Crystal Field News

Two short one-acts, "Wild Orchids" and "Rosary Hill" by Heather J. Violanti, will debut September 10 to 16 in a double bill presented by Theater for the New City's Dream Up Festival. "Wild Orchids" is a film noir-esque, feminist, and fictionalized take on 1940's Hollywood, where a secretary has a chance encounter with William Faulkner that may change both their lives. In "Rosary Hill,' two gentle nuns tend to their garden in upstate New York but a closer look at the harsh Mother Superior reveals they may not be all that they seem. Both plays feature canny, nuanced female characters who have much more going on under the surface than meets the eye. Jennifer Sandella directs.

Who can you turn to when trust is betrayed? "You Don't Know How It Feels," a new play by Kelley Blessing, is an honest and daring look at a student who is sexually assaulted by her teacher, resulting in a traumatic case of emotional manipulation and dangerously spiraling depression. In an attempt to further the dialogue that will help end the stigma surrounding this crucial issue, the play fits aptly into the MeToo narrative, telling just of the many thousands of young girls' stories about sexual assault. Theater for the New City's Dream Up Festival will present the world premiere of the play August 29 to September 15.

In 'The Torso' by Paige Esterly, directed by Laura Holland, an unemployed young woman begins finding mannequin body parts around her apartment. The parts symbolize her malaise as she awkwardly transitions into adulthood. Theater for the New City's Dream Up Festival will present the play's world premiere August 26 to September 16.

The age of sixteen is a delicate one-especially if you're in trouble with the law. "Sixteen," a new drama by Hama Zaman examines the root causes of criminal activity at the age of sixteen, an age where you could be tried as an adult but are far from it. Incorporating spoken word, poetry and multimedia, the play cracks open each offender's story two ways: from inside the subject's mind by direct address monologues, and from the outside analyses and judgments of psychiatric and law enforcement 'professionals.' Theater for the New City's Dream Up Festival will present the world premiere of "Sixteen" August 26 to September 9, directed by Michael Whitney.

The touch business is rarely about being heard. In "Masseur", a new dance-theater piece written and directed by Christian Ávila, professionalism succumbs to sexual favors when a Latino massage-therapist trying to make ends meet in New York City is faced with a client who wants more than just a massage. What ensues is anything but out-of-the-ordinary for the masseur, whose station in life repeatedly prevents him from making the honest living he longs for. Theater for the New City's Dream Up Festival will present the world premiere of the piece September 6 to September 14.

Two lives steeped in sex, drugs, and grifting collide in "Pretty Babies," a new play written and directed by Antony Raymond, when two long lost siblings meet for the first time. Manipulation, abuse, and perversion cause the relationship and ones around it to quickly devolve into animalism, throwing the characters into a downward spiraling whirlwind that crashes in a fit of jealously. Theater for the New City's Dream Up Festival will present the play's world premiere September 2 to September 11.

"My Name is not Actually Maria" is a multidisciplinary devised ensemble theater piece that seeks to investigating the phrase "and then I never saw them again." Using Craigslist missed connections ads and verbatim stories as source material, this piece blends movement, text, music, and technology to create a dream land of opportunities lost. It is a search for something that disappeared while your back was turned. Dreamy, ethereal and haunting, it is performed to a mix of contemporary music and soundscapes. The work is conceived by Allie Marotta and devised by Cucumber Dogs in association with Sitting Shotgun. It is co-facilitated by Marotta and Fernando Moya Delgado. Movement is directed by Delgado.

In "Lucinda and the Wolves," written and directed by Robyn Migel and performed by Sandi Milne, Lucinda is a featured speaker for a group of individuals in recovery from abuse, addiction, and other traumas. She tells them the story of her life, first reminiscing about her tranquil childhood days with her mom. Wolves lurk throughout the story, representing the traumas of her family's formerly peaceful life. It's a harrowing tale of her loss of innocence, fall from grace and subsequent efforts to piece herself back together.

"The Rounds" by Justin Moriarty is an experimental dance-theatre performance about the US War on Drugs, its soldiers, and its battles. The piece is is a one-act play divided into nine parts that exhibits the internal conflicts associated with individual and communal experiences with addiction and mental illness. Incorporating true stories from the lives of both patients and professionals in the medical industry, "The Rounds" addresses the relationships that exist within the shared struggle of addiction and the desire for recovery. Theater for the New City's Dream Up Festival will present the work's New York premiere August 27 to September 9. Jonathan Schwolsky directs.

