A Voice for Artists

TBB Podcast: Meet Kate Mueth & Neo-Political Cowgirls

Click HERE to listen Kate and Malini talk about adapting, self-care and making lemonade out of lemons (even if it’s moldy and old).

KATE MUETH founded the award-winning Neo-Political Cowgirls 14 years ago to help fill the dearth of opportunities for and stories from the perspectives of women on our theater landscape. She conceives, choreographs and directs new, site- specific dance theater that is “Mind-bending, gorgeous, provocative and wild” in execution. Kate is an Equity actor, Board Member Emeritus for The League of Professional Theatre Women, and co-founder of The East Hampton Arts Council. Kate has worked as actor/director/choreographer with such luminaries as Blythe Danner, Cathy Curtin, Aida Turturro, Tony Walton, Peter Boyle, Lizzie Larsen, Laura Gomez, Florencia Lozano and more. She has performed at Lincoln Center, Bay Street Theater and The John Drew Theater at Guild Hall as well as on stages in NYC, Chicago, Boston, and abroad. She worked side by side with her director husband Josh Gladstone to create a run of a post-punk Romeo and Juliet where she played a ribald Nurse and choreographed popping stylized dance and movement for the adventurous interpretation at The John Drew Theater at Guild Hall.

Favorite acting roles include Lady M, Varya, and Mrs. Wadhurst in Tonight at 8:30 with Blythe Danner. Latest film work- acting in and choreographing Josh Klausner’s award- winning feature WANDERLAND. History of new works for NPC includes HYSTERIA, BAUBO, Wody Girtch Mama, Trojan Women Redux, ZIMA!, VOYEUR, EVE, B(e)RD and countless one- offs. Most recent devised work HYSTERIA, a “surround fear experience” played to East End audiences as well as attendees at The Old South Church in Boston last fall. EVE, a 13-room, immersive experience, enjoyed an Off-Broadway run in the fall of 2015 at The Gym at Judson. VOYEUR made its European debut in Berlin in July of 2015. Kate directed a world-wide troupe of rock musicians in a bioethics examination rock opera, Playing God, in Helsinki in 2016 which had its American debut at The Danny Kaye Theater in New York. In 2017 she worked in collaboration with the Helsinki-based theater company Taiteen Sulattamo to create “100 Women,” a theater production bringing professional performers together with women dealing with mental illness. The summers of 2016-17 her production of ANDROMEDA, a “Myth for the masses,”Gave voice to the universal refugee,” (East End Beacon) in its performance in the hills of Montauk out under the stars. The summer of 2018 she debuted her newest work, BAUBO, with NPC and Only Child, a NYC-based aerialist company. Kate has a lengthy biography in theater arts teaching and curriculum building over the past 30 years. Her work in conceiving, developing, directing and teaching the theater arts programs January Girls, Young Cowgirls, Dude’s Eye View, Girls’ Gaze, Word of Girl and Project Hero continue to annually serve and empower our community’s youth, at-risk, and marginalized populations.

http://www.npcowgirls.org

The Neo-Political Cowgirls is a not-for-profit dance theater company dedicated to exploring, celebrating and amplifying the human voice. Founded in 2007 by Kate Mueth, we are committed to making work for women +, BIPOC and the under represented while creating a space where artists, students and audience from all walks of life can share their perspectives and stories through professional performances, workshops and arts and advocacy forums. Storytellers at heart, we want our audience to feel involved. We believe in breaking down conventional walls that traditionally separate audience and actors.

Theatre Beyond Broadway: The Podcast is sponsored by Teague Theatrical Group.
Music by Robert Kaufmann. All rights reserved 2017 and 2018.
Produced by Ian McDonald.
Available wherever you get podcast.

Peter Gray’s The Karens to premiere with The Muse Collective, streaming August 13-27

Playwright Peter Gray and Director Michael Alvarez

The Muse Collective will present the World Premiere of The Karens, a satirical comedy written by Peter Gray (Salem: Post-Mortem) and directed by Michael Alvarez (Underneath the Freeways of Los Angeles with Echo Theatre Company). The show will stream at www.the-muse-collective.com, August 13-27 with performances every night at 8pm ET/5pm PT and matinee performances on Saturdays and Sundays at 3pm ET/12pm PT. Tickets ($12) are available for advance purchase at www.the-muse-collective.com. The performance will run approximately 100 minutes, with no intermission.

