MAY 30 TO JUNE 29
WP THEATER, 2162 BROADWAY @ 76TH STREET
WOODIE KING, JR.'S NEW FEDERAL THEATRE PRESENTS "THE WASH"
In 1881, Black laundresses in Atlanta led a strike weeks before the International Cotton Exposition came to town, demanding $1/week. The Atlanta Washerwomen’s Strike of 1881 became one of the largest, successful interracial labor strikes of the post-Civil War era. "The Wash" by Kelundra Smith offers an intimate and often funny look at ordinary women who initiated and led the strike, transforming themselves from workers to fighters. Woodie King, Jr.'s New Federal Theatre will present the play's New York premiere May 29 to June 29, directed by Awoye Timpo.

COMPLETE INFO: www.jsnyc.com/season/The_Wash.htm
HISTORICAL PHOTOS: https://photos.app.goo.gl/9j5XxNjzSH5LQD1o8

JUNE 19 TO JULY 6
NEW THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
"A HOUSE FULL OF FLIES"
"A House Full of Flies," written and directed by WillieAnn Gissendanner, is a meditation on family, identity, religion and the corrosive legacy of racism and repression. Set in a small town in Georgia across two turbulent eras, 1937 and the early 1990s, it weaves a haunting narrative of misunderstanding, delusion, deceit, and ego--fueled by religious dogma and racist mythology-- that have heartbreaking consequences. At the heart of the story is Savannah Holster, a Black American Christian woman who is a widow. She lives by her wits and presents her grown children as siblings, possibly to obscure her age. She is emotionally scarred by racist humiliations her family suffered in her childhood. From her kitchen table, she runs a faith-based healing practice, finding meaning and control in her strict religiosity. When she becomes involved with her lawyer, a rising white conservative politician, her world begins to unravel. The play is resonant with the folklore, atmosphere and dialect of 20th century central Georgia.

COMPLETE INFO: www.jsnyc.com/season/house_flies.htm
PHOTOS: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Udxph8z69D9VgFJP9

JULY 2 TO 5
THE CHAIN, 312 W. 36TH STREET
"MEASURE FOR MEASURE" AND "THE TEMPEST"
Renaissance Now Theatre & Film, led by Kathy Curtiss, specializes in freely adapting Shakespearean plays with additions of dialogue in contemporary prose. This "now speak" is used to highlight social issues, including political and moral themes, from the viewpoint of characters in the plays. The company returns this summer with its third season of "now speak" productions in New York, performing "The Tempest" and "Measure For Measure" in repertory July 2 to 5 at The Chain Theatre, 312 West 36th Street, 4th floor. "The Tempest" will be presented in Jacobean costume design and period setting, recalling when voyages to the new world may have inspired the tale. "Measure for Measure" will use modern dress to enrich the play's socio-political themes with recognizable contemporary types.

COMPLETE INFO: www.jsnyc.com/season/renaissance2025.htm
PHOTOS: https://photos.app.goo.gl/VeVTg5CwcQP7UWv19

JULY 17 TO AUGUST 2
PARKING LOT OF LOWER EAST SIDE PREP, 145 STANTON STREET
SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARKING LOT, "A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM"
The Drilling Company's Shakespeare in the Parking Lot is presenting its 30th season this summer. Its concept--presenting Shakespeare plays with a "poor theater" aesthetic in a working parking lot--is now widely imitated around the US and around the world, with productions as far away as New Zealand. From July 17 to August 2, free performances of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," directed by Hamilton Clancy, will be offered in the schoolyard/ parking lot of Lower East Side Prep, 145 Stanton Street (@ Norfolk/Rivington).

PHOTOS: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Qay1AdN7jCKMdVF28

AUGUST 24 TO SEPTEMBER 14
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
"DREAM UP FESTIVAL"
Theater for the New City will present its thirteenth Dream Up Festival,  an ultimate new works festival dedicated to the joy of discovering talented authors of all backgrounds and original, innovative performances.

The Festival is helmed by the theater's Literary Manager, Michael Scott-Price.  It plans to offer about 20 plays, a mix of world premieres, American premieres and New York premieres. Audiences will savor the excitement, awe, passion, challenge and intrigue of new plays from around the globe. Applications are being accepted from interested performance groups and individuals through May 28.

The motto of the festival is “Dream Up: Invent, Concoct.” Plays, dance theater, solo works and interdisciplinary material are welcome.

The festival does not seek out traditional scripts that are presented in a traditional way. It selects works that push new ideas to the forefront, challenge audience expectations and make us question our understanding of how art illuminates the world around us.

VIDEO ON DEMAND

"USED AND BORROWED TIME" BY SOPHIA ROMMA
"Used and Borrowed Time," written and directed by Sophia Romma, is now available on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Roku and the Vyre Network. This experimental avant-garde film, a psychological drama phantasma, has amassed over 45 festival awards and 26 festival film selections. An interracial couple's idyllic love rises above the hatred of a vengeful white supremacist family in segregationist Alabama during the 1960s. The film pays homage to the French New Wave films of Goddard, Truffaut and Agnès Varda. It has been translated from its original English into Greek, Spanish and Italian.

COMPLETE INFO: www.usedandborrowedtime.com

THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY & NEW YIDDISH REP PRODUCTION OF "THE DYBBUK"
"The Dybbuk" is arguably the most well-known play in the Yiddish theater lexicon. It was premiered on December 9, 1920 by the Vilna Troupe at the Eizeum theater in Warsaw. Its success catapulted that company onto the International stage. It has since been translated into 27 languages and performed worldwide. From December 9-13, New Yiddish Rep celebrated the play's 100th birthday with a live performance streamed from Theater For The New City. A recording of the production has now been released for the general public to view on Vimeo.

MORE INFO: www.jsnyc.com/season/Dybbuk.htm

"Feathers of Fire" is the most elaborate shadow theater experience ever created, and this recording, captured on an actual theater stage, transforms it into a video-on-demand production for all ages. The story is adapted from Shahnameh (the Persian Book of Kings) and tells the action-packed tale of two star-crossed lovers of old Persia. Zaul, an outcast albino boy, is brought up by a bird-goddess and grows up into a wise ruler. He enters into a forbidden love with Rudabeh, a princess who is the granddaughter of the dreaded Serpent King. Their young, impetuous romance survives many precarious adventures before they finally receive blessings for their union. When they ultimately have a child, it is Rostam, "the Hercules of Iran." Aspects of the story are reminiscent of "Romeo and Juliet," "Rapunzel," "The Firebird" and "Jungle Book."

The piece is created and directed by Hamid Rahmanian, a 2014 Guggenheim fellowship-winning filmmaker/visual artist living in Brooklyn. It is endorsed by Francis Ford Coppola, who called the production "Fantastic! One of the greatest epics of all time and my favorite Shahnameh brought to life in a spectacular fashion by Hamid Rahmanian with shadow puppets design and cinematic wizardry."

COMPLETE INFO: www.jsnyc.com/season/feathers.htm