WP Theatre, led by Artistic Director Producer Lisa McNulty and General Manager Michael Sag, announces the 2022 lineup for Pipeline Party, the fourth biennial showcase of artists in its renowned WP Lab residency for playwrights, directors and producers. Back live and in person March 24 through May 14, 2022 at the WP Theater (2162 Broadway, 76and Street), with production to stream, the festival is the culmination of the WP Lab’s celebrated two-year residency, offering audiences a unique opportunity to see five new works in various stages of development, ranging from staged readings to streaming movies. , to full studio productions – presented over a period of several weeks.
The Festival, true to its name, serves as a pipeline to channel the work of talented Women+ artists into the forefront of American theater. Each piece is created and produced by collaborative teams of writers/directors/producers from the WP Lab residency program.
The WP Lab 2020-2022 artists are:
Playwrights: Gethsemane Herron-Coward (she/her), Nambi E. Kelley (she/her), Haruna Lee (they),
Zizi Majid (her), Daaimah Mubashshir (her)
DIRECTORS: Miranda Haymon (her/her), Chika Ike (her), Sophiyaa Nayar (her),
Machel Ross (she/her), Katherine Wilkinson (she/they)
PRODUCERS: Iyvon E. (her), BJ Evans (her), Kristin Leahey (her),
Ayana Parker Morrison (her), Cynthia J. Tong (her)
The WP Playwrights Lab is led by WP Production Artistic Director Lisa McNulty and Mellon Foundation Playwright-in-Residence Cori Thomas; the Directors Lab is led by WP BOLD Associate Artistic Director and Lab Alum Rebecca Martínez, Tony Award-nominated director Leigh Silverman and Working Theater Co-Artistic Director and Lab Alum Tamilla Woodard; and the Producers Lab is led by Lab Alums Roxanna Barrios (Arts Program Producer, Public Theater) and WP BOLD Art Development Consultant Nidia Medina.
Previous Festival works have included Pulitzer Prize winner Martyna Majok queens (later made at LCT3), Sarah Burgess’ kings (produced at the Public Theater), by Sylvia Khoury power strip (produced at LCT3), and Jonathan Larson Fellowship recipients Zoe Sarnak and Emily Kaczmarek Afloat. by Charly Evon Simpson sand, initially scheduled for Pipeline Festiva 2020I, is currently performing at the Vineyard Theater in a co-production with WP Theater.
Tickets for Pipeline Party are now on sale via WWW.WPTHEATER.ORG/ 888.811.4111. Festival passes are available for $60. The schedule of performances is as follows: Thursday at 7:00 p.m., Friday at 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. and Saturday at 8:00 p.m. Broadcast details for plural (love) will be announced shortly.
Screenplay cover of Penelope, or how the Odyssey was really written Photo credit: Courtesy of York Theater Company.
The York Theater Company is in rehearsal for the world premiere of Penelope, or how the Odyssey was really writtena new musical with book and lyrics by Peter Kellogg (York’s Desperate measures) and music by Stephen Weiner (The rivals), directed and choreographed by Emily Maltby (York’s Lolita, my love), with musical direction and orchestrations by David Hancock Turner (York’s Cheek to cheek, desperate measures) and vocal arrangements by David Hancock Turner, Steve Delehanty and Stephen Weiner.
Renderings of sets designed by James Morgan for Penelope, Or How The Odyssey Was Really Written. Photo credit: Courtesy of York Theater Company.
Penelope begins performances Tuesday, March 22, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. for a limited engagement through Sunday afternoon, April 24, 2022, at 2:30 p.m. at York’s temporary home, The Theater at St. Jean’s (150 East 76th Street, between Lexington and Third Avenues). The opening night is set for Thursday March 31, 2022 at 7:00 p.m.
Costume renderings designed by Lex Liang for Penelope, Or How The Odyssey Was Really Written. Photo credit: Courtesy of York Theater Company.
Penelope is married to Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. She is currently waiting for him to return from the Trojan War. She has been waiting for a long time: twenty years; ten years after the end of the war. A multitude of suitors have gathered, each wanting to marry her and take over the kingdom. To delay them, Penelope writes herself letters and pretends that they are from Odysseus, saying that he is on his way. She does not know that her collected letters create the story of The Odyssey. (Since no one knows who really wrote The Odyssey, this theory is as good as any.) Meanwhile, the suitors, with nothing to do but eat and drink, form an a cappella group – the acoustics of the Great Hall are wonderful.
Standing (left to right) Jacob Alexander Simon, George Slotin,
Sean Thompson, Cooper Howell, Britney Nicole Simpson, Ben Jacoby, Philippee Arroyo, Leah Hocking;
Kneeling (left to right) Maria Wirries, David LaMarr.