In high school, being a Karen meant prestige, style, and popularity. Now, a different sort of “Karen” has gone viral: neurotic, entitled women demanding more than their fair share. To save the good Karen name, three former mean girls are ready to reconnect for their most important mission yet: Holding “The Privileged White Women of America” to task. In this wild, delicious, and biting new comedy, follow three unconventional Karens through the haze of Summer 2020. As they tackle the privilege of others with style and flair, will our fabulous trio face their own shortcomings, or sacrifice everything to keep their online personas as flawless as their makeup?

The cast will feature Morgan Danielle Day (The Hendrix Project at The Public), Felicia Santiago (Last Stop on Market Street with The Atlantic), and LaurenSage Browning (I Could Take a Nap, but Killing Myself Would be More Productive with Vineyard Theatre).

Peter Gray (Playwright) has studied Buddhism on a North Carolina goat farm, philosophy in the ruins of Socrates’ jail cell, and fairy tales in Copenhagen. His most recent play Salem: Post-Mortem was begun in residence at Monson Arts then broadcast virtually with the Muse Collective in October 2020 to raise money for the Audre Lorde Project. Also with Michael Alvarez, he has developed a theatrical exploration of the Medea myth (Love, Medea) which premiered at The Center at West Park in Manhattan. Peter’s projects and studies have taken him all over the world. In celebration of the centennial of Polish theater director Tadeusz Kantor, he collaborated in the creation of Zero or More Disposable Lessons, a theatrical piece which explored the mechanics of memory, anatomy of oppression, disposability of bodies, and dancing objects. As ensemble member, Peter performed in Zero or More Disposable Lessons at Yale University, Off-Broadway at La MaMa, and at the Cricoteka in Krakow. His work has been recognized by institutions such as the Sewanee Writers’ Conference and d’arts et de reves, and as a 2019 MacDowell Fellow, Peter is creating a series of modern day closet dramas designed to be read aloud at home. He is an upcoming Fellow at Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart, Germany. Raised in Birmingham, Alabama, Peter is a graduate of the Alabama School of Fine Arts and Yale University. Among other writing honors, Peter has received a Howard Nemerov Creative Writing Award for Poetry and a National Gold Key in Short Fiction from the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. www.peterwgray.com

Michael Alvarez (Director) Michael’s directorial work has been seen internationally at Her Majesty’s Theatre in the West End, Arcola Theatre, Westminster Library, Royal Academy of Music, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Institute of Contemporary Arts and the British Museum. He was a guest director at the Brighton Festival and the Preglej Na Glas Festival in Lljubjana, Slovenia. In New York, he was recently a director with the prestigious Civilian’s R & D Group, and has developed work with the New York Theatre Workshop, Drama League, Hook and Eye Theatre, New York Musical Theatre Festival, The Center at West Park, and Gallery Players, amongst others. Regionally, he has directed at the Serenbe Playhouse and Hangar Theatre. Most recently, he directed an interactive virtual performance with Echo Theatre in Los Angeles and this summer will be directing a workshop of a new play with Leviathan Lab in New York. Michael is an alumnus of the Lincoln Center Director’s Lab, 2017 Drama League Directing Fellow, and was a 2050 Directing Fellow at New York Theatre Workshop. He is also the founder and artistic director of the production company, The Muse Collective. He holds a BA (Hons) from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and an MFA from California Institute of the Arts. www.michael-alvarez.com

The Muse Collective is committed to challenging formal boundaries of performance and visual storytelling by fusing theatre with contemporary visual art, fashion, pop culture, music and dance. We create work that deeply engages our cultural and political zeitgeist by building mythic worlds and fantastical universes, vital expressions of our society’s desires, fears, ambitions and dreams. We celebrate the world around us–spinning stories that touch us beyond the conscious level, digging deep into an expansive and inclusive collective mythology. Muse Collective is committed to diversifying stories, storytellers, forms and approaches to performance by championing new work and the radical re-envisioning of classic work, and by supporting emerging BIPOC artists and those who dare to dream. www.the-muse-collective.com

[title of show] with Bridge Production Group, 8/13-8/21

The Bridge Production Group will present their production of the Tony Award-nominated musical [title of show], which will be directed by Artistic Director Max Hunter and presented as part of their summer residency at the Brooklyn Navy Yards (141 Flushing Avenue at Vanderbilt Avenue in Brooklyn. Building 92, enter through Building 77), August 13-21. Performances will take place outdoors on Friday, August 13 at 8pm, Saturday, August 14 at 8pm, Sunday, August 15 at 8pm, Monday, August 16 at 8pm, Thursday, August 19 at 8pm, Friday, August 20 at 8pm, and Saturday, August 21 at 8pm. Tickets ($20-$50) are available for advance purchase at www.bridgeproductiongroup.org. All patrons will be asked to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID test. The performance will run approximately 90 minutes, with no intermission.

