Photos: ¡SOMEONE EXTRAORDINARYX! at the Players Theatre

¡Someone ExtraordinariX! written by playwright Poli Olavarria will open on May 1 at The Players Theatre in the West Village. The limited engagement runs May 1 – 18. Daniely Martins directs. Check out photos below!

¡Someone ExtraordinariX! deals with immigration and artists Visa’s, something many members of the cast and creative team are dealing with. Playwright Olavarria shared why she wrote the play,  “I wrote ¡Someone ExtraordinariX! because I needed to do it. Whether it was because I needed to feel, say, share, express, fight, or do something, that is up for you to decide. All I know is that it came from need. I needed to express what I was feeling, I needed to talk about what is happening to me and so many others. I could say I got inspired by immigration, by my friends, by my life, by seeing how unjust this process is and wanting to do something about it, which are obviously things that are on my mind but the truth is I wasn’t thinking about that while I wrote. I just wrote what I felt.”

It's present-day Manhattan, and Chilean immigrant Mona is coming up on her Visa deadline. As she tries to stay employed, auditioning, and in the country, she encounters Maggie, an All-American songwriter, who just can't let things go, and Vicho, a Mexican actor and playwright who has more in common with Mona than she might think. Helped and/or hindered by Someone, Mona tries to navigate her upcoming deadlines, a perma-intoxicated boss, a budding relationship, and the 'endless loneliness that comes with being alive'. ¡Someone ExtraordinariX! poses the question: how does it feel when the one thing you want doesn't want you back?

The cast features Sophie Morrison (The Banality of Evil/The Brick) as Someone, Poli Olavarria (August: Osage County at Finis Terrae) as Mona, Vincent Rame (Broadway World Award for best performance in the play 9/10) as Vicho, and Lauryn Savela (Hearts Like Planets by Adam Szymkowicz at AADA) as Maggie.

The creative/production team includes Micah Carlsen (sound design), Goran Popovich (scenic and properties designer), and Francesca Pecchi (stage management).

Performances run May 1 - 18 with shows Thursday - Saturday at 7pm, and Sundays at 3pm. Running time: 1:40. The Players Theatre (Steve and Marie Sgouros Theatre) is located at 115 MacDougal Street (btw 3rd Street & Minetta Lane), New York, NY 10012. 

Poli Olavarria (Playwright/Mona) is a playwright, actor, and musician who arrived in New York in 2021 to study at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Prior to NYC, Poli studied and worked in theatre as a playwright, actor and director in London and her home country of Chile. Some of her acting credits include Ivy in August: Osage County, Boochie in Den of Thieves, Frankie in Frankie & Johnny in the Claire de Lune, and Nina in the first play she wrote DANSE MACABRE or The Danse of Two Lovers About to Die.