“E is magnificent… immortal.” –David Rothenberg, WBAI Radio

In 1981, 27-year-old Richard Hoehler met 66-year-old Edith Speziali while working at an upscale hardware store in Soho during the Iran hostage crisis. A wry birthday wish scribbled on an artsy postcard (“From one hostage to another”) forged a friendship that lasted 21 years. More a father than a mother figure to Richard, Edith said he was like her fourth husband… “but without the mess.” E is a funny and moving tribute to Richard’s longtime mentor and friend. Recounting their many adventures, struggles, and triumphs, the evening celebrates a remarkable relationship with honesty, affection, irreverent wit, and a few choice cuss words.

ABOUT THE TEAM

Richard Hoehler (Writer/Performer) Hoehler’s original theatre work (New Jersey/New York, Working Class, Human Resources, I of the Storm) have run Off Broadway, regionally, and abroad and he is the winner of the OOBR for Best Solo Performance. E was performed at Cornelia Street Café, The Brooklyn Commons, Hudson View Gardens, and DVAA. As a singer/songwriter he has performed at HB Studio, The Fortune Society Castle Gardens, Delaware Valley Arts Alliance, Pangea, and the Drama Book Shop. Off Broadway credits: But for the Grace (HB Playwrights), Rehearsing the Vonnsee Conference (Gerald R. Lynch), I of the Storm (Gym at Judson), HAIR (Connelly Theatre), Inadmissible (Canal Park Playhouse), The Rubber Room (Artistic New Directions), Cries for Peace (Neighborhood Playhouse). TV Credits: Black Box, Third Watch, Law and Order (various), NYPD Blue. For thirty years, Hoehler created theatre with at-risk teenagers, inmates, and the formerly incarcerated. Hoehler’s book, Acting Out: How a Prison Theatre Workshop Broke Free, was published by Applause Books in January of 2025 and in 2024 Richard received the Justice through the Arts Award from the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Hoehler is an acting instructor at HB Studio and Stella Adler Studio, and an adjunct professor of Theatre at John Jay and City College of New York.

Francesca Ferrara (Director) is the Co-Executive Director of HB Studio, where she teaches technique and scene study in the Hagen Core Conservatory. Francesca is the Co-Founder of Acting Out, a workshop for formerly incarcerated artists. Their most recent production, THE ODETS PROJECT, had to be remounted, due to popular demand. Other theater credits include I NEVER SANG FOR MY FATHER (Chain Theatre), ROMEO & JULIET, 1984 (National Players), THE TAMING OF THE SHREW (Olney Theatre), SEDUCED, THE ADDING MACHINE, SISTER CITIES, AS IS (New American Theatre/LA), STAGE BEAUTY (Crown City), ANXIETY (The Odyssey) and DETAINEE (East 4th Street Theatre). Film and television highlights include CHICKEN LIVERS, FLUSHED, THE WEST WING, UGLY BETTY, GREY’S ANATOMY, MASTERS OF SEX, HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER, BULL, GOSSIP GIRL, THE BLACKLIST and the series finale of MAD MEN.

Contact the host of E. by Richard Hoehler

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