The cast will feature Keri René Fuller as Heidi (Waitress and Jagged Little Pill on Broadway; Grizabella in the National Tour of Cats), Jennifer Apple as Susan (National Tour of The Band’s Visit), Josh Daniel as Hunter (Book of Mormon on Broadway; Little Shop of Horrors at Westside Theatre), and Max Hunter as Jeff (The Blue Room, Red Light Winter, Richard III with Bridge Production Group). The creative team will include Lighting and Projection Design by Cheyenne Sykes with Stage Management by Melissa Barry. All actors are appearing courtesy of the Actors’ Equity Association.

In [title of show] two struggling writers, Jeff and Hunter, hear about a new musical theatre festival, the submission deadline for which is a mere three weeks away. With nothing to lose, the pair decides to try to create something new with the help of their friends Susan and Heidi – and Larry on keyboard. [title of show] – taken from the space on the festival’s application form which asks for the “[title of show]” – follows Hunter and Jeff and their friends on their journey through the gauntlet of creative self-expression. Above all, [title of show] is a love letter to the musical theatre – a uniquely American art form – and to the joy of collaboration.

The Bridge Production Group’s residency at the Brooklyn Navy Yards will also feature world premiere short plays by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright John Patrick Shanley (Doubt), a staged reading of a new play by Pulitzer Prize-nominee Lyle Kessler (Orphans ), and the Picnic Plays, a series of informal readings of new work currently in development.

Max Hunter (Director) is the Artistic Director of The Bridge Production Group, through which he has directed See You (United States premiere), Richard III, Hedda (World Premiere Commission), and The Blue Room. New York: Young Pilgrims (Clemente Arts Center), TaRaRaBOOM: A Three Sisters Mish-Mash (CRASH Theater, Access Theatre), Zorba! (Encores!, dir. Walter Bobbie). Max directed Cabaret for the 100th Anniversary of the JHU Barnstormers at Johns Hopkins University. Readings and developmental work featured at VoxFest at Dartmouth College; Fire This Time Festival, National Black Theatre. Max is an Associate Member of the SDC. www.maxhuntersite.com

The Bridge Production Group is a non-profit theatre company committed to dismantling and rebuilding an audience’s expectations of theatrical storytelling. In producing both new and revived works, we seek to disrupt traditional conventions and assumptions about how stories are told in the theatrical medium by restructuring and reimagining classic text, utilizing and highlighting design as a core narrative component, and blurring genre and tone. Injecting the familiar with spontaneity and vitality, our mission is to create theatre that is immediate and resonant with young and diverse audiences; we invite less traditional theatergoing audiences into our shared spaces, aiming to awaken an enhanced appreciation for the medium. www.bridgeproductiongroup.org

Spectacle: The Musical! the hit Off-Broadway show will receive a spin off webseries distributed by OnStage Network

Spectacle: The Musical! the hit Off-Broadway show will receive a spin off webseries distributed by OnStage Network.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmjRpT2eAxg
For more info/to watch the full series: https://www.onstageblog.com/spectacle-the-musical

From the creators of the pop culture phenomenon Twilight: The Unauthorized Musical Parody, and The Oregon Trail: The Game: The Musical comes Spectacle: The Musical! – a hysterical, meta musical comedy described as “Title of Show meets The Play That Goes Wrong.”  Struggling artists Ashley and Evan are thrilled to have finally landed their big break when they are hired to pen producing mogul Frank Ryger’s new 200 million-dollar Broadway mega musical “The Sound of Love.” But during the development of their spectacle driven blockbuster they are forced to question whether they’re willing to put survival above integrity and just how much they’re willing to sacrifice in order to achieve their dreams.

Heralded as: “Brilliant…impeccable…a satirical masterpiece with an authentic appeal to grace at its core” – iTunes,

The webseries will trace the backstory of the evolution of “The Sound of Love” and will feature original cast and creative team members Ashley Griffin (Twilight: The Unauthorized Musical Parody, The Greatest Showman, Trial) and Evan Jay Newman (Les Miserables (Broadway) American Idiot (National/International Tour,) Jersey Boys) along with some new Broadway faces. All episodes are fully captioned.

