5 Plays Will Be Part of 2nd Annual Stage Left Festival
By Andrew Gans, Playbill
The complete lineup has been revealed for Working Theater and Broadway Advocacy Coalition's second annual Stage Left, the new play festival where art meets activism. The five new plays, centering stories from the front lines of progressive movements, will be presented June 12-14 at Theatre Row.
Presented with the support of the Murphy Institute and Leadership for Democracy and Social Justice, each production is paired with an advocacy organization working directly on the issues explored by the play. The pairing creates opportunities for audiences to move from reflection into action through post-show conversations, organizing, and community engagement.
This year's festival will kick off June 12 with Amalia Oliva Rojas' How to Melt Ice, directed by Autumn Angelettie and featuring Claudia Acosta (Man Cave) and Katherine Bahena-Benitez. Presented in partnership with Workers Justice Project, the play weaves together a tapestry of magical realism, Mexican mythology, and authentic immigrant experience, exploring the demands of familial love and the generational divide between “Dreamers” and those who carried them to the promised land.
Arturo Luíz Soria's Novios, directed by Danilo Gambini and featuring Zabryna Guevara (Gotham, Daredevil: Born Again) and Juan Francisco Villa (Blue Bloods), will perform June 13, presented in partnership with One Fair Wage. A motley band of cooks fritter away in the remains of a once-thriving kitchen, but when a flamboyant new dishwasher arrives and awakens the heart of the youngest, their jovial banter turns deadly. The play will be presented in Spanish and English with closed captioning in English.
Also performing June 13 will be Keelay Gipson's #Newslaves, directed by Dominique Rider and featuring McKinley Belcher III (Death of a Salesman) and Jason Veasey (A Strange Loop). Presented in partnership with Freedom Agenda, the play is described as an epic fantasia on the commodification and criminalization of the Black Body in America through the lens of the NFL Draft and the prison system.
Chad Kaydo's Narrowsburg—directed by Colm Summers and featuring Ryan Spahn (Gloria), April Matthis (New Amsterdam), and Jesse Pennington (American Gun)—will perform June 14 in partnership with Undue Medical Debt. When Spencer goes to the Catskills to help his friends reopen their restaurant in summer 2021, they spend late nights trash-talking customers while trying to avoid their deepest fears and regrets.
The festival will close June 14 with R. Forest Malley's Sisyphus in Yaffa, directed by Sivan Battat and featuring Hadi Tabbal (English) and Amandla Jahava (DMZ). Presented in partnership with Theater Workers for a Ceasefire, the work follows Harvard professor Walid Elsady who's invited to deliver a keynote address in Yaffa–or, as it is better known in 2021, Tel Aviv. In denial of the risks involved, he arrives at Ben Gurion Airport with his wife and star student in tow, only to find himself detained without explanation
“In order for theatre—and all of the arts—to reflect what it’s like to be alive in this moment, we need to hear stories about working people and the systems that shape their lives. I also care a lot about who has access to theatre tickets, and how that influences the kinds of work we see on New York stages. That’s why I’m grateful for the opportunity to share this play at Stage Left and to share the stage with Undue Medical Debt, whose work directly supports people facing the types of challenges experienced by the characters in this play,” said Narrowsburg writer Kaydo in a statement.
“Artists play a critical role in social justice movements by transcending language barriers, amplifying issues through various creative mediums, and shaping public opinion. Every artist has a tool that should be wielded to make its historical mark in their present struggle,” added Freedom Agenda's Darren Mack.
For tickets and more information visit BwayAdvocacyCoalition.org.