59E59 Theaters Announces Line-Up for EAST TO EDINBURGH GOES VIRTUAL 2021

59E59 Theaters has turned their crowd-pleasing summer festival East To Edinburgh into a virtual showcase of Fringe-worthy productions with EAST TO EDINBURGH GOES VIRTUAL 2021.

The 2021 curated line-up, which features nine shows, begins streaming on July 15 for a limited engagement through July 25. The shows are available on-demand at the 59E59 Theaters website. The $20 ($18 for 59E59 Members) festival pass gives one household access to all nine shows. The pass, which is available now, can be purchased via www.59e59.org.

While these productions are not heading across the pond this year, 59E59 created this mini-festival to celebrate the spirit of the Fringe with a diverse offering of shows. Curated by Jessica Hart, 59E59 Associate Curator, this virtual offering celebrates works that capture the spirit of the Edinburgh Fringe with a diverse offering of plays that transfer well to the digital medium.

"Since 2004, East to Edinburgh has celebrated boldly imaginative play making in every form," explains Hart. "We couldn't think of a better way to honor the creative energy in the indie theater scene here in New York and across the US at this moment than to give these theater artists a virtual platform."

The 2021 EAST TO EDINBURGH line up is:

TESTAMENT

by Tristan Bernays
Directed by Lucy Jane Atkinson
Produced by Via Brooklyn Theatre Co
With Biko Eisen-Martin, Jessica Giannone, Cori Hundt, Doron Jépaul Mitchell, Desireé Rodriguez

A sacrificial son. Sisters with a shocking secret. A man on Death Row.

Set in modern-day America, TESTAMENT is playwright Tristan Bernays' (Frankenstein at Classic Stage Company) compelling re-imagining of four oft-forgotten Bible characters. Under a haunting score of gospel and blues, their lives unfold in today's society. Bear witness to the dark underbelly of The Good Book.

Recommended for ages 15 years +

8th ANNUAL WOMEN'S RETREAT

Created and performed by Magdalene Zinky
Produced by The Junkyard

Pam, Barb, Olga, and Kakie are taking a break. From men, from the irritations of daily life, from the pressures of the cutthroat regional darts league. They're taking a break from bartenders with funny ears and family members with too many needs. They're taking in the beauty of Tahquamenon Falls State Park and Paradise, Michigan. As far as they get from all of it, though, they can't escape the ties that bind: pain, poverty, and party.

JOAN/JEHANNE

By Katherine Teed-Arthur
Directed by Max Cameron Fearon, Cara Rebecca and Lee Stone
Produced by Friendly Bear Theatre Company
With Katherine Teed-Arthur, Monique Danielle, Simon Gagnon, and Lee Stone

Who would Jehanne have been if not called to be Joan?

A nineteen-year-old girl sits in a prison cell waiting for judgment. Experience the pride and doubt of this teenager through her dreams, memories, and conversations with the voices who have guided her there. As Joan stands against those who wish to take her down, she must decide what matters most: the story they'll tell about her, or her life.

Recommended for ages 12+

MARRY, MARRY, QUITE CONTRARY

Created and produced by Paper Doll Ensemble
With Grayce Hoffman, Taiwo Sokan, and Sara Vanasse

Cameras. Wine. Spanx.

When three women form an alliance on a reality TV dating show, lunacy ensues. Join Julie, Taylor, and Bridget as they find love in this devised pastiche of ABC's "The Bachelor," true crime, and all things tequila-drenched-love-obsessed-pop-culture-horror.

MARRY, MARRY, QUITE CONTRARY pries back the masks we wear and reveals the cracking pressure of maintaining our personas. How does your garden grow?
 

#Charlottesville

Written and performed by Priyanka Shetty
Directed by Joe Bishara
Produced by Abbey Theater of Dublin

Constructed verbatim from interviews with local residents who were impacted by the events of the Unite The Right white supremacist rally and the subsequent riots that took place from August. 11-12, 2017, #Charlottesville explores the deep-seated racial inequities that have existed historically in this Virginia town.
 

BLACK WOMEN DATING WHITE MEN

By Somebody Jones
Directed by Khadifa Wong
Produced by Somebody Jones & Khadifa Wong
With Clara Emanuel, Merryl Ansah, Risha Silvera, Arianne Carless, and Christelle Belinga.

BLACK WOMEN DATING WHITE MEN is a support group featuring a collection of interviews with (you guessed it) Black women who are in long-term relationships with white men. Expect talks about privilege, activism, and the mystery of headscarves in this "engaging, funny, blunt and thoughtful" (The Guardian) play by Somebody Jones (How I Learned to Swim at the Jermyn Street Theatre).
 

DEMOCRACY SUCKS

By Monica Bauer
Directed by John D. FitzGibbon
Produced by Good Works Productions, John Fico and John D. Fitzgibbon
With John Fico

Bitter Professor B. has given the same crazed lecture to his online class for an entire Covid stricken semester, complete with wine and expletives. There is an online petition to have him fired. It's the last class of the term, his job is on the line, and the Dean is watching. Will the dance number and a desperate plea for help save his job?

East to Edinburgh stalwart Monica Bauer returns with this 35 minute comic romp through an online political philosophy class, complete with Plato and Aristotle sock puppets.

Recommended for ages 16 years +

DO YOU SPEAK?

Written and directed by Sienna Aczon
Produced by Sienna Aczon
With Sienna Aczon, Camellia Bayle-Spence, and Fara Faidzan

This debut solo show is Sienna Aczon's love letter to Hawaii, New York, and the Philippines; exploration of her heritage as a Filipino-American; homage to her Grandfather's journey as an educator and immigrant; and response to the question "Do You Speak?"
 

STATIC

Created and performed by Daniel Amedee and Conor Kelly O'Brien
Directed by Michael Pillot
Produced by Golden Lights

A father and son attempt to mend their broken relationship by taking a long delayed road trip to New Orleans. Heartwarming and haunting, this virtual return engagement of the intimate two-hander that combines live music with a simplistic approach to staging, and digital projection, premiered live at East to Edinburgh in 2019.

Recommended for ages 13+

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