For more information/to subscribe please visit: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpOiMBLwEXxcwYFtTiTDaoA

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spectaclethemusical
Instagram: @spectaclethemusical
Cast Album: https://music.apple.com/us/album/spectacle-the-musical/1498978754?ign-mpt=uo%3D4
Official Site: https://www.ashleygriffinofficial.com/spectacle-the-musical

Third Rail Projects premieres RETURN THE MOON, Aug. 11 – Sept. 30

Third Rail Projects (Then She Fell, Ghostlight, The Grand Paradise) will present the World Premiere of RETURN THE MOON, conceived and directed by Zach Morris and created by Alberto Denis, Kristin Dwyer, Joshua Gonzales, Sean Hagerty, Justin Lynch, Zach Morris, Marissa Nielsen-Pincus, Tara O’Con, and Edward Rice. Previews begin August 11, live via Zoom. Opening is set for September 8.

RETURN THE MOON is a live performance created specifically for the Zoom platform which invites audience members to collectively construct a shared experience that is one part toast, one part ritual, and one part retelling of a very old story of how the Moon was lost and found again.  Matching decidedly analog tools of performance with the unique opportunities that the Zoom platform affords, RETURN THE MOON combines text, movement, cinematic visuals, and music. It also enfolds offerings from audience members to create a rumination on remembrance and recurrence, the interplay of shadow and light, and how a shared experience might linger and reverberate over the passage of time. The work also features an epistolary component; after the performance, every audience member is mailed a package that contains content and interactive artifacts from their shared event.

RETURN THE MOON runs one hour fifteen minutes for 60 audience members per performance. During the show, audience members are invited, but not obligated, to contribute guided input that shapes how the work unfolds. This experience is designed with audience comfort in mind and affords a range of opportunities where guests can choose if and when they wish to contribute.

RETURN THE MOON is performed by Alberto Denis, Joshua Gonzales, Justin Lynch, and Tara O’Con. The production features assistant direction by Marissa Nielsen-Pincus; choreography by Marissa Nielsen-Pincus,  Alberto Denis, Joshua Gonzales, Justin Lynch, Zach Morris, and Tara O’Con; sound design and original music by Sean Hagerty; visual design by Zach Morris in collaboration with Alberto Denis, Kristin Dwyer, Joshua Gonzales, Justin Lynch, Marissa Nielsen-Pincus, Tara O’Con, and Edward Rice; stage management by Kristin Dwyer; and production management by Kristin Dwyer, Marissa Nielsen-Pincus and Edward Rice. It is produced by Zach Morris & Edward Rice.

From the onset of this project, director Zach Morris and collaborators were interested in exploring how to center audience experience on a digital platform. Morris reflected on some of the initial points of inquiry that prompted this project, saying “I was curious how we might create a ‘remote’ project that felt inviting and intuitive, communal, and personal. I wondered what inspiration might be found in this now ubiquitous platform that has become kind of an artifact and metaphor for the dissonance of distanced connection. I was interested in what it meant to craft a work specifically for this medium that would acknowledge and engage with its strengths, its all-too-familiar challenges, and also capitalize on the opportunities that it could afford that would be otherwise impossible in a traditional theater setting.”

The creators were also interested in the increased accessibility that a Zoom-based experience might afford both the creative team and audience members. By creating a work that exists in digital space, this project afforded the opportunity for artists who were in geographically disparate locations to work together and to simultaneously reduce the overhead costs associated with mounting an in-person production. Likewise, the digital/epistolary nature of this project allows audience members from around the world to attend the work while allowing the production to offer tickets at a much lower price point than might otherwise be possible.

RETURN THE MOON runs August 11- September 30, performance dates vary. Three ticket tiers are available: General admission at $42, Pay-it-Forward at $67, Subsidized at $15. The Pay-it-Forward tickets support Subsidized tickets. Preview tickets go on sale July 15, 2021 and the full run goes on sale August 6, 2021. For tickets and info visit, www.thirdrailprojects.com/return-the-moon.

______________________________

About Third Rail Projects: Third Rail Projects has been hailed as one of the foremost groups creating site-specific, immersive, and experiential performance. The partnership is dedicated to the work of Zach Morris, Tom Pearson, and Jennine Willett and their projects that re-envision the ways in which audiences engage with contemporary performance. They have made work in New York, nationally, and abroad since 2000. Their long-running, award-winning immersive hitThen She Fell, was named as one of the “Top Ten Shows of 2012” by Ben Brantley of The New York Times and acclaimed as one of the best theater experiences of 2013 by Vogue.

Fundamental to the director’s work is the notion of re-imagining contexts for presenting contemporary performance, as exemplified by a history of creating projects sought after by avid theater goers as well as those seeking unique experiences. Collaboration is integral to the work, in the creative process as well as in partnerships with each new site, community, and cultural landscape. This manifests in numerous points of inquiry and programmatic objectives that foster artistic exchange and shared practice across unique communities.

