For Immediate Release 9/4/20
Beginning this fall, TheatreFIRST’s new season responds to the world of the “remote,” mirroring the reality of our overlapping communities’ current lived experience. During our 20-21 season, audiences will digitally join characters and artists over the course of months as intimate, episodic stories are developed and presented in a serialized format. All involved in the season — artists and the characters they create — can’t know if and when they will be able to publicly ‘share air’ with each other. Each story will be told in parts over many months, and all will culminate in a full viewing of the full productions in late spring.
Whether we engage in person or digitally, we aim, as always, to create experiences that explore the relationship between our art and our world, and how both will have changed us all.
Our episodic season starts in October and will include:
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MAGIC FRUIT
BY ALEJANDRA MARIA RIVAS AND KIMIYA SHOKRI
DEVELOPED AND DIRECTED BY SUSANNAH MARTIN
VISUAL DESIGN BY ERIN GILLEY
A chef and a food critic fail to communicate on all fronts. During quarantine, Amaya and Tara attempt to “meet” online for a high-profile interview. After months of inconsistent communication, their relationship comes to a standstill. With both of their livelihoods on the line, it seems that the only way forward is to speak through their only shared language: food. The story will be told in four parts over the season, culminating in a full production in the Spring.
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AFFINITY
BY CLEAVON SMITH
DEVELOPED AND DIRECTED BY CATHLEEN RIDDLEY
VISUAL DESIGN BY TROY ROCKETT
A group of activists have a major problem: their leader, Affinity, has abandoned them just when the group was about to launch a major initiative. Their Zoom planning sessions disintegrate into fights over who’s responsible for Affinity’s departure, threatening the success of the initiative and making it less likely they will ever work with Affinity again. The story will be told in three parts over the season, culminating in a full production in the Spring.
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DELANO
BY CARLOS AGUIRRE, JEFFREY LO, AND LISA RAMIREZ
DEVELOPED AND DIRECTED BY SEAN SAN JOSE
VISUAL DESIGN BY KRISTOFFER BARERRA
Delano explores the lead up to the Delano Grape Strike, through the perspectives of Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, and Larry Itliong, three humans that clashed, broke and dismayed each other, but ultimately changed the world. In the spirit of this intersecting movement and its challenges, each character is to be written by a different playwright – Jeffrey Lo (continuing the work he started on Itliong in T1’s 7 FINGERS), Carlos Aguirre (Chavez), and Lisa Ramirez (Huerta). The story will be told in three documentaries about the relationship each artist has to their character, culminating in a full production in the Spring.
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A MARRIAGE
BY TOM SWIFT
DEVELOPED AND DIRECTED BY BRENDAN SIMON
VISUAL DESIGN BY BEN EUPHRAT
On a quiet, lonely night, two unlikely men make the unlikely decision to fall in love. The play tells the story of that night and the thirty years that follow. The story will be told with two documentaries from the playwright and director about how their lived experiences inform the work, culminating in a full production in the Spring.
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YOU REALLY SHOULD SIT LIKE A LADY
BY LISA EVANS
DEVELOPED AND DIRECTED BY ASHLEY SMILEY
Using music and sound as a mixtape as framework, this solo piece is an exploration of the hilarious, perplexing and sometimes infuriating contradictions in the process of gender identity formation. The story will be told in three parts over the season, culminating in a full production in the Spring.
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WHAT’S IN A NAME
WRITTEN, DEVELOPED AND PERFORMED BY LADY ZEN
VISUAL DESIGN BY ALI ARDI & GERALDO CHARRETON
This hybrid, one-person play based on true events in the life of entertainer and storyteller Lady Zen. A South American orphan adopted by a missionary couple from Arkansas running a boarding school in Maringá, Brazil. A story of emotional turmoil and radical acceptance to become an international queer performing artist. Coming to us from San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, the story will be told with two documentaries about the making development process, culminating in a full production in the Spring.
Subscriptions to the season are $60 and will include all episodes. Each month, segments of three of the stories, as well as extensive dramaturgical and action packets, will be delivered to your inbox. Your subscription will also include access to the culminating full performances, whether they be online or in person. All stories, live or online, will include ASL interpretation.
Subscribe now at www.theatrefirst.com
Questions about the season: info@theatrefirst.com
