Arts Garage In Delray Beach Brings Back Live Theatre With Two Raw, Revealing Productions In May

At a time when economic distress, racial stigmas, and gender confusion continue to challenge the nation, Marjorie Waldo, President & CEO of Arts Garage, has announced two upcoming productions-raw, revealing, empowering-that are bringing live theater back to Pineapple Grove.

"Arts Garage offers a safe space where everyone can come together to share the incredible talent of South Florida," says Waldo. "Through live theatre, audiences become immersed in the raw stories of the characters, seeing the vulnerable, emotional, real-world situations directly at the surface. Exposure to everyday cultural issues opens the door for necessary discussions on the impact of societal injustice, leading to a greater understanding and creating change. That is our goal in presenting these two timely productions."

Friday May 6, at 8 pm

Ferocious Love

Performance poet Mo Beasley is bringing his "urban male's coming of age story" to Arts Garage. This "spoken word theatre" experience puts a whole new spin on "growing up" in public housing during the late 1980s. Ferocious Love is a thought-provoking show covering issues of class, dysfunctional families, and how the ferocity of a mother's love figures greatly in this journey for manhood in post-Civil Rights/Black Power America.

Hailed by The New York Daily News as one of "50 Unsung New York Heroes," the Boston-born/Miami Beach-based poet/author/activist joined the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in 2018 as Technical Director in Production, bringing years of experience both on Broadway (Bring In Da Noise/Bring In Da Funk) and Off (Blue Man Group, UrbanErotika). Black Mask Magazine calls Mo Beasley "one of the leading teaching artists in the country... his work specializes in sexuality, race, manhood, and arts advocacy."

Content Warning: May contain strong language.

Tickets: $35

Sunday May 15, at 7:30 pm

Naming True

In this play reading of an "intimate tale of survival, redemption, and the deep desire to share our stories," playwright/director Natalie Symons' Naming True shares the shattering narratives of two damaged outsiders: Amy (played by June Raven Romero), a transgender teenage girl who shows up unannounced in the Florida hotel room of Nell (Kalina Karadavis), a dying woman who's lived much of her life on the streets of Detroit. The play explores faith, identity, forgiveness, and the indelible fingerprints that guilt and loss leave on lives. The Observer called the play "gutsy" and praised its "flashes of rude hilarity."

Honoring The International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia, this play reading features:

++ Natalie Symons, an award-winning playwright/actress/novelist, who's works have been developed and produced at theaters around the world. Her debut novel, Lies in Bone, is now available wherever books are sold, or through audible.com.

++ June Raven Romero, a transgender actress from Miami, who has appeared with such respected companies as Area Stage (Cabaret) and in Juggerknot Theatre's highly praised Miami Motel Stories.

++ Kalina Karadavis, who trained locally at Bob Carter's Actors' Repertory and appeared in the play Sweat at Lake Work Playhouse.

Tickets: $25

Tickets are available by calling the Arts Garage at 561.450.6357 or by going online to www.ArtsGarage.org.

"The reintroduction of theatre at Arts Garage is another way to leave a lasting impact on our community, with productions focused on the history, exploration, and celebration of all races, genders, sexual orientations, social and economic classes, cultures, and all walks of life," adds Waldo.