In recent years, Third Rail has launched several major works, all of which were met with massive critical and audience recognition: As Time Goes By in St. Petersburg, Russia; Sweet & Lucky with the Denver Center for the Performing Arts;Learning Curve with Albany Park Theater Project in Chicago; Ghost Light with Lincoln Center Theater’s LTC3 at the Clare Tow Theater; Behind The City with The Macallan; and The Grand Paradise, which ran for 11 months and garnered rave reviews and Critic’s Picks from The New York Times and Time Out New York, among others.

The directors and their collaborators work nationally on new immersive and site-specific projects, and internationally through the Global Performance Studio (GPS), which combines the Third Rail’s creative and educational offerings through a program of cultural listening and exchange. The directors have been the recipients of several prestigious awards, including: two New York Dance and Performance (Bessie) Awards; a Chita Rivera Award for Choreography; a Drama Desk Awards Nomination for Unique Theatrical Experience; several fellowship awards including two CEC Artslink Back Apartment Residencies (Russia); a Theater Fellowship from the Bogliasco Foundation (Italy); an IllumiNation Award from the Ford Foundation and National Museum of the American Indian; and more. Third Rail Projects has also been recognized as part of the creative team of the Emmy Award-winning virtual reality adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Wolves in the Walls. In 2016, Zach, Tom, and Jennine were named among the 100 most influential people in Brooklyn Culture by Brooklyn Magazine..

New Perspective Theatre Company Presents Theatre From the Streets 8/1 to 10/17, 2021

An international pilot program creating conversations across borders

THEATRE FROM THE STREETS is a 12-week pilot project prompted by discussions among theatre women involved with the 2020 Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Award, given by the International Committee of the League of Professional Theatre Women (LPTW). NPTC is partnering with U.S. and international companies to provide a platform in which theatre artists can use their creative talents to be a voice for THE PEOPLE.

Beginning August 1, 2021 and continuing every Sunday through October 17, 2021, we will host a program of readings of short theatre works followed by dialogue with audiences from around the world. Our goal is to contrast biased political and media narratives with truthful and authentic stories that bring to light the realities for ordinary people “on the ground”. The pilot program spotlights the first of what are expected to eventually be worldwide regions: Palestine/Lebanon, Venezuela and India for one month each on four successive Sundays. Each event includes the work of three invited theatre artists (12 total for each region.) These original theatrical pieces will focus on:

CORRECTING THE RECORD: combating narratives that have been promoted by the oppressors through political mechanisms and the media
A DAY IN THE LIFE: revealing the reality of the ways in which victims of oppression and marginalized populations are forced to navigate their daily existence
WHAT WILL IT TAKE?: offering a vision that speaks to a collective humanity engaged in making a difference

The pieces will be performed in English in a 60-minute live Zoom meeting. Audiences will be invited to engage in a discussion immediately following the readings that will contextualize the theatre pieces and deepen our understanding of the lived experiences of marginalized and oppressed peoples in these areas.

EACH EVENT WILL BE RECORDED AND POSTED TO THE YOUTUBE CHANNEL OF NEW PERSPECTIVES THEATRE COMPANY. Partners in this endeavor include ASHTAR Theatre (Palestine), Brighton Theatre (U.K.), Darpana Academy of Performing Arts (India), LPTW International Committee (U.S.), Teatro La Comarca (Venezuela), and Theatre Beyond Broadway (U.S.).

IMAN AOUN OF ASHTAR THEATRE IS THE CURATOR FOR PALESTINE/LEBANON. EVENTS WILL BE HELD AUGUST 1, 8, 15, AND 22, 2021 AT 12:00PM EST (U.S.).

LUPE GEHRENBECK OF TEATRO LA COMARCA IS THE CURATOR FOR VENEZUELA. EVENTS WILL BE HELD AUGUST 29, SEPTEMBER 5, 12 AND 19, 2021 AT 12:00PM EST (U.S.).

MALLIKA SARABHAI OF DARPANA ACADEMY OF PERFORMING ARTS IS THE CURATOR FOR INDIA. EVENTS WILL BE HELD SEPTEMBER 26. OCTOBER 3, 10 AND 17, 2021 AT 10:30AM EST (U.S.) 7:00PM IST (INDIA).

TICKETS ARE BY DONATION AND AVAILABLE ON EVENTBRITE.
ATTENDANCE CAPACITY IS LIMITED.

