Normal Ave Announces QuaranStream Reading Series

In response to the recent COVID-19 limitations affecting the theatre community and beyond, Normal Ave is excited to announce QuaranStream, a free series of commissioned world premiere digital play readings on Facebook Live and IGTV. Normal Ave will be canceling the remainder of it's live programing for the 2019-20 season, including the revival of Suzan Lori-Parks' The Book of Grace. Normal Ave will resume in-person programming in the Fall of 2020.

Each week, Normal Ave will give two living playwrights a paid micro-commission to write a 10-minute play. Each playwright will be paired with a director, a group of actors, and given a title. Playwrights are then encouraged to write a ten minute play that is meant to be performed in quarantine, using the environments and materials that each actor has available to them in their homes. Throughout this challenging time, Normal Ave is interested in exploring the question of how we create with what we're given, in the circumstances that we are all bound by.

QuaranStream will begin on April 9 on Facebook Live (facebook.com/normalavenyc) and IGTV (instagram.com/normalave). More dates and playwrights will be announced in the coming weeks. The first four featured playwrights will be Yianni Papadimos (April 9 at 8 PM), Megan Chan Meinero (April 9 at 8 PM) , Andrew Frye (April 16 at 8 PM), and Lily Houghton (April 19 at 8 PM). Future playwrights include Enzo Gattuccio, Haron Atkins, Gillian Beth Durkee, Lily Camp, and Paige Zubel. Their works will be directed by a member of Normal Ave's artistic producing team. Readings will feature James Scully (YOU on Netflix), Sara Kapner (The Band's Visit National Tour), RJ Vaillancourt (Saint Joan), and more.

QuaranStream will be produced by Shannon Molly Flynn, Jeremy Landes, and Kylie M. Brown and virtually stage managed by Jenna Ng Lowry. Noah Befeler will produce the live stream.

"While we, along with hundreds of other theaters, are faced with uncertainty, our commitment to fostering and giving a platform to new works, practicing radical audience accessibility, and inviting collaborative freedom is not going anywhere", said Normal Ave's Executive Director Jeremy Landes. "We cannot wait to share these nine bold and wonderful new short plays with the community."

Normal Ave believes in redefining normal by nurturing an inclusive community of fresh, diverse voices and inviting collaborative freedom at every stage of the artistic process.

Our accessible programming of new and existing works spark curiosity, challenge perception, and welcome our artists and audiences to think, listen and respond in radical ways.

And we think that makes for some pretty damn good theatre.

www.normalave.org