Yendor Theatre Company Presents The NJ Premiere Of TIERS By Reg E Gaines
YTC will bring the play across the Hudson with free shows at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) from Oct 11th - Oct 13th.
Grammy & Tony nominate, Reg E Gaines (stylized), brings his newest play, Tiers, to Yendor Theatre Company (YTC) for its New Jersey premiere. Tiers officially premiered this June in NYC during the Downtown Urban Arts Festival. YTC will bring the play across the Hudson with free shows at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) from Oct 11th - Oct 13th.
Loosely inspired by Gaines' formative years in Jersey City, in the 1970s, Tiers follows four Black teens, for bid whist game night. What starts off as a normal card game, filled with expletives, trash-talking and braggadocio, soon becomes deeply personal and eventually violent. In mere minutes an act of impulsion changes the lives of these young men forever.
Gaines, a renowned writer, poet and spoken word artist penned the lyrics and book for Bring In 'da Noise, Bring In 'da Funk, which ran on Broadway. 'Noise, Funk', directed by George C Wolfe with choreography by Newark's own Savion Glover, was nominated for multiple Tony Awards, winning in four out of nine categories (including wins for Wolfe and Glover).
YTC presented a workshop production of Tiers back in 2019 at the Newark Public Library. "We are ecstatic to be working with reg again and to bring a fully staged version of Tiers to Newark. reg is such a raw artist and Tiers feels like an authentic slice of life for young men in our cities. We all need to see, engage and learn from this play" YTC's artistic director, Andrew Binger, said of producing Tiers. He and gaines hope to have young people, and justice-impacted individuals attend shows.
When asked what he wants audiences to walk away with after seeing the play, gaines said, "Young Black males' failure to think before they speak leads to deadly consequences". After some time away from theatre, it seems as if gaines is ready to bring his work to the stage again. In addition to Tiers, he is working on a brand new musical, also loosely inspired by his life, called The '88.
Tickets for Tiers are free but RSVPs are required. Be sure to follow YTC (@ yendortheatrecompany) on Instagram for more information about Tiers at NJPAC
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