Facebook: NPTCtheatre | Twitter/Instagram: @NPTCTheatre
https://www.newperspectivestheatre.org/current-programs/2021/7/5/theatre-from-the-streets

Project Partners

IMAN AOUN is the Artistic Director of ASHTAR Theatre, the oldest youth theatre in Palestine. A renowned international trainer in theatre of the oppressed techniques, she works with marginalized youth in devising pieces based on their personal stories, including the global sensation The Gaza Monologues. Aoun is an award-winning actor and director, and has received numerous commendations for her work from different countries, international organizations and festivals. www.ashtar-theatre.org

MELODY BROOKS is the founder and Artistic Director of NPTC. She is an award-winning producer, director and dramaturg and recipient of the “Spirit of Hope Award” from Speranza Theatre Company for her career-long support of women theatre artists. Brooks and NPTC also received the”Trailblazing Women and Arts Institutions Award” from Rhythm Color Associates. She currently leads NPTC’s Women’s Work Project, which develops new plays and rescues plays by women from the past. Brooks is on the Board of LPTW and has co-produced the triennial LPTW Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Award Program since 2014.

LINDA CHAPMAN is a long-time member of the League of Professional Theater Women serving as Chair of the Lucille Lortel Committee and Co-chair with Joan D. Firestone of the International Committee. She is a Founding Board President of Youth Arts NY (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons coalition member – 2017 Nobel Peace Prize). Chapman was Associate Artistic Director at New York Theatre Workshop from 1995-2020; co-adapted Ann Bannon’s Lesbian classic, The Beebo Brinker Chronicles (GLAAD Media Award winner, nominated for a LAMBDA Literary Award) for the stage with playwright Kate Moira Ryan. Co-writer/performer of OBIE Award winning Gertrude and Alice: A Likeness to Lovingwith life partner, Lola Pashalinski.

JOAN D. FIRESTONE is a familiar figure in NYC’s cultural and civic communities, having held policy level positions in the for-profit, nonprofit, and government sectors including: Assistant Director of the New York State Council on the Arts; President of Primary Design Galleries; Executive Director of the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park Association; Director of Economic Development and Cultural Advisor to the NYC Comptroller; Special Advisor in the Arts to the NYC Schools Chancellor; and Executive Director of The Moth. Firestone maintains an active role in the theatre community in the development of innovative new works promoting social change. A former Co-President of LPTW, she is currently co-chair of the International Committee and serves on the Boards of The Moth, En Garde Arts, and New Yorkers for Culture and Arts (NY4C&A).

LUPE GEHRENBECK is an award-winning playwright and director with a 30-year track record. She has collaboratively developed and independently produced more than 25 plays in Caracas and across three continents in multiple cities, using the same independent collaborative format to adapt them to the local audiences. She also created “Theater Without Borders” for UNESCO, working with at-risk migrant children populations in Mexico. Gehrenbeck has received numerous awards for her work; an anthology of eight of her plays was published in 2018. She is Vice President of Gimnasio de Actores, Caracas and a member of the PDW of the Actors Studio NYC. https://www.lupegehrenbeck.com

MALINI SINGH MCDONALD is the founder of Theatre Beyond Broadway which provides a platform to promote and support a broad range of independent artists through producing, publicity, education and a podcast. McDonald is currently Executive Vice President of the League of Professional Theatre Women, a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, and has been recognized with a Woman of Distinction Award from the City of New York for her contribution to Media, Arts and Culture. www.theatrebeyondbroadway.com.

MALLIKA SARABHAI is a celebrated Indian performer and activist best known for playing the lead role in Peter Brook’s magnum opus, The Mahabharata. She has traveled the world with her work for four decades, using dance, theatre, music, puppetry, video and martial arts to draw attention to issues relating to women, violence, human rights and the environment. Sarabhai received India’s highest civilian award and was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. www.darpana.com

FAYNIA WILLIAMS is a multi-award winning international theatre director and BBC producer of drama and documentaries. She has been artistic director of five UK theatres including her current post at Brighton Theatre, where she uses the power of the arts to go “where politics cannot, with the aim of effecting change”. Williams has also worked with a number of international organizations, including serving as honorary president of UNESCO’S International Theatre Institute Dramatic Theatre Committee. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. www.brightontheatre.com

New Perspectives Theatre Company Presents 12th Annual Women’s Work Short Play Festival June 26-30

Original works by: K. Alexa Mavromatis, Uma Paranjpe, Jennifer Rowland, Yuliya Tsukerman, Zakeia Tyson-Cross, Laura Zlatos

June 26-30, 2021 via NPTC YouTube Channel
premiering at 12pm on Saturday, June 26 and available through midnight on Wednesday, June 30

PURCHASE A TICKET FOR ONE PROGRAM, OR A FESTIVAL PASS TO WATCH ALL 3!

