this week in theater

JODY SPERLING / TIME LAPSE DANCE: SINGLE USE

Jody Sperling

Jody Sperling dances on the Upper West Side in plastic bags in Single Use

Who: Jody Sperling, Jennifer Congdon
What: World premiere livestream from Jody Sperling/Time Lapse Dance
Where: Time Lapse Dance YouTube channel and Zoom
When: Wednesday, July 22, free with RSVP for Zoom talkback, 7:00
Why: Jody Sperling/Time Lapse Dance has been celebrating its twentieth anniversary season over twenty weeks during the pandemic, with online repertory works and new dances that you can view on its YouTube channel, including Turbulence, Book of Clouds, Wind Rose, and the quarantine dance Plastic Virus. Sperling continues the environmental theme with Single Use, which premieres on July 22 at 7:00. The nine-minute film is choreographed, performed, and edited by Sperling, with cinematography by Angela Hunter, costume by Lauren Gaston, and music by Matthew Burtner. As Single Use begins, Sperling, wearing a mask and gloves, is standing outside the Urban Outfitters store at Broadway and One Hundredth St.; signs in the window announce that March 20 was its last day in business. Sperling then drapes herself in plastic bags from numerous retail stores and dances around the neighborhood, embracing poles and hopping atop barriers, the swishing of the plastic bags in the wind accompanying her, along with the natural sounds of a nearly empty city. She looks like a homeless person or some lost plastic creature, seeking solace somewhere while taking risks and lamenting what we’ve done to the world.

The livestream will be followed by a Zoom talkback with Sperling and Jennifer Congdon, the development director of Beyond Plastics, a Bennington College-based organization whose “mission is to end plastic pollution by being a catalyst for change at every level of our society. We use our deep policy and advocacy expertise to build a well-informed, effective movement seeking to achieve the institutional, economic, and societal changes needed to save our planet, and ourselves, from the plastic pollution crisis.” Single Use will have you thinking not only about recycling but about how we can rejuvenate and revitalize New York City and the country in these challenging times. Time Lapse Dance’s twentieth anniversary continues July 29 with the online release of another new short film, along with a live chat, July 30 with an ecokinetics workshop, and August 6 with the online premiere of Ice Cycle, followed by a conversation with Sperling and Burtner.

TOMORROW WILL BE SUNDAY (working title) READING AND Q&A

working title

Who: Heather Raffo, Jenny Koons, Bill Buell, Laura Crotte, Carol Halstead, Mia Katigbak, CTC 2020 conservatory members
What: Online workshop reading of new play with Q&A
Where: CHQ Virtual Porch On Demand
When: Wednesday, July 22, free with RSVP (donations encouraged), 8:15
Why: During the pandemic, Chautauqua Institution in southwestern New York State has been hosting virtual events via its CHQ Virtual Porch hub, including the “Cocktails, Concerts & Conversations” series with members of Chautauqua Opera Company and Chautauqua Dance, master classes, lectures, and music recitals. On July 22 at 8:15, Chautauqua Theater Company will present a virtual reading of Tomorrow Will Be Sunday, a new play by Heather Raffo (Palace of the End, 9 Parts of Desire), directed by Jenny Koons (A Sucker Emcee, Queen of the Night). Performed by Bill Buell, Laura Crotte, Carol Halstead, Mia Katigbak, and members of the CTC 2020 conservatory, the play (with a working title) is a thriller that explores migration and the global economy. The reading will be followed by a live Q&A.

THE TENTH ANNUAL SHORT NEW PLAY FESTIVAL: PRIVATE LIVES

short new play festival

Who: Ali Ahn, Frankie J. Alvarez, Kathleen Chalfant, Lilli Cooper, Edmund Donovan, William Jackson Harper, Louisa Jacobson, Peter Francis James, Charlayne Woodard
What: Tenth annual Short New Play Festival
Where: Red Bull Live
When: Monday, July 20, free (donations accepted), 7:30 (stream can be viewed for four days)
Why: Theaters are traditionally dark on Mondays, but Red Bull has turned that night into must-see virtual evenings, with high-quality live reunion readings (The Government Inspector, Coriolanus, The Witch of Edmonton) and RemarkaBULL Podversations, in which actors (Chukwudi Iwuji, Elizabeth Marvel, Stephen Spinella, Kate Burton, Michael Urie) recite famous Shakespeare soliloquies and then discuss them. Next up is the tenth annual Short New Play Festival, which is also going virtual as a benefit fundraiser. The theme this year is, appropriately enough, “Private Lives,” inspired by Noël Coward’s 1930 comedy of manners, since we are all living rather private lives these days during the pandemic lockdown. The festival will be livestreamed on July 20 at 7:30, featuring new commissions by established playwrights Jeremy O. Harris (Slave Play, Daddy), who will premiere Fear and Misery of the Master Race (of the Brecht), and Theresa Rebeck (Seared, Seminar), who will present Something in the Ground, in addition to new work by emerging playwrights chosen through an open submission process: Ben Beckley’s Outside Time, without Extension, Avery Deutsch’s Old Beggar Women, Leah Maddrie’s Love — Adjacent, or Balcony Plays, Jessica Moss’s In the Attic, Matthew Park’s Plague Year, and Mallory Jane Weiss’s Evermore Unrest. As you can tell by the titles, the impact of the coronavirus crisis is likely to figure prominently. The outstanding cast consists of Ali Ahn, Frankie J. Alvarez, Kathleen Chalfant, Lilli Cooper, Edmund Donovan, William Jackson Harper, Louisa Jacobson, Peter Francis James, and Charlayne Woodard, with direction by Vivienne Benesch, Mêlisa Annis, and Em Weinstein.

