Women In Theatre Festival Live And Online Opens July 26 With ALL HANDS ON DECK

Project Y Theatre Company will present the fifth annual Women in Theatre Festival, a festival of new work written and created by female-identifying artists, beginning July 26th with virtual programming available via Youtube. For the first time ever, all Festival offerings are free and open to the public via live streaming. Information on the festival lineup can be found at www.witfestival.projectytheatre.org.

Project Y's yearly Women in Theatre Festival seeks to broaden the opportunities for women in the entertainment industry by producing new work by diverse women artists with more than 50% female representation of all artists involved. This year's festival lineup represents a programming pivot, as our regular programming dates and location - June in ART/New York Theatres - was upended by the global COVID-19 pandemic. After canceling our originally planned festival, Project Y quickly reimagined a Live and Online Women in Theatre Festival. This year's Live and Online festival represents our mission to create theatre on a Project-by-Project basis, and allow the needs of the artists and plays to inform all producing choices.

This year's Live and Online festival includes 4 commissioned plays by female-identifying playwrights of the African Diaspora, including award winning notable playwrights France-Luce Benson and Nikkole Salter, readings of new plays from Project Y's open source Zoom Plays database, and a full production of a digital theatre world premiere play by Kat Mustatea, directed by Michole Biancosino.

All Hands On Deck

A new play series created and curated by Antu Yacob, Associate Producer

Featuring commissioned plays by France-Luce Benson, Nikkole Salter, Banna Desta, and Sienna L. Jones.

Directed by Shariffa Ali and Lisa Strum

July 26th 7:00pm

www.youtube.com/user/ProjectYNYC

ALL HANDS ON DECK: This new series shares 4 new works by Female Playwrights of the African Diaspora. Featuring plays written by award winning notable playwrights France-Luce Benson and Nikkole Salter, as well as up-and-comers Banna Desta and Sienna Jones, the series will share different perspectives of the Black experience in America. Conceived by Antu Yacob, this session's theme is a Conversation with the Ancestors, Past/Present/Future. Weaving in live music, the series aims to explore theater as ritual and activism in our times.

Available via Project Y Theatre Company's YouTube page.

The All Hands on Deck Lineup includes Ways and Means, by Nikkole Salter (newly announced Board Chair of TCG; Obie Award-winning playwright, In the Continuum), Nanã, by France-Luce Benson (Named "Someone to Watch " in 2019 by American Theatre magazine), Bygone Fruit, by Banna Desta (Pining at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater), and They Live in You, by Sienna L. Jones.

The readings will be directed by Shariffa Ali (New Frontier Fellow at Sundance Institute Lab and the Royal National Theater (UK)) and Lisa Strum (NYIT Award winner). The acting ensemble features Terry Burrell (Broadway: Three Penny Opera, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Swinging On A Star, Stephen Sondheim's Into The Woods, and Michael Bennett's Dreamgirls, Honky Tonk Nights, Eubie and the first London production of Showboat as Julie.), Juliette Jeffers (Drama Desk nominated), Chantal Jean-Pierre (Netflix "Grand Army"), Candyce Adkins, Jazmine Stewart, Brenna Power, and Landon Woodson (NYTW, Crossroads Theatre, Ma-Yi Theatre). Musicians include Kena Anae and Munit Mesfin.

Other Women in Theatre Festival: Live and Online Projects Coming next Month:

Zoom Plays: Open Source Database and Reading Series

Dates in August TBD

In March we put out an open call for plays and scenes written to be performed on the Zoom platform. And now we have over 300 submissions from around the world. We have put together a large team of readers to read every single play that was submitted to our open source ZOOM PLAYS database and still welcome submissions via the form: (https://forms.gle/PGmdzNPFfgYJAhR17). Through a multi-step process involving 6 readers, chosen 5 plays to present as public readings in August.

Details about plays, playwrights, and reading dates coming soon.

The One & Only Amanda Palmer

A full digital production of a new play by Kat Mustatea

directed by Michole Biancosino

August 9th 7:30pm

In this new play, Amanda Palmer's world comes undone when she discovers she is not the only Amanda Palmer in the world who can turn into a cat at night. Audience members will have an option to join in as one of the Amanda Palmers during the final scene of the show.

Available via Project Y Theatre Company's YouTube page.

More information: witfestival.projectytheatre.org