Three new plays by Kia Corthron (Megastasis), Rinne Groff (Fire in Dreamland), and Edwin Sánchez (The Merit System) will receive their first public readings in New York City this winter. The new works have been developed through the Keen Company's Playwrights Lab, a season-long residency with the Off-Broadway company for mid-career American playwrights.
All three readings are free and open to the public. Click here to reserve your space.
Check out the lineup below:
Destiny by Edwin Sánchez, directed by José Zayas
December 5 at 4 PM at Theater Row (410 West 42nd Street)
A trans child tries to redefine hir place in a family coming apart at the seams due to the father's illness. As Destiny's mother rages at the cancer eating away at her husband she comes close to destroying her own children insisting that things must stay the same. No matter the cost. Running time: approx. 90 minutes
The Rented Bridegroom by Rinne Groff, directed by Johanna Gruenhut
December 13 at 4 PM at New George's The Room (520 8th Avenue/3rd Floor)
A feisty young woman, caught in a love triangle between the highbred son of her employer and a poor but adoring klezmer-player, must decide whether to stoop for love or money. And why is stooping the only choice anyway? Set in a shtetl of romanticized memory, this heart-breaking comedy is based on the classic Yiddish play The Singer of His Sorrows by Osip Dymov (as adapted by Adrian Silver and Rinne Groff, from a translation by Adrian Silver). Running time: approx. 75 minutes
Fish by Kia Corthron, directed by Tamilla Woodard
December 17 at 4 PM at New George's The Room
Between acting as guardian to her fifth-grade brother and losing her BFF to the charter school on the upper floor, Tree is just trying her best to navigate senior year and collect that diploma. But when unforeseen monumental circumstances wreck her plans, she is forced to find answers well beyond the confines of any standardized test. Can the efforts of an embittered teacher help her find her path? Running time: approx. 100 minutes.
“As our industry continues to reexamine how we define the canon of theatrical literature, I am proud to give support to writers who are helping to shape a canon reflective of the fullness of human experience and artistic possibility,” said Jeremy Stoller, Keen’s Director of New Work. “They are telling compelling, compassionate stories with immense craft and skill, and with a heart that embodies Keen's mission. These are artists who have proven themselves through their already sizeable bodies of work, and their generosity as creators, teachers, and community members. We are eager to share some of what they have been working on this past year, with colleagues and friends.”
For more information visit Keencompany.org.
