Emerging Artists Theatre To Present Four Virtual Benefit Performances In May

Award-winning Emerging Artists Theatre will present four evenings of virtual performances on Monday nights in May. The series will feature new dance and theatre pieces that have been pre-recorded at various theatres across the country.

The benefit series runs May 10 - 31 with proceeds going towards the artists and Emerging Artists next New Work Series which is currently being planned for early 2022. Each performance premieres on a Monday night but ticket buyers have a total of four days to enjoy the show.

Tickets can be purchased on a sliding scale of $10, $15, $20, and $25+ at www.newworkseries.com/eat-benefits

Monday, May 10 at 8pm

The Exorcism of Violet Ward

Written by Bambi Everson

Directed by Job Ethan Christenson

Featuring Lamont Cranston and Bambi Everson

Violet Ward attempts to figure out her relationship with her recently deceased father. There are strange happenings in the house she has inherited.

*Pre-recorded staged reading with a live 20-minute talkback following the performance.

Monday, May 17 at 8pm

Baggage From BaghDAD

Written & performed by Valerie David
Directed by Maris Heller

A father's harrowing past shapes his daughter's future and ultimate survival.

Forced to flee Iraq due to religious persecution during the 1941 "Farhud", Valerie David's paternal Middle Eastern Jewish family built a new home in America. Their inspirational journey mirrors today's growing intolerance of race, religion and sexual orientation. This staged reading is a story of a father and a daughter learning to love and accept their differences, and how a father's tale of survival and perseverance shaped his daughter's future and who she is today. A journey of how a family's struggle to immigrate to a new land transcends their harrowing past, so that the importance of family and love triumphs above all.

*Pre-recorded staged reading with a live 20-minute talkback following the performance.

Monday, May 24 at 8pm

AN EVENING OF DANCE & THEATER...NEW WORK IN ALL ITS FORMS

HAY THERE

Choreographed by Therese Young
Performed by Central Washington University's 2020
Orchesis Dance Company

From Choreographer Therese Young - "Outside of Seattle lies Hay Valley, a place I've lived for 25 years; it is culturally relevant to our land and a major part of our economy. Every spring as I drive through the valley, I have thought about developing a piece that encapsulates the beauty of the growth process. My hope was to show the spirit of the hay as a living entity, taking us through its stages of life using human movement."

LIFESPAN OF A PET GOLDFISH

Written & directed by Brandice Peltier
Performed by Sophia Lucia Parola & Brandice Peltier
Short play

Two sisters struggle with finding coping mechanisms for their private battles with infertility and Sickle Cell Anemia. When Sasha's days become numbered due to her blood disease, she finds a surprising way to bond with her sister again so that they can both move forward with their lives.

RETURN

Written & performed by Andrea Alton
Directed by Mark Finley
Solo show

April hasn't left her apartment or talked to someone face to face in over 15 months. The only company she's had is her passive aggressive cat who is out to kill her. When she ventures outside for the first time, she has an unexpected encounter.

SOL-I-DÓ

Choreographed by Edgar Cortes
Performed by Consuelo Marie Barbetta, Hannah Barnard, Amelie Benard, Edgar Cortes, Yuritzi Govea, Christopher LaFleche, Emily Petry, Roberto Lara, Gwendolyn Petry, and Amy Piantaggini

SOL-I-DÓ is a tribute to Edgar Cortes' native country of Portugal. This piece explores its rich variety of traditional folk dance, music, and costumes from north to south, combining the traditional with the contemporary.

WAVE LENGTH

Choreographer/Dancer: Emily Chamberlin
Multi-genre Bassist and Composer: Marlon Martinez
Modern Dance and Solo Bass Duet

Wave Length is a musical and movement exploration inspired by Marlon Martinez's score Open Gate. This duet explores two people searching for a common language through the wavelengths of music, dance, distance, and time.

Monday, May 31 at 8pm

Doris Day: A Sentimental Journey

Written by Paul Adams
Directed by Melissa Attebery
Featuring Tiffan Borelli & Jason Ostrowski
Full-length play - Staged Reading

Doris Day led a fascinating life that was fueled by two things: a drive to make people happy and a desire to find someone who truly cared for her. Her husbands dictated the terms and path of her career until she finally realized she could take back control. Her voice and her lyrical stylings made her a unique and ever-present comfort to an America needing the winning smile and wholesomeness that were her trademarks. Featuring 16 of her most famous songs.

Emerging Artists Theatre, now in its 28 season, produces a bi-annual three-week developmental series that provides artists of different disciplines (theatre, music, dance) the opportunity to present one night of a "work in progress" with audience feedback. Since the New Work Series inception in 2006, successful FringeNYC, NYMF, Edinburgh Fringe, and Off-Broadway shows have been born out of this series. Artistic Director Paul Adams and company members Andrea Alton, Elizabeth Bell, Scott Klavan and Vanessa Shealy serve as curators for the series. Due to COVID-19, the 2020 New Work Series had to be put on hold. EAT's New Work Series will resume as soon as it's safe to open New York theatre's again.

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