PROGRAM A : premieres Saturday, June 26 at 12:00pm

The Empress of Jupiter by Laura Zlatos, directed by Karin Crighton; with: Cate Bottiglione, Kea Trevett, Lindsley Howard, Tami Swartz

Running Out of Time by Zakeia Tyson-Cross, directed by Karin Crighton; with: B. Alexander, Robert Johnson, Laura E. Johnston, Andrew Manning, Daniel Neusom, Sandra Parris

PROGRAM B: premieres Saturday, June 26 at 2:00pm

Foul Line by K. Alexa Mavromatis, directed by Dani Ortiz; with: Emma Sarah Davis, Eliana Weiss

Brett & Ashley by Jennifer Rowland, directed by Chanon & Cherita Judson; with: Ellen Lindsay, Adam J. Smith, Voice of Victor Victoria

PROGRAM C: premieres Saturday, June 26 at 4:00pm

Frosting On Top, by Uma Paranjpe, directed by Melody Brooks; with: Anita Ganesan, Roy Reyes Scandela

Cold Turkey by Yuliya Tsukerman, directed by Jenny Greeman; with Meghan Martin, Melissa Skirboll

VIDEO EDITOR: LUISA BATTISTA

Like so many other things missed during 2020, our Short Play LAB writers were not able to see their work produced live in our annual festival.

We have waited almost a year to share these gems with the public. An in-person festival is still not possible, but before we close out the 2020-2021 Season, we can share them virtually in anticipation of welcoming audiences back to our studio before the end of the year, where they can be experienced fully realized!

VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE ARTISTS!

MultiStages Presents Speakout Protest Plays & More 6/21-6/25

StatueFest Four on June 18th at 7pm

Monologues To Put Women On a Pedestal

In StatueFest, we’re filling the public square of our imagination with statues of women: we have a lot of suggestions.

Here’s what audiences said about our previous performances: ‘Very impressed with the quality.’ ‘Intensely aware of what these women have done.’ ‘A lively and inspiring evening!’ Read about how StatueFest got started on Medium.

StatueFest Four is Friday, June 18 at 7 pm EDT. Free with RSVP
Statue-worthy women who will be our fourth and final presentation of the season:

Henrietta Vinton Davis, leading lady of her day who took a prominent role in the Pan African movement (by Carolyn Gage, performed by Laura E. Johnston)
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a woman rights lawyer (by Cindy Cooper, performed by Sarah Baskin)
Marsha P. Johnson, LGBTQIA and Stonewall-uprising activist (by Nicole Ansari)
Pauli Murray, labor and civil rights organizer (by Michael Angel Johnson, performed by Lynnette Freeman)
Antonia Pantoja, educator and founder of the ASPIRA youth leadership program (by Janis Astor del Valle, also performing)
Emma Stebbins, artist and Bethesda Fountain sculptor (by Heather Jeanne Violanti, performed by Cathy Haase)
Edith Wharton, prize-winning author and designer (by Martha Patterson, performed by Jean Brookner)

The director for the evening is Allison Astor-Vargas.

The live performances are followed by a brief talkback with the artists. All on Zoom. Send your RSVP for the link to: statuefest2021@gmail.com.Put A Woman on a Pedestal is a project of New Shokan Kitchen Island Project. Producers: Janis Astor del Valle, Cindy Cooper, Cheryl Davis, Deborah Savadge. People are asking, and yes, we’re willing to partner with others to keep the StatueFest spirit flowing!

READ more in Broadway World, WomenArts Online
Facebook Twitter, Insta @statuefest2021

Reserve your space: statuefest2021@gmail.comPerformances are free. If you wish to donate, use this link.

Reproductive Freedom Walking Tours in New York are back! The first is June 20. Read more.

Mac Roger’s Give Me Away Opens 7/16

Written by Mac Rogers
Directed by Jordana Williams

Season One, Part 1: July 16, July 23, July 30 & August 6
Season One, Part 2: September 17, September 24, October 1, October 8 & October 15

Gideon Media, the creators behind the hit podcast Steal The Stars and the critically lauded stage saga The Honeycomb Trilogy, will premiere the multi-season science fiction epic Give Me Away, written by audio-fiction juggernaut and critically lauded playwright Mac Rogers with acclaimed director Jordana Williams.

Season One of the new series will be offered in two parts, with new episodes premiering on July 16, July 23, July 30, August 6, September 17, September 24, October 1, October 8 & October 15. Episodes will be free on-demand to listeners across all platforms where podcasts may be found, with distribution from public media organization PRX.

