UglyRhino to Present Taylor Mac's OKAY at Bushwick's Central Arts
By: Tyler Peterson Apr. 19, 2016
UglyRhino Productions has announced today that they will bring Taylor Mac's OKAY to Bushwick's new Central Arts in a newly conceived environmental production for 13 performances only, starting May 12 through 28.
There's a baby in the bathroom, troops on the ground in Iraq, and Christina Aguilera blaring from the speakers - it's 2003 and the night of the senior prom in OKAY, a play by Obie Award-winning playwright Taylor Mac. Inspired by true events, OKAY is the story of a teenage girl giving birth in a bathroom during her senior prom. Friends and enemies pass through, hyped from the party and unaware of the life-altering circumstances in the next stall. Coming of age in a post-9/11 world isn't easy, and these seven teenagers have a lot of decisions to make... but tonight, they just want to dance.
Originally performed as a one-man show by Taylor Mac himself, UglyRhino's newly conceived production of OKAY will feature an ensemble of seven actors. Directed by Danny Sharron, this production will be staged in an environmental setting, in which Central Arts will be transformed into a prom circa 2003. Audiences will be immersed in the life of the prom - joining in on the drama, drinks and dancing.
The cast includes: Vanessa Bretas (The Dance Cartel), Stephen Chacon (Mr. Robot), Will Dagger (The Convent of Pleasure at The Cherry Lane), Manini Gupta (I Love You But I Lied), Delano Montgomery, Eli Pauley (Tribes at Barrington Stage), and Lindsay Rico (Song for a Future Generation at the Williamstown Theatre Festival).
The design team for OKAY includes scenic design by Gabriel Firestone, costume design by Angela Harner, lighting design by Isabella Byrd, and sound design by Valentine Monfuega. The production was originally developed as a part of the Professional Training Program at the Williamstown Theatre Festival.
Taylor Mac has been named one of New York and the country's best theater artists by The New York Times, American Theater Magazine, The Village Voice, Time Out NY, and The New Yorker. A playwright, actor, and singer-songwriter, Mr. Mac's work has been performed at New York City's Lincoln Center and The Public Theater, the Sydney Opera House, American Repertory Theatre, Stockholm's Sodra Theater, the Spoleto Festival, Dublin's Project Arts Centre, London's Soho Theatre, and literally hundreds of other theatres, museums, music halls, cabarets, and festivals around the globe. Mr. Mac is the author of sixteen full-length plays and performance pieces including Hir (performed at Playwrights Horizons in 2015), The Lily's Revenge (Obie Award), and The Walk Across America for Mother Earth (named One of the Best Plays of 2011 by The New York Times).
Danny Sharron is a NYC-based director and producer with a focus on developing new work, and is the founding Artistic Director of UglyRhino Productions. UglyRhino credits include: We Gotta Get Out of Here Alive by Boo Killebrew, What It Means To Disappear Here by Jeremy J. Kamps, and #nyc by Kyle Warren. Other directing: Ana Gasteyer: Swing With A Handsome Woman, jason&julia by Jenny Rachel Weiner (Williamstown Theatre Festival); The Forest of Without by Bradley Cherna (Drama League); The School Play by Frank Winters (NYU Tisch/Strasberg). He has developed work with The Public Theater, Ars Nova, Ma-Yi, and The Lark; is an alumnus of the Ars Nova Director's Troupe; and was a 2013 Drama League Directing Fellow. He is also the recipient of the 2016 Bill Foeller Directing Fellowship at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, where he will develop a new piece alongside playwright Jason Kim.
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