RECOVERING TOGETHER
While we look forward to having communal experiences in person, we have continued to make theatre readily accessible during this time. Starting in the spring of last season we shifted our focus to curating remote offerings and ended up having an incredible season. In 2020-2021, we have continued bringing theatrical experiences to the public, reaching more people than we ever have, and having the opportunity to provide much-needed compensation to actors, playwrights, designers, and directors.
5X5 DRAMA SERIES
The 5X5 Drama Series consists of 5 short plays with 5 casts and in the past has been performed in all 5 boroughs. This season because of quarantine due to COVID-19, we commissioned 5 plays to be written specifically for a remote medium and directed and performed by artists all over the United States. Reaching over 30,000 viewers, we also highlighted locally owned businesses in each borough that have been serving their communities during this difficult time. Best of all, tickets were available on a suggested donation basis.
WET INK SERIES 2020
Partnering with the Division of Theatre and the Meadows School at Southern Methodist University in Texas, Theatre East produced readings of new plays by student theatre artists. The plays were live-streamed on November 9th and 10th with a mix of student and professional actors and stage managers, directed by NYC-based professionals and SMU faculty members. Junior and senior SMU playwrights wrote the short plays based on the prompt inspired by the late John Lewis:
“Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of the day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”
PROCESSING...
Four 2020 high school graduates play an online game of Monopoly while trying to reconcile their clashing memories of their late computer science teacher. As their disagreements divide them, it becomes a question whether the young women will even be able to stay together long enough to finish the game. With the energy of a “Let’s Play” combined with the intimacy of a private video call, PROCESSING… humorously and honestly examines how we collectively acknowledge the past to proceed forwards.
10 LIVE PERFORMANCES
WET INK SERIES 2021
Theatre East is fortunate to partner again with the Division of Theatre and the Meadows School at Southern Methodist University in Texas to virtually produce readings of new plays by student theatre artists. The plays will be live-streamed on March 22nd and 23rd combining student and professional actors and stage managers, directed by NYC-based and Texas-based professionals. Junior and senior SMU playwrights are writing the short plays based on the prompt, “Change Takes Courage”
In 2021, Americans are tasked to look to our present and to move into our future. To address the events of 2020 with the courage to create positive change in ourselves and our social and political systems. How can we be fearless and bold as we embrace and use lessons in social justice and social activism in order to dismantle systemic exclusion and oppression? How can we demonstrate courage with ourselves and others to create inclusive, positive change?