The third iteration of the Homebound Project features a stellar lineup performing new short plays from their homes
Who: Ralph Brown, Jennifer Carpenter, Thomas Sadoski, Diane Lane, Paola Lázaro, Joshua Leonard, Eve Lindley, Arian Moayed, Ashley Park, Will Pullen, Phillipa Soo, Blair Underwood
What: New online theatrical works to benefit No Kid Hungry
Where: Link supplied by the Homebound Project after donation and shortly before start of stream
When: June 24-28, $10 or more, 7:00
Why: The third edition of the Homebound Project, collections of ten short monologues created by Oscar-, Tony-, Emmy-, and Pulitzer Prize-winning actors, writers, and directors exploring intimate, personal reactions to the current pandemic, promises to be the best of the bunch, and it faces some pretty tough competition. A benefit for the national nonprofit No Kid Hungry, which, as part of Share Our Strength, seeks to solve poverty and hunger issues around the country, each set of mini-plays is available to watch online for four days only, with a minimum donation of ten dollars. In addition to experiencing provocative, compelling, poignant, and humorous takes on the coronavirus crisis, you get to see where these actors are sheltering in place; Amanda Seyfried’s ranch is particularly impressive.
The first lineup of actor/playwright combinations featured Christopher Abbott / Lucy Thurber, Glenn Davis / Ren Dara Santiago, William Jackson Harper / Max Posner, Jessica Hecht / Sarah Ruhl, Marin Ireland / Eliza Clark, Raymond Lee / Qui Nguyen, Alison Pill / C. A. Johnson, Elizabeth Rodriguez / Rajiv Joseph, Thomas Sadoski / Martyna Majok, and Amanda Seyfried / Catya McMullen, while the second iteration consisted of Ngozi Jane Anyanwu / Anne Washburn, Nicholas Braun / Will Arbery, Utkarsh Ambudkar / Marco Ramirez, Betty Gilpin / Lily Houghton, Kimberly Hébert Gregory / Loy A. Webb, Hari Nef / Ngozi Anyanwu, Mary-Louise Parker / Bryna Turner, Christopher Oscar Peña / Brittany K. Allen, Zachary Quinto / Adam Bock, Taylor Schilling / Sarah DeLappe, and Babak Tafti / David Zheng.
The third section, running June 24-28, raises the bar with the following actor/writer/director teams: Ralph Brown (The Ferryman) / Donnetta Lavinia Grays (Where We Stand) / Jenna Worsham (The Siblings Play); Daveed Diggs (Hamilton) / C. A. Johnson (All the Natalie Portmans); Diane Lane (The Mystery of Love and Sex) / Michael R. Jackson (A Strange Loop) / Taylor Reynolds (Plano); Paola Lázaro (To the Bone) / Gina Femia (ALLOND[R]A) / Taylor Reynolds; Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter) and Thomas Sadoski (Other Desert Cities) / John Guare (Six Degrees of Separation) / Jerry Zaks (The House of Blue Leaves); Joshua Leonard (Humpday) / Mara Nelson-Greenberg (Do You Feel Anger?); Eve Lindley (Dispatches from Elsewhere) / Daniel Talbott (Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, America, Kuwait) / Kevin Laibson (Ghosted); Arian Moayed (The Humans) / Xavier Galva (Twenty Five to White); Ashley Park (The King and I) / Bess Wohl (Small Mouth Sounds) / Leigh Silverman (Violet); Will Pullen (To Kill a Mockingbird) / Samuel D. Hunter (The Whale) / Jenna Worsham; Phillipa Soo (Hamilton) / Clare Barron (Dance Nation) / Steven Pasquale; and Blair Underwood (A Soldier’s Story) / Korde A. Tuttle (Graveyard Shift). We might not be able to go to the theater these days, but this is one of the smartest ways the theater is being brought to us, and all for a crucially important cause in very difficult times. And get ready for the fourth iteration, scheduled for July 15-19.