Cleveland Public Theatre Presents TEST FLIGHT 2019

Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT) is proud to announce the Test Flight 2019 series. Test Flight is a multi-week series that showcases new work on its way to full production, providing both local and national artists with the keys to the theatre and the opportunity to co-produce original works-in-progress. The series encourages risk-taking and an entrepreneurial spirit towards creating new work. CPT's New Play Development Program is intended to move projects forward, whether through full productions at CPT, receiving larger exposure, or participating in touring performances or Fringe Festivals.

Test Flight 2019 is onstage from March 21 - April 20 in CPT's James Levin Theatre, showcasing work that is extraordinary aesthetically, thematically, or in the process used to create the work. Join us for the Test Flight 2019 Series Opening Night Party on Friday, March 22.

Test Flight 2019 features seven workshop productions, presented as single or double bills over five weekends. Show titles and descriptions are listed below and available at: https://www.cptonline.org/performances/seasons/2018-2019/category/series/test-flight/.

CPT IS AN ESTABLISHED LEADER IN CULTIVATING NEW WORK BY LOCAL AND NATIONAL TALENT
CPT is proud to be a leader in providing platforms for new work and emerging artists. CPT has led the community in producing new plays by local and nationally recognized playwrights. In just the past 12 years, CPT has produced 118 staged readings and showcases, 114 workshop productions, and 50 full productions of world premieres-in addition to hundreds of community-created plays read, workshopped, and performed through our education and community programs.

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP PRODUCTIONS

Week 1: March 21 - 23

HOW BLOOD GO

Written by Lisa Langford, 2018/2019 Nord Family Foundation Playwright Fellow
Directed by Darius J. Stubbs

How Blood Go weaves the present and past together with the story of Quinntasia, an African American woman who is in a medical experiment, and that of her ancestor, Bean, an unwitting participant in a 1930's government experiment on Black men.

Week 2: March 28 - 30

EMERGENCE

Composed & Directed by Molly Andrews-Hinders
Created by Molly Andrews-Hinders & ensemble

Semi-autobiographical and semi-fictional, Emergence investigates how we can become our own heroes and change the world. Inspired by Russian guerilla activist group Pussy Riot and Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals, a group of women endeavor to address systems of oppression through powerful musical demonstrations and movement.

WEEK 3: APRIL 4 - 6 (DOUBLE BILL)

SORRY DOESN'T SWEETEN HER TEA

Short story by Helen Oyeyemi (per an arrangement with The Wylie Agency)
Adapted & Directed by Lauren Joy Fraley, 2018/2019 Joan Yellen Horvitz Director Fellow

Journey through interconnecting worlds in this adaptation of a short story from Helen Oyeyemi's magical realism anthology, What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours. A teen girl with a peacock's tail, an ex-shaman-turned-popstar, and others attempt to recover from disillusionment with methods ranging from public apologies and rehab to pet sitting a Siamese fighting fish inside a house of locks.

CLEOPATRA BOY

Conceived & Directed by Sherrine Azab & Jake Hooker with A Host Of People

Inspired by the life, history, and legacy of Cleopatra, Cleopatra Boy is part pageant, part courtroom drama, and part lavish spectacle. The audience shape-shifts from spectator, to community member, to witness, as we collectively address the injustice of losing control of our own narratives in order to rethink and remake history.

Week 4: April 11 - 13

ZOODIAC

Written by Rich Stimac

While an innocent puppet play about the Chinese zodiac is performed, a serial killer is on the loose backstage. Characters begin to drop like flies and the race in the play becomes a race against time.

DIVIDUAL

Text by Paul Manganello
Music by Michael Malis

Data, deep loneliness, and coffee are at the center of this collision between live music and monologue. One stark moment in the life of a programmer spirals into a pulsing sonic puzzle that asks what it means to exist in 2019.

Week 5: April 18 - 20

TO BE HEALTHY

Written & Directed by Jaclyn Renee Vogel

Created in collaboration with the performance ensemble

Motherhood. PTSD. Relapse. Knowing something is wrong and no one believes you. Distrust. Bills you can't pay. Loneliness. Resilience. Hope. A group of women find themselves intertwined as they face their own personal struggles within the American healthcare system.

TICKET & SHOW INFORMATION

Test Flight 2019 is March 21 - April 20, 2019. Performances are Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:00pm in CPT's James Levin Theatre, located at 6415 Detroit Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44102, in the heart of the Gordon Square Arts District.

Tickets are $10 - $15. Students/Seniors receive $3 off on Friday and Saturday nights. All Thursdays are $10.

PURCHASE TICKETS at www.cptonline.org or call the CPT Box Office at (216) 631-2727 ext. 501. Group discounts are available - call the Box Office to inquire. (Reserve early! - CPT never charges any ticket fees, ever.)

The James Levin Theatre is ADA compliant, featuring a patron elevator and an all gender, wheelchair accessible restroom.

Every Friday is Free Beer Friday at CPT. Mingle with the artists after the show and discuss the performance in a lively, social atmosphere - your drinks are on CPT.

Artwork by Sean Higgins