannon Foundation, creator of The Rea Award for the Short Story.
Symphony Space’s season of programming is also made possible by the generous support of the Seedlings Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund, Charina Endowment Fund, Charles D. Fleischman Charitable Trust, Susan Bay Nimoy, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, PECO Foundation, Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina, Michael Tuch Foundation, Axe-Houghton Foundation, Jody and John Arnhold and the Arnhold Foundation, The Grodzins Fund, The Isambard Kingdom Brunel Society of North America, and Theatre Development Fund.
Programming is also made possible 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.
Floral design by PlantShed.
Kathy Landau Executive Director
Peg Wreen Managing Director
Isaiah Sheffer*
Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director (1978-1990)
Artistic Director (1990-2010)
Founding Artistic Director (2010-2012)
Allan Miller
Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director (1978-1990)
Jennifer Brennan Director of Literary Programs
Drew Richardson Lead Producer of Literary Programs
Vivienne Woodward Producer of Literary Programs
Mary Shimkin Director of Broadcast & Literary Initiatives
Sarah Montague Selected Shorts Radio Producer
Miles B. Smith Selected Shorts Recording Engineer
Matthew Love Consultant for Literary Programs
Magdalene Wrobleski Literary Assistant
Leigh Reid Literary Intern
Mia Testa Literary Intern
*in memoriam