Do you believe in ghosts? In "The Ones Upstairs," a new comedy by Jillian Stevens, lost loved ones are not as far away as you might think-perhaps just up a flight of stairs. This heartwarming tale features the playful and wistful relationship between the living and the dead and teaches a difficult but important lesson about letting go. Theater for the New City's Dream Up Festival will present the world premiere of "The Ones Upstairs" August 28 to September 2.

At the peak of the true crime boom in a world oversaturated in podcasts, "Single Dead Female," a cheeky black comedy by Lana Schwartz reveals an unconventional way in which a true crime podcast host can find her edge. When her intern accidentally kills a hot, young woman, the two conclude they have no choice but to use her as their subject. Will their listeners discover the truth? Find out, right after this ad for Harry's Razors. Theater for the New City's Dream Up Festival will present the comedy August 26 to September 16.

In 'Hedda' a new adaptation by Kelly Lamanna, one performer and one stage manager, armed with puppets, dolls, gizmos, and gadgets will attempt to perform the lamentable tale of Hedda Gabler as first written by Henrik Ibsen. Theater for the New City's Dream Up Festival will present the world premiere of the piece August 31 to September 13.

In a dark, disorienting immersive movement theater piece, "Girl Inside the Mirror" by Peruvian-Italian director Nicoletta Mandriotti, psychological and physical forces bear down on a Latina girl who travels to a parallel world through a mirror. In this place, her past trauma and current mentality are reflected through the tormenting voices and shadows of her own subconscious, leading her nearer and nearer to her doom. Theater for the New City's Dream Up Festival will present the work's New York premiere September 6 to 15.

"For (give) me" is a new work of ensemble aerial dance from Circus Solaris. It is an exploration of storytelling in movement that comments on the effects of emotional trauma, the damaged psyche, long term stresses, coping mechanisms, and how these sources of stress and agitation manifest in the body over time. The world premiere of the piece will be presented by Theater for the New City's Dream Up Festival September 5 to 9.

Even after the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2015, there is no shortage of hate surrounding the gay community. We are powerfully reminded of this in "Adam & Brian," a drama by Craig Donnelly that tells the story of New York City gay couple who are viciously attacked after leaving the movies one night. As they cope with the physical and emotional damage in the aftermath of their assault, their relationship begins to unravel, revealing the devastating potential of a few hateful individuals on the lives of others. Theater for the New City's Dream Up Festival will present "Adam & Brian" September 12 to September 16.

Have you ever wanted something from someone to your own detriment? Or struggled to keep your cool after being told the same thing over and over and over again? These are the questions Indian-born playwright Ajinkya Desai asks in his new drama, "A Case Study of People With Labels: Meeks and Minorities." Narrated by a social scientist presenting his research, Desai's play looks at the struggles of one "meek" and one minority, revealing the frustrations with their own fraught identities. Theater for the New City's Dream Up Festival will present the world premiere of the piece September 1 to September 6.

'Glitched,' written and directed by Melissa Maney, is a dark fantasy horror story in which a woman faces a phobia on a carnival ride but finds more to fear than she'd bargained for.  Theater for the New City's Dream Up Festival will present the play's world premiere August 26 to September 4.

"Sleep F$@cking: Revision" by Margot Mejia is an exploration of the physical experience of writing and revising a work that delves into a troubled writer's mind. Wine-addled and in a mire of insomnia, a character named John begins to lose sight of what is real and what is the novel. The world of the play and the novel overlap and become one, as John physically enters his book and the stage is overtaken by both realities, making both him and the audience question their interpretation of events. Theater for the New City's Dream Up Festival will present the play's world premiere August 26 to September 4.

From September 9 to 16, Theater for the New City's Dream Up Festival will present 'Two Men Walk Into a Bar' by Monica Bauer, a Cain and Abel story that takes place in a Texas dive bar in the middle of the Iraq War. 

Theater for the New City's Dream Up Festival 2018 presents the World Premiere of 'MOVING  BODIES'