Downtown Urban Theater Festival Celebrates 10th Anniversary With 15 New Plays

The Downtown Urban Theater Festival (DUTF) launches "NEXT STOP: Downtown for Real Theater!" campaign for its 10^th Anniversary season and features "15 writers from America's burgeoning multicultural landscape from Los Angeles to New York City who have come to share their stories that interpret our history and our times."  

To commemorate this special season, DUTF returns to its inaugural stage at HERE in SoHo, NYC on March 14 with an opening night tribute to the legendary Adrienne Kennedy, recipient of Lifetime Achievement awards from the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards and OBIE Awards, and closes on March 31 with showcase performances of A TRAIN, a new musical created by DUTF and directed by Reg E. Gaines, Tony-nominated writer of Bring in da Noise Bring in da Funk.

 

2012 Schedule:

 

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

DEATH BOOGIE by Darian Dauchan

Death Boogie is a Hip Hop poetry musical that follows the fictional story of Victor Spartan, a blue collar worker who lives a comatose lifestyle by day and at night, hears the poetic sounds of revolution.

 

Thursday, March 15, 2012

KINGS by Anna Governali

As graffiti artist Israel Flores sets out to become king, he finds his mother and himself.

 

Friday, March 16, 2012

UNDERTOW by Mel Nieves

An estrange couple are reunited at a family wake, finding themselves reminiscing on a rooftop, reigniting a long lost flicker, that at least for one of them brings the hope of a possible heart saving flame.

 

Saturday, March 17, 2012

ASYLUM by Cheril N. Clarke

Based on the true story of a young lesbian who fled Uganda to escape death at the hands of her own family, Asylum is a dramatic recount of one woman's journey through tender moments of exploration and self-definition to a horrific series of consequential events. 

 

 

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

CO-OP by Barbara Kahn

Martha, a victim of gentrification, faces her new life on the streets with humor, optimism and a will to survive. Returning to the sidewalk in front of her former home, she tries to sell enough of her meager belongings to passersby to get along for the day.

AND

SH*THOLE by Camilo Almonacid

Toribio quits his job in Staten Island and heads to the city for new hopes.  But sometimes you can get your ass kicked just for walking.

 

Thursday, March 22, 2012

RESERVATIONS FOR 4 by Sam Sommer

Four gay friends meet at a new restaurant for a casual dinner.  The conversation quickly bubbles over in a spicy mélange of humor, innuendo and a smattering of bitchy repartee; but the main focus is one of enduring friendships.  Reservations For 4 is a humorous look at the meaning of friendship (warts and all), and what it is that binds us together.

AND

SUICIDE NOTES by Adam Esquenazi Douglas           

A once-in-an-end-of-a-lifetime experience, Suicide Notes is a one-performer show exploring the reasons why so many of us engage in one of the world's oldest activities: suicide. A titillating, heart-and-neck-breaking theatrical journey as incendiary as it is intimate.

 

Friday, March 23, 2012

KINGDOM COME By Matthew Osceola Webster

Kingdom Come is a musical about stories, memories and connections centered around the events of September 11, 2001.  Led by interview-style vignettes, Kingdom Come strives to take you back to "where you were," and challenges you to move into the future.

 

Saturday, March 24, 2012

SER: L.A. VS. B.A. by Karen Anzoategui

A transnational queer tale of choosing between Buenos Aires: the soccer mecca burning in her heart, and Los Angeles: the land of peace and plenty. In the middle of it all she fights her way out of dresses and into soccer gear and faces yet another question: Who will be the object of her affection, the boys on the field or the girls in the stands?

 

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

JANE TAKES IT IN by Susannah Nolan

The normal chaos of a late-to-school/late-to-work morning turns not normal at all when Jane catches Luke looking at internet porn instead of last night's sports scores.  In the time it takes to get dressed and out of the house with their daughter, Jane must reevaluate her life-choices, her marriage and just how much she can swallow.

AND

SECRETS; LOVE by Summer Dawn Hortillosa

A young woman and her next-door neighbor try putting the pieces together when her mother disappears and her father is suspected of murder. As they solve the puzzle, they discover the lengths some would go to for love.

 

Thursday, March 29, 2012

SAMMY GETS MUGGED! by Dan Heching

Sammy Gets Mugged! chronicles the antagonistic exchange between two strangers, the possibilities that follow, and how we choose to remember the more unsavory moments in our lives.

  

Friday, March 30, 2012

STANDING AT … by Chandra Thomas

Set in a South Bronx beauty salon, Standing At . . .  is a glimpse into the lives of Chantrese and Lanise,  two friends struggling with their own definitions of love as one woman is surviving HIV and the other surviving her complex relationships.

AND

FLOZETTA by Nadine Graham

Flozetta examines the tumultuous mother/daughter relationship of Henrietta, an unstable blues singer with a tragic past, and her daughter Flo, who deals with the legacy of pain her mother unwittingly hands down to her.

 

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Showtimes: 4:00pm and 8:30pm

Free; By Reservation Only; Space Limited

A TRAIN by Downtown Urban Theater Festival

In 2001, DUTF was founded with the purpose to build a repertoire of new American theatre that echoes the true spirit of urban life and speaks to a whole new generation whose lives defy categorizing along conventional lines. That purpose has been realized many times over, as 100 writers have created and refined their work for the stage and thousands of inspired audience members have applauded their performances.  DUTF inaugurated the festival in 2002 at HERE in SoHo to help revitalize the NYC downtown arts scene, which, at the time, was experiencing a severe downturn due to the WTC disaster.  It has been recognized as "one of the world's best festivals for new works" and described as "not only prestigious, but a slice of heaven for playwrights who want the chance to freely express themselves." (Lisa Mulcahy, Theater Festivals, Allworth Press, 2005. 

All Tickets are $18 (A TRAIN is free with a confirmed reservation). All shows start at 8:30pm (A TRAIN has two performances - 4:00pm and 8:30pm). Tickets are available at www.dutfnyc.com and www.HERE.org.  Also, by calling (212) 352-3101.  HERE Box Office is open after 5:00pm on show days or two hours before any performance.  The festival runs from March 14 to March 31, 2012 at HERE, 145 Sixth Avenue (entrance on Dominick Street), Manhattan, NYC.

Visit DUTF online at facebook.com/pages/Downtown-Urban-Theater-Festival/152194641470752, twitter.com/DUTFNYC andhttps://www.youtube.com/dutfnyc.

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. 

Downtown Urban Theater Festival is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. 

This production is a part of HEREstay, HERE's curated rental program, which provides artists with subsidized space and equipment, as well as technical support.