Photo credit: Courtesy of York Theater Company.
Characteristics of the ten-member cast Philippe Arroyo(Aladdin) like Telemachus, Lea Hocking(Billy Elliot)like Eurycleia, Cooperhowell (Emojiland)like Antinous, Ben Jacoby(Wonderful) like Ulysses, David LaMarr(Jersey Boys) like Mileter, Jacob Alexandre Simon (A chorus line)like Bassano, Britney Nicole Simpson(The beauty and the Beast) like Penelope, Georges Slotin(High Button Shoes) like Haius, Sean Thompson(Sunset Boulevard) like Barius, and Maria Wiries(Dear Evan Hansen) like Daphne.
The creative team (left to right) Peter Kellogg, Stephen Weiner, Joseph Hayward, Emily Maltby, Becca Fox, David Hancock Turner (music director/orchestrations/vocal arrangements). Photo credit: Courtesy of York Theater Company
Britney Nicole Simpson (Penelope).
Photo credit: Courtesy of York Theater Company
Ben Jacoby (Ulysses) Photo credit: Courtesy of York Theater Company.
Leah Hocking, Britney Nicole Simpson, Maria Wirries. Photo credit: Courtesy of York Theater Company.
Cooper Howell, Britney Nicole Simpson, Ben Jacoby. Photo credit: Courtesy of York Theater Company.
Red Bull Theater (Jesse Berger, Founder & Artistic Director | Jim Bredeson, Managing Director) today announced three special events to celebrate Women’s History Month: Margaret Cavendish Online Reading The Convent of Pleasure, directed by Kim Weild, presented in collaboration with R/18 Collective. This benefit reading is “Pay what you can”. All current Red Bull online programs are FREE. Consider reserving your ticket with a tax-deductible donation. The Convent of Pleasurewill air live Monday, March 14 at 7:30 p.m. EST. Casting announced soon.
First published in 1668, The Convent of Pleasure, was written as a hidden drama – a play meant to be read rather than performed. In its 354 year history there have been very few public performances and Red Bull is delighted to offer this opportunity to hear Margaret Cavendish’s play read aloud with the support of R/18 Collective.
Prior to the reading, there will be an accompanying program on Monday, March 7 at 7:30 p.m. EST: “The Closet or the Stage? A conversation about Margaret Cavendish The Convent of Pleasure», a Zoom webinar broadcast live. Four experts on modern British literature, theater and culture – Misty G. Anderson, Liza Blake, Julie Crawford and Kristina Straub – discuss Margaret Cavendish, a 17th-century polymath and aristocrat who wrote, among other things, the drama hidden, The Convent of Pleasure. For more information, visit RedBullTheater.com. Or click to register online.
And, following the live reading, there will be a free online Bull Session on Thursday, March 17 at 7:30 p.m. EST: an interactive discussion about the play and its themes with director Kim Weild, renowned scholars, and members of the company. The livestream will be on Youtube with chat.
Vineyard Theater announced Lessons in Survival: 1971 will now receive a full production on the Vineyard Stage from May 25 to June 30. In 1971, 28-year-old poet Nikki Giovanni interviewed famed novelist James Baldwin, 47, on America’s first “Black Tonight Show,” SOUL! Fifty years later, Lessons in Survival: 1971 reintroduces their candid and provocative dialogue on race and liberation in America in our present moment. Based on the digital exploration of lessons of survival, which was recognized by The New York Times as Best in Theater 2020, this eye-opening production explores the layers of intimacy and ideas between two revolutionary Black artists of different generations, with stunning resonance for today. The previously announced world premiere of Sandra from Obie Award-winning playwright David Cale and Obie Award-winning director Leigh Silverman will now open Vineyard’s 2022-23 season in the fall. This single-player thriller brings together the Harry Clark (2018 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo Show) playwright and director and features an original piano score by Matthew Dean Marsh. In this new solo thriller, Sandra seeks to shed light on the mysterious disappearance of her closest friend, a young pianist and composer, who traveled to Mexico and never returned. Her search for clues leads her both into a highly charged love story and into increasingly dangerous territory. Currently on view through March 13 at The Vineyard’s home in Union Square is the world premiere of Charly Evon Simpson sand, directed by Summer L. Williams, who is making her directorial debut in New York. sand is a co-production with WP Theater, the first of a two-show collaboration between the companies. sand stars Marinda Anderson (I miss you like hell), Brittany Bellizeare (The bluest eye), Andy Lucien (“The Blacklist”) and Rolonda Watts (“Rolonda”).
