NEW SONGS NOW IN YOUR LIVING ROOM, Episodes of MTA RADIO PLAYS and More Announced for Rattlestick in April & May

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater has announced online programming for April and May including the return of New Songs Now In Your Living Room, new episodes of MTA Radio Plays, and several public conversations. The activities highlight new and necessary theatrical voices while also deepening connections between audiences and artists in new and meaningful ways.

Rattlestick, in partnership with Rosalind Productions Inc., will present New Songs Now In Your Living Room which features new songs from different artists each night. This unplugged concert series gives inventive songwriters the opportunity to test out new material in a low-key, fun environment. The line-up includes Emma Claye and AriDy Knox (A Walless Church) on May 3, Ada Westfall (Theater Mitu) featuring Jo Lampert (David Byrne's Joan of Arc: Into the Fire, HBO's Betty) and Dawn Landes (ROW, Williamstown Theatre Festival) on May 4, 2020 Richard Rodgers Award-winner Zeniba Now & Rodney Bush and Jay Adana (The Woodsman) on May 5, and The Kilbanes (Weightless) and 2021 Kleban Award-winners Melissa Li & Kit Yan on May 6. Performances begin at 7 PM ET.

MTA Radio Plays, a series of audio dramas created to honor and celebrate the people that keep New York City running, launched on December 14, 2020, to critical acclaim. The New York Times called the project, "a love letter to city life in pre-pandemic times." MTA Radio Plays features the work of 17 playwrights. Each episode is inspired by a stop along the MTA's 2 Train Line and each writer has selected a stop that reflects their own experience. Conceived and curated by playwright Ren Dara Santiago (The Siblings Play), Episodes 10-12 will debut on April 14 and feature the work of writers Emily Daly Episode, Victor Cervantes Jr., and Carmen LoBue along with directors Ludmila de Brito, Carmen LoBue, and Christopher Burris. Episodes 13-15 will debut on May 12 and feature the work of writers Alexander Lambie, Gerald Jeter, and Jaida Hawkins along with director Dominique Rider. Tickets to the complete series are $15 and can be purchased at https://www.rattlestick.org/.

On April 13, Rattlestick's Artistic Director Daniella Topol will host Artist Chat: Actors Who Write. Incredible actor-writers Ngozi Anyanwu, Mahira Kakkar, Florencia Lozano, James Scruggs, Rob Sedgwick, Keith Randolph Smith, and Cece Suazo will share short excerpts of their work and discuss what it is like to be an actor who writes.

On May 13, composer, director, and actor Troy Anthony and playwright and actor Ngozi Anyanwu host Open Play, a monthly series that gives any and every artist of any discipline a chance to share 5 minutes of live work including song, monologue, scene, and more.

Throughout April and May, Rattlestick will continue to host a broad range of public conversations that respond to some of today's most pressing topics. These talks include Community Conversations: Anti-Racism includes AAPI Communities on April 12 with Danilo Gambini, Kazem Ghouchani, and host Sam Morreale that focuses on the rise of anti-Asian racism and violence that is affecting the AAPI community. Global Gab, a monthly cross-cultural conversation produced by the Rattlestick and New York Theatre Salon, returns on April 27 with a panel focused on financial literacy for artists.

All events, except MTA Radio Plays, are free. Please visit www.rattlestick.org for more information. Additional event details follow.

RATTLESTICK'S APRIL - MAY 2021 EVENTS

April 12 at 5 PM ET

Community Conversations: Anti-Racism includes AAPI Communities

Hosted by Sam Morreale with Danilo Gambini and Kazem Ghouchani

In the past year, hate crimes toward Asians, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders have risen. This gathering seeks to build solidarity and understanding with AAPI communities. If you identify within the Asian diaspora, this is a space for your hurt, grief, pain, resentment, and most importantly your needs to be heard. For those of us outside of the diaspora, we will practice listening and take time to discuss our own complicity in anti-Asian sentiments. We will center on Asian women in our conversation. We will form strategies for cross-racial coalition building in our fights for justice, for liberation, and for a culture of anti-oppression. Our time together will be spent in both affinity, and collective space - come as you are and for what you need.

April 13 at 5pm ET

Artist Chat: Actors Who Write

Hosted by Rattlestick's Artistic Director Daniella Topol

Incredible actor-writers Ngozi Anyanwu, Mahira Kakkar, Florencia Lozano, James Scruggs, Rob Sedgwick, Keith Randolph Smith, and Cece Suazo will share short excerpts of their work and discuss what it is like to be an actor who writes.

April 14 at 4 PM ET

MTA Radio Plays, Episodes 10-12

May 12 at 4 PM ET

MTA Radio Plays, Episodes 13-15

The MTA Radio Plays is a series of audio dramas created to honor and celebrate the people that keep New York City running. Conceived and curated by playwright Ren Dara Santiago (The Siblings Play), MTA Radio Plays takes place on the 2 Train, in one straight shot from the Wakefield-241st Street in the Bronx, through Manhattan, and ending at Flatbush Ave in Brooklyn. Featuring the work of 17 playwrights, each episode reflects a playwright's own experience, in whatever style they choose. Listeners will stay with the same conductor for the whole trip, however, each episode has its own unique style, authentic to the author.

Episodes 10-12 will debut on April 14 and feature the work of writers Emily Daly Episode, Victor Cervantes Jr., and Carmen LoBue along with directors Ludmila de Brito, Carmen LoBue, and Christopher Burris Obi Abili and TJ Weaver. Episodes 13-15 will debut on May 12 and feature the work of writers Alexander Lambie, Gerald Jeter, and Jaida Hawkins along with director Dominique Rider.

Tickets to the complete series are $15 and can be purchased at https://www.rattlestick.org/.

MTA Radio Plays is made possible with the generous support of the Battin Foundation, the Howard Gilman Foundation, and the Venturous Theater Fund of the Tides Foundation with additional individual support by Willy Holtzman & Sylvia Shepard and Jeffrey Steinman & Jody Falco.

April 27 at 8 PM ET

Global Gab: Financial Literacy for Artists

Hosted by Jody Doo and Salma S. Zohdi

How do artists stop living paycheck to paycheck? Not to mention that gigs are few and far between. We reached out to Friends of Global Gab who requested we bring in professionals to teach you all about financial literacy. Please join us as we learn how to get our finances in order.

May 3-6 at 7 PM ET

New Songs Now In Your Living Room

Rattlestick, in partnership with Rosalind Productions Inc., is pleased to present New Songs Now In Your Living Room which features new songs from different artists each night. This unplugged concert series gives inventive songwriters the opportunity to test out new material in a low-key, fun environment. The line-up includes Emma Claye and AriDy Knox on May 3, Ada Westfall with Jo Lampert and Dawn Landes on May 4, Zeniba Now & Rodney Bush and Jay Adana on May 5, and The Kilbanes and Melissa Li & Kit Yan on May 6. Performances begin at 7pm.

May 13 at 8pm ET

Open Play

Composer, director, and actor Troy Anthony and playwright and actor Ngozi Anyanwu host Open Play, a monthly series that gives any and every artist of any discipline a chance to share 5 minutes of live work including song, monologue, scene, and more. Open Play is designed for those who know Rattlestick and for those who do not (yet) to find collaborators and community. This space is open to the public to listen.

Visit rattlestick.org for more information.

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