COMING TO AMERICA: A TIPSY STAGED READING & More Set for The Movement Theatre Company Spring 2024 Programming

The Movement Theatre Company has unveiled the line-up of special events, readings and residencies that will take place this spring. 

“Our spring programming feels like a return to our roots and to Harlem,” shared Producing Artistic Leader Deadria Harrington. “The early days of The Movement focused on developing herculean new works and plays at their earliest stages and hosting one-night events that showcase artists of color in innovative ways while uplifting our community. Mainstage productions are so important, but it all starts here, with a glimmer of an idea for a piece or a new collaboration that’s forged when artists work together in unexpected ways.”

The spring will include two presentations of new work commissioned for The Movement’s Ladder Series, each with the support of The Black Listand New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). Programming will also include two one-night-only special events.

“The Ladder Series was created to guide artists to be ambitious, courageous and authentic in their exploration of a new idea. Creating something new can be very vulnerable and The Movement provides tools, resources and insights for artists to flourish in the midst of development through an artist-driven process,” stated Eric Lockley, Producing Artistic Leader and Ladder Series Artist. “Working on my Afrofuturistic triptych Sweet Chariot via The Ladder Series allowed me to approach a bold new vision for the stage with step-by-step support. Whether it was space, dramaturgical insight, permission to play, or encouragement to be ambitious, The Ladder Series stands as an example of an investment in the artist and their uninhibited creativity.”

Full details for these readings are as follows:

Walk-In

By Marco Antonio Rodriguez

Directed by Ryan Dobrin

Commissioned by The Black List

February 23rd at 3pm

Sharp Theatre at Playwrights Horizons

Forced to return home after the sudden death of his estranged mother, a man's already chaotic life attracts further upheaval when he discovers he can time travel back to moments of his childhood when wearing her vintage clothing. Walk-In is an unhinged, irreverent, unapologetically Queer-Caribbean dramatic comedy about generational trauma, the collateral damage that arises when we run from our truth and the quest to learn from and forgive the past through the arduous yet necessary journey of self-forgiveness.

The cast will include Nicole Betancourt, Anthony Lee Medina, Sophia Ramos, Suni Reyes, Angela Reynoso, Denzel Rodriguez, Jennifer Sánchez and Martín Solá. The stage manager will be Andie Burns.

Playwright Marco Antonio Rodriguez shared, “The Movement has given me a sacred space of artistic integrity, support and community that I've always craved but never thought I would find as a Queer, bilingual, Latiné artist who has mostly been on the fringes of the business. No idea is too big on this blessed playground and no thought is too wild.”

This reading is open to the public with advance registration. Tickets can be reserved by visiting: https://forms.gle/wTEB4DjsFYebPbdFA .

 Tamago

By Sam Hamashima

Commissioned with the support of the New York State Council on the Arts

In Residency with The Movement at Playwrights Horizons

June 2024

Sam Hamashima’s NYSCA Artist Commission Grant new play たまGO or Tamago is set in 2050, in a world of fluid identities where plastic surgery is now so advanced that changing “skins” is an easy month-long series of appointments with a surgeon. This new play explores the nuances of race, culture and identity in a futuristic exploration of the phenomenon of “Dolezalification” (referring to Rachel Dolezal), cultural appropriation, and the dangers of whiteness as a cultural “norm.”

Playwright Sam Hamashima shared, “Theater changes quickly, and The Movement keeps up with the pace. A disruptor in process and an innovator in spectacle, The Movement challenges me to make even bolder, brighter theater.”

 Full details for the special events are as follows.

Coming to America: A Tipsy Staged Reading

Co-presented with A Drinking Game NYC

February 16th at 8pm

The Bell House (149 7th Street, Brooklyn, NY)

The Movement is partnering with long-time Brooklyn staple A Drinking Game NYC for a live staged tipsy reenactment of the Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall classic Coming To America.​ Join our cast, featuring many TMTC favorites, as they travel to Zamunda and then back to New York, encountering rude taxi drivers, sarcastic barbers, fast-food robbers, and queens-to-be. Watch us perform this classic as you grab another round, participate in iconic moments, and shout out your favorite lines along with our (tipsy) cast.