They call the spaceship that crashed in the Nevada desert “The Ghosthouse” because it screams—the screams of thousands of extraterrestrial political prisoners uploaded into its horrific mainframe. The only way to free them… is to transfer them into the bodies of humans willing to share their minds with an alien second consciousness. But who would volunteer for that? Graham Shapiro, divorced and adrift at age 50, is one of the first to raise his hand.

Season One of Give Me Away follows Graham’s journey into a world of radical hospitality, one which will touch everything—and everyone—in his life.The cast will feature, in order of appearance: Hanna Cheek (one of Time Out New York‘s “Future Legends of NYC Theatre”), Sean Williams (Advance Man at The Gym at Judson), Kevin R. Free (Welcome to Nightvale) Nat Cassidy (King Kirby on Broadway Podcast Network), Diana Oh (Infinite Love Party at The Bushwick Starr), Dani Martineck (Almelem at The Brick), Rebecca Comtois (God of Obsidian), Alba Ponce de León (The Clean Up), Jorge Cordova (M. Night Shyamalan’s The Visit), Lori Elizabeth Parquet (Shadow/Land with The Public), Stephanie Willing (Little Shop of Monsters on Audible), Ato Essandoh (Away on Netflix), Hennessy Winkler (Mrs. Mayfield’s 5th Grade Reunion with Caps Lock Theatre), Brian Silliman (High Fidelity on Hulu), Christopher Wilson (Unwell: A Midwestern Gothic Mystery), Neimah Djourabchi (Steal the Stars), Matthew Trumbull (We Are a Masterpiece with Retro Productions), and Maya Armstrong (Kid Biologists at Brooklyn Comedy Collective). The creative team includes Sound Design by Bart Fasbender (Bloody Andrew Jackson at The Public), Music Composed by Adam Blau (You’re the Worst on FX). Assistant Director Marty McGuire and Producer Cara Ehlenfeldt.

Mac Rogers (Playwright) is an award-winning audio dramatist and playwright. His podcasts Steal The Stars, The Message, and LifeAfter have been downloaded over 10 million times. He has also written for prominent fiction podcasts like The Truth, Tumanbay, Arden, and Alba Salix, Royal Physician, as well as an episode of Torchwood for Big Finish. His stage plays include The Honeycomb Trilogy (three-time New York Times Critics Pick), Universal Robots, Viral, and God of Obsidian. His audio dramas and plays have earned acclaim from The New York Times, The Guardian, The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, Fangoria, io9, and many others.

Jordana Williams (Director) specializes in grounding fantastical events in a living, breathing, emotional reality. She is the director of Give Me Away, Steal the Stars, The Earth Moves, God of Obsidian, Out of Sight, and several other forthcoming fiction podcasts. Before moving into audio, she directed numerous critically acclaimed plays, including The Honeycomb Trilogy, Universal Robots, Viral, Frankenstein Upstairs, Asymmetric, Almelem, Alexandria, The Particulars, and Kill Shakespeare.

Gideon Media proudly brings the award-winning theatre tradition of Gideon Productions to audio, crafting gripping productions that explore human grace and darkness through the kaleidoscope of popular genre forms. Gideon Media draws on its founders’ two-decade record of acclaimed onstage storytelling to meticulously craft new audio series that use thrilling entertainment as a delivery system for challenging stories that take on religion, sexuality, politics, culture, and the often strange bonds that tie people together in a rapidly changing world. Gideon Media’s debut production, Steal The Stars, was downloaded over two million times and was an Audie Awards Finalist for Best Audio Drama. Gideon Media is represented by CAA, Circle Of Confusion, and Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams, & Shepherd. www.gideon-media.com

PRX is a public media organization shaping the future of audio by producing and distributing content, building technology, and training talented, independent producers. With an award-winning portfolio ranging from iconic public media programs such as “The Moth Radio Hour,” “TED Talks Daily,” “This American Life”, “Snap Judgment,” “Latino USA,” “The World,” and “Reveal,” PRX also powers a growing body of podcast-first productions, including the Radiotopia podcast network and the TRAX podcast network for tweens. www.prx.org

Project Partners

Written by Mac Rogers Directed by Jordana WilliamsSeason One, Part 1: July 16, July 23, July 30 & August 6 Season One, Part 2: September 17, September 24, October 1, October 8 & October 15

Written by Mac Rogers
Directed by Jordana Williams

Season One, Part 1: July 16, July 23, July 30 & August 6
Season One, Part 2: September 17, September 24, October 1, October 8 & October 15