#IRISHREPONLINE: THE WEIR

Who: Dan Butler, Sean Gormley, John Keating, Tim Ruddy, Amanda Quaid
What: Live online performance
Where: Irish Rep online
When: July 21-25, free with advance RSVP (suggested donation $25),
Why: One of Irish Repertory Theatre’s most popular recent productions is Conor McPherson’s ghostly The Weir. The work debuted in England in 1997 and on Broadway two years later; Irish Rep first staged it in 2013 and again in 2015 by popular demand. The company is now bringing it back for an online version running July 21-25, following the success of its livestreamed adaptation of Yes! Reflections of Molly Bloom and the new short pandemic-related tale The Gifts You Gave to the Dark. The six live performances reunite three members of the original Irish Rep production, Sean Gormley as Finbar, John Keating as Jim, and Dan Butler as Jack, with Tim Ruddy as Brendan and Amanda Quaid as Valerie. The show is directed by Irish Rep cofounder Ciarán O’Reilly. McPherson is an Irish Rep institution; the company has also staged Dublin Carol, St. Nicholas, Port Authority, Shining City, and The Seafarer. Irish Rep has done exceptional work during the pandemic; don’t miss what should be a thrilling show.

TNC ON THE AIR: VISITORS IN THE DARK

visitors

Who: Charles Busch, Julie Halston, Becky London, Ruth Williamson, Carl Andress
What: Online reading of new play
Where: Theater for the New City Facebook Live
When: Monday, July 20, free (donations accepted), 7:00
Why: On May 13, Stars in the House presented a live, one-time-only reading of Charles Busch’s wonderful comedy, The Confessions of Lily Dare, which ran at the Cherry Lane earlier this year. On July 20 at 7:00, the downtown institution Theater for the New City is hosting the world premiere of Busch’s latest work, Visitors in the Dark, on Facebook Live. The play, directed and narrated by longtime Busch collaborator Carl Andress, features Busch as Trina, Julie Halston as Hope, Becky London as Lou, and Ruth Williamson as Yvonne, four characters who find themselves trapped in a Greenwich Village tenement during the Northeast Blackout of 1965, evocative of the current situation with everyone still sheltering in place during the pandemic lockdown. Busch, an actor, playwright, cabaret performer, and drag legend, has either written and/or starred in such works as The Allergist’s Wife, Olive and the Bitter Herbs, The Tribute Artist, Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, and Die Mommie Die! The virtual production is part of TNC “On the Air,” which has previously streamed Roberto Monticello’s Café Resistance, Melanie Goodreaux’s The White Blacks, Claude Solnick’s The Statement, William Electric Black’s I Will Never Clean My Room and The Cry, and Eva Dorrepaal’s Raising a Revolutionary, among others. As always, admission is free, but donations are accepted to support this New York City jewel.

GRUDGES

grudges zoom

Who: Knowledge Workings Theater Company
What: Livestreamed play about family and politics
Where: Zoom link sent after ticket purchase
When: July 16-24, $10-$20
Why: Last year, satirist Joe Queenan and actor, director, and producer T. J. Elliott kicked off their Knowledge Workings Theater Company with Alms, a play about sports, religion, and homelessness. They’ve followed that up with Grudges, a comic tale of two brothers torn apart by the 2016 presidential election. The cast features John Blaylock as Matthew McCarthy, Lynne Otis as Faith Vergaretti McCarthy, James Lawson as Paul McCarthy, Jasmine Dorothy Haefner as Candy Cruz, and Andre Montgomery as Jerry Marcus, with Ed Altman serving as narrator; Matthew and Paul are considering reconciling over dinner after two years of battling over Donald Trump and Barack Obama, two names they are not allowed to say to each other. Directed by Dora Endre, the piece will be performed live seven times on Zoom July 16-24; tickets are $10-$20. I’ve been enjoying Queenan’s Wall Street Journal column “Moving Targets” for several years; he has also offered his view on the state of the country in such books as Balsamic Dreams: A Short But Self-Important History of the Baby Boomer Generation; Red Lobster, White Trash, and the Blue Lagoon: Joe Queenan’s America; and The Unkindest Cut: How a Hatchet-Man Critic Made His Own $7,000 Movie and Put It All on His Credit Card. So Grudges promises to be sharp, biting, and funny; just don’t hold a grudge against me if it isn’t.

NY CLASSICAL REUNION READING: THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST

importance

Who: Ademide Akintilo, Kristen Calgaro, Connie Castanzo, Jed Peterson, Kate Goehring, John Michalski, Tina Stafford, Clay Storseth
What: Live reunion reading of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest
Where: NY Classical online
When: Thursday, July 16, free with RSVP, 8:00
Why: Last year, NY Classical Theatre presented a unique version of Oscar Wilde’s classic Victorian farce, The Importance of Being Earnest, indoors and outdoors, with all the actors switching roles and gender for each performance, which took place in A.R.T./New York’s Mezzanine Theatre, Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park, and Carl Schurz Park. As part of its virtual programming during the pandemic lockdown, the troupe is bringing back the original cast for a live reunion reading on July 16 at 8:00, featuring Ademide Akintilo as Algernon, Kristen Calgaro as Gwendolen, Connie Castanzo as Cecily, Jed Peterson as Jack, Kate Goehring as Lady Bracknell, John Michalski as Merriman, Tina Stafford as Miss Prism, and Clay Storseth as Dr. Chasuble. Directed by Stephen Burdman, the reading will be available for viewing through July 20. “Oh, pleasure, pleasure! What else should bring one anywhere?” Jack says in the play. We could all use some pleasure in our lives these days, even as we’re stuck at home, going nowhere.