The cast will feature Xander Browne, Ashley Bufkin, Chanel Carroll, Kayla Coleman, Ben Holbrook, Eric Lockley, Stephanie Marrow, Ashton Muñiz, Lucy Myrtue, Dolores Pereira, Booker Vance, Bryce Michael Woodand Zhanah Wyche.

Tickets are available now at eventbrite.com/e/a-drinking-game-nyc-coming-to-america-tickets.

Harlem Nights: Monologue SLAM #ThatsMyJAM

April 21st at 5:30pm

Silvana Cafe and Bar (300 West 116th Street)

Harlem Nights: Monologue SLAM #ThatsMyJAM challenges performers[SS1]  to perform their favorite song lyrics as monologues as they vie for the title of Monologue SLAM Champ! The Movement is thrilled to bring this fun-filled community-building event that showcases the talents of some of New York’s hottest up-and-coming talent in Harlem. The competition shows off the creative skills of the actors and fosters relationships between The Movement and local Harlem businesses such as Silvana, where the SLAM was held in 2014 - 2016. A panel of industry insiders are selected to judge the competition and witness new talent, offering a much-needed platform for young artists of color to meet leading decision makers in the entertainment industry. Previous winners and contestants include Danielle Brooks, Christopher Livingston, Reggie D. White, Lynette R. Freemen, Joel Perez, Kalyne Coleman, Mirirai Sithole, and Omar Perez.

COMMISSIONED ARTIST BIOS

Marco Antonio Rodriguez

is a Dominican-American, bilingual writer. Named Top 50 Figure in LatinX and Latin American Theatre by Routledge. Double MFA-acting/television and screenwriting. Acclaimed plays Ashes of Light and Barceló on the Rocks performed all over the world. Both published by NoPassport Press (available on Amazon & lulu.com). Stage adaptation of Junot Díaz' The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao-celebrating four years of performances off-Broadway’s Spanish Rep. Recent play, Bloom had an acclaimed run at New York’s IATI theatre. Winner of New York Independent Theatre Award (ATI) for outstanding achievement in playwriting. Horror screenplay, Suffer the Children, was named Finalist-Fresh Voices Screenplay Competition and Creative World Awards. Half-hour dramedy pilot, “Our Friendly Neighbors,” will be released as a short film by DominiRican Productions this summer. National Hispanic Media Coalition Scriptwriters Program Fellow. The Movement Theatre Company x Black List Playwriting Commission winner. Space on Ryder Farm Residency. Currently voices “Uncle Nestor” in Emmy nominated PBS Kids animated series, “Alma’s Way.” www.marcoantoniorodriguez.com

Sam Hamashima

Hamashima creates theater with an emphasis on spectacle, surprise, and design. Full-length plays include American Spies (Washington, D.C., The Hub Theatre, Helen Hayes Recommended, 2018 Kennedy Center Undergraduate Playwriting Award and the University of Michigan Hopwood Award in Drama, Dennis McIntyre Prize, and Roy Cowden Fellowship), Supposed Home(TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Seattle Public Theater), Shoyu Tell (Lexington Children’s Theatre), Possessing the Resurrected (San Francisco Playhouse). Hamashima’s work has been presented and/or developed by the Kennedy Center, Stanford University, National Queer Theater, Lyric Stage Boston, the Workshop Theater, and the Japanese American Citizens League. They are the 2nd recipient of Seattle Public Theater’s $10,000 Emerald Prize and are currently under commission from Chicago Children’s Theatre. Hamashima is a graduate of the University of Michigan’s Musical Theater program Rep: DGRW and United Talent. samhamashima.com@samhamashima

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