Urban Stages' September Play Fest and Fundraiser Features Four Plays

Urban Stages Artistic Producing Director, Frances Hill, announces Urban Stages' September Play Fest & Fundraiser, a series of virtual readings of plays by Urban Stages' artists. These online performances will fundraise to continue the theater's decades long efforts of discovering and producing new plays by diverse up-and-coming artists. Each performance will be accompanied by a behind-the-scenes look at the play with interviews of playwrights conducted by Craig Horsley (Urban Stages Board Member). Plays will be available for a limited time on urbanstages.org where viewers can also support Urban Stages and the creation of new theater by donating.

"The art of live performances is special. It must survive COVID. We are all looking forward to when we can climb back safely in the theater and experience the work of these artists. For now, in addition to a large amount of online programming already available on urbanstages.org, we are bringing four plays that explore relationships and how we care for each other to our virtual stage"
- Frances Hill, Artistic Director

From September 2nd to September 6th, Bars and Measures by Idris Goodwin will return online with the original fall 2019 cast: Shabazz Green, Roderick Lawrence, Abraham Makany and Salma Shaw with director Kristan Seemel. From September 9th to September 13th, #NWord by Christian Elder, directed by Vincent Scott, will be available online featuring Bethel Caram, Shabazz Green, Paul Kelly and Disnie Sebastien. From September 16th to September 20nd, The Incels by Ruth Zamoyta will be available, directed by Kim T. Sharp, featuring Jason Asher, Grant Bowen, Christopher Daftsios, Mat Labotka, Chris Marshall. From September 23rd to September 27th, The Silverfish by Megan Loughran, directed by Jennifer Werner will be available; cast TBA. Shows will premiere at 7:00pm on the first day and end at 7:00pm on the last day, running for four days each. Ryan Belock will serve as video designer and editor. Vincent Scott will assist as series producer.

Bars and Measures by Idris Goodwin is a tale of two brothers. One a classical pianist. The other a jazz bass player. One a Christian. The other a Muslim. One living in freedom. The other in jail. Separated by bars, can the brothers reconcile their differences through the language they know best: Music? Inspired by a true New York story, this play is an irrepressible journey through faith, family, melody and time.

Bars and Measures made its New York premiere at Urban Stages October 18 thru November 17, 2019. The New York Times praised it as "A Smart Supple Production...handsomely polished" and "A tale about getting lost, and whether and how you can find your way back." (Laura Collins-Hughes).

Theater Pizzazz hailed the production as "Theater of the highest caliber...electrifying actors, a hot theatrical experience." (Tania Fisher).

#NWORD by Christian Elder: VAUGHN, the Black mother of an eight-year-old boy named Memphis, confronts MACK, a white real estate broker at an open house in SoHo. A video posted online captures a white woman's daughter, Hazel, calling Memphis the "n word" on the school bus. Accusations of racism are debated between the school administration and parents. The event has repercussions on the women's marital lives, drawing their husbands TOM and JAKE into the conflict. Eventually, both couples evolve past the incident becoming friends over the following year. When an unexpected death reveals betrayal, ugly tensions rise to the surface again and expose disturbing truths.

THE INCELS by Ruth Zamoyta: Tom and Derrick are depressed, bitter men who can't get girlfriends. Tom records his manifesto on his vlog, telling tales of fruitless encounters with women ... as well as his plan to rid the world of sexuality. Derrick has a YouTube channel in which he teaches other men how to survive in the backwoods ... and obsesses about the young woman he's stalking. Pat is a MGTOW ("Men Going Their Own Way") who teaches incels how to find happiness in a solitary lifestyle. When Tom and Derrick turn violent, can Pat convince them to put down their guns?

The Incels was developed at a reading at Urban Stages and at New Jersey Play Lab in 2020 through its comprehensive Residency Program.

THE SILVERFISH by Megan Loughran: Beth and Brandon are young and in love and they have no money. They're living in Brooklyn pursuing careers they are passionate about. Which is another way of saying they have no money. When they're suddenly thrown a Godawful, expensive curveball, they combine their desperation with their underutilized talents and come up with a plan. It might not be a plan that "good people" would go for, but when you're young and in love and desperate and poor, the word "good" can mean a lot of things.