Vineyard Theatre Announces Schedule Change for LESSONS IN SURVIVAL

Vineyard Theatre has announced a schedule change for Lessons In Survival. To provide more time for single ticket buyers to view performances and to better connect Sunday Community Conversation events and performances, the schedule for the remaining three weeks of programming has been adjusted slightly.

The episodes originally scheduled to air on Wednesdays (Episode 4, Episode 6 and Episode 8) will be moved to the following Sundays at 8:30 pm: October 18 and 25, and November 1.

The remaining Episodes and Open Rehearsals will air on their original dates and All Access Passes can still be purchased to view all content on the Extended Viewing page through November 15. You can also revisit this past Sunday's Community Conversation here.

Please see a full list of remaining content with dates and times below.

Fueled by the urgency of our present moment, The Commissary, a multigenerational collective of more than 40 ​theatre artists, have come together to reinvestigate the words​ ​of trailblazing artists​ ​and activists ​who survived and created in times of revolution in our country​. Baldwin. Giovanni. Davis. Lorde. Hansberry. Rustin. Hamer. ​In Lessons In Survival, a cohort of actors channel historic conversations, interviews and speeches, listening to original broadcasts on an in-ear feed and speaking exactly what they hear. In bringing these words to new life in the present, they ask what these voices can teach us about our country now and the opportunity for true change that stands before us. How might they propel us to look courageously at the effects of systemic racism, to imagine ourselves outside of its prescriptions, and to create, together, a shared future of collective liberation?

Conceived by Marin Ireland, Peter Mark Kendall, Tyler Thomas, Reggie D. White and directed by Thomas, Lessons In Survival will continue to develop throughout the season, with The Commissary as an artistic-collective-in-residence at The Vineyard, and will be shared with audiences at different stages over the coming months.

Lessons In Survival features video design and editing by Josiah Davis; music by Daniel Kluger; production design by You-Shin Chen; production coordinator Clarissa Marie Ligon; and performed by The Commissary, with Kyle Beltran, Adam Chanler-Berat, Dan Butler, Helen Cespedes, Kalyne Coleman, Crystal Dickinson, Brandon J. Dirden, Ricardy Fabre, Yonatan Gebeyehu, Peter Gerety, Marin Ireland, Bill Irwin, Peter Mark Kendall, Nicole Lewis, Sevrin Anne Mason, April Matthis, Nana Mensah, Joe Morton, Deirdre O'Connell, Keith Randolph Smith, Ryan Spahn, Chris Stack, Myra Lucretia Taylor, TL Thompson, Nicole Villamil, Victoria Villier and Reggie D. White.

Week 2

October 13 at 8:30 pm

EP 3: "When You Say Revolution... What Do You Mean?"
Angela Davis/Tony Brown (1972); Angela Davis (2008); Georgia Gilmore (1979); Fannie Lou Hamer (1968)
Featuring: Nicole Lewis, Ricardy Fabre, Crystal Dickinson, Helen Cespedes

October 15 at 8:30 pm
Live Open Rehearsal: Bobby Seale (1968), Bobby Seale/Bob Costas (1992), Ericka Huggins/Angela Davis/JoNina Abron/Barbara Rogers (1989)
Featuring: April Matthis, Reggie D. White, Sevrin Anne Mason, Adam Chanler-Berat, Brandon J. Dirden, Kristolyn Lloyd, Clarissa Marie Ligon, Nicole Lewis

October 18 at 5:30 pm

Live Community Conversation
Tune into the Vineyard Theatre YouTube page!
Guests TBA

October 18 at 8:30 pm

EP 4: "The Old Leadership is Dead"
Bayard Rustin (1967)
Featuring: Kyle Beltran, Yonatan Gebeyehu, TL Thompson

Week 3

October 20 at 8:30 pm

EP 5: "Something is Beginning to Crack"
Maya Angelou/Mavis Nicholson (1987); James Baldwin/Mavis Nicholson (1987)
Featuring: Myra Lucretia Taylor, Marin Ireland, Joe Morton, Deirdre O'Connell

October 22 at 8:30 pm

Live Open Rehearsal: Miles Davis (1988), Muhammed Ali/Nikki Giovanni (1971), Joan Baez (1984), Pete Seeger (2006)
Featuring: TL Thompson, Jennifer Ikeda, Crystal Dickinson, Nicole Villamil, Peter Mark Kendall, Peter Gerety, and others

October 25 at 5:30 pm

Live Community Conversation
Tune into the Vineyard Theatre YouTube page!
Guests TBA

October 25 at 8:30 pm

EP 6: "This Country's My Problem and Your Problem"
Toni Morrison/Charlie Rose (1993); James Baldwin and R.H. Darden (1968)
Featuring: Dan Butler, Yonatan Gebeyehu, Nana Mensah, Ryan Spahn

Week 4

October 27 at 8:30 pm

EP 7: "Lie To Me"
James Baldwin/Nikki Giovanni (Parts 1 & 2 of 4)(1971)
Featuring: Kalyne Coleman, Crystal Dickinson, Reggie White

October 29 at 8:30 pm

Live Open Rehearsal: Lucille Clifton/Sonia Sanchez (2001), Sarah Keys Evans (2019), John Lewis (1963), Paul Robeson (1960)
Featuring: Keith Randolph Smith, others TBA

November 1 at 5:30 pm

Live Community Conversation
Tune into The Vineyard Theatre YouTube page!
Guest TBA

November 1 at 8:30 pm

EP 8: "To Teach is a Revolutionary Act"
James Baldwin/Nikki Giovanni (Part 3 & 4 of 4)(1971)
Featuring: Kyle Beltran, Nana Mensah, Kalyne Coleman, Joe Morton

Single tickets are based on the size of the viewing household and range from $9-$24. Viewing access for single ticket holders is now available for 42 hours beginning at the scheduled start date and time. All Access Passes are available for $60. All Access Passholders can watch all eight episodes and four open rehearsals on their own schedule through a private link available through November 15.

*Open Rehearsals are ticketed events that provide an inside look into The Commissary's process of rehearsing and creating Lessons In Survival. Each week, a group of actors and director Tyler Thomas will explore material not seen in other episodes, working on it and talking candidly about the content and the process.

**Community Conversations are free and open to the public and can be viewed on The Vineyard's YouTube and Facebook pages.

"The VT Show," a monthly online series featuring Vineyard artists will next air Tuesday, October 27 at 5:30 pm ET and November 24 at 5:30 pm ET with special guests to be announced.

"The VT Show" programming is free and open to the public, and can be accessed by visiting Vineyard's Theatre's YouTube page or Facebook page. Recordings of the live shows will also be available on both platforms for later viewing, as well as on The Vineyard's website, www.vineyardtheatre.org.

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