THE PLAYS

 

SUMMER STORM by Jaisey Bates

directed by Melanie Burke

 

Two spoken word poem plays: “’before the worst shooting in u.s. history,’ they were dancing” and “I had a dream but now I’m woke” about the shooting at PULSE Nightclub and the killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castille.

 

CRAM SCHOOL SNOW DAY by Reina Hardy

directed by Rob Kimbro

 

Phones no longer have internet, the Great Republic has just acquired a sniper corps, and five cram school teachers are stuck at school on a Saturday snow day. No children have arrived. Suddenly chanting and the sounds of gunfire spill in from the streets outside.

 

STOP FRISK by Rich Rubin

directed by Cheramie Hopper

 

A White cop stops a Black man on his way to visit a friend. After pinning him to the ground and taking his ID, the officer realizes that this was the high school football star he revered 20 years ago.

 

GYM CLASS HEROES by Dillon Rouse

directed by Mara McGhee

 

How hard would you work for a second chance? Marv, Ray, Lilly, and Harry push themselves past the limit at a Mixed Martial Arts gym – each with a past and literally fighting for a better future.

 

DOLPHINS AND SHARKS by James Tyler

directed by Vicky Comesanas

 

When new printers and computers keep appearing and the cost of printing keeps going up, Yusef and Isabel, who are making just over minimum wage at the Harlem print shop, debate whether or not to confront their manager about getting the raise they were promised upon hire – but at the risk of losing their jobs altogether, is it worth it?

 

NORTH BEND by Ariene Jaffe

directed by Lauren Hance

 

A mother packing boxes of non-perishable foods and wrapped cash explains to her son their plans to move away to North Bend, WA – off the grid and back to basics. Meanwhile her son, who suffers from paranoid personality disorder, keeps rambling about enemies lurking and arms himself to eradicate them. The question is: is he warning his mother about them or the voices in his head about his mother?