Off-Off-Broadway theatre The Flea is set to launch SERIALS @ The Flea: ONLINE!, a spinoff of the organization’s long-running, late-night episodic show written, directed, and performed by artists in residence. The digital series will feature five new plays created specifically to be viewed online.
SERIALS will be available beginning at 9 PM ET April 25 on the Flea’s Instagram and YouTube channels through May 1. The series is free to view; however, in light of the COVID-19 shutdown, The Flea is asking audiences to consider donating $15, the typical cost of a SERIALS ticket.
Launched in 2011, SERIALS are short episodic stage plays written by The Flea's writers' group, performed by its resident company The Bats, and directed by its resident directors cohort. The series asks the audience to vote for the top three plays to come back the following cycle with the next installments. The teams with the two least popular stories also come back the following week, but with entirely different serialized plays.
READ: The Latest Statuses of Off-Broadway Theatres During the Shutdown
With SERIALS: ONLINE! fans will vote for their favorite three shows by "liking" each video on Instagram or voting via an online form. The top three plays return next month with their next installments. Voting lasts until midnight on April 28.
The plays will be performed by Laurel Andersen, Nathaniel Ansbach, Dolores Avery, Ryan Chittaphong, Georgia Kate Cohen, Jessica Darrow, Ure Egbuho, Brendan George, Dorothea Gloria, Andrew Goebel, Simone Grossman, Vanessa Guadiana, Marcus Jones, Hannah Karpenko, Tasha Milkman, Ashley Morton, Erin Noll, Michael Ortiz, Dana Placentra, Brian Pollock, Ana Semedo, Alexandra Slater, Elizabeth Spindler, Nick Turturro, Keith Weiss, Katryna Williams, and Susannah Wilson.
The writers are Niccolo Aeed, Oscar Cabrera, Brian Kettler, Marina Tempelsman, and Joshua Young, and the directors are Daniella Caggiano, Lauren DeLeon, Raz Golden, Kimille Howard, and William Steinberger. SERIALS is artistically produced by Michael Raine, produced by Joseph Dalfonso and Annie Perales, and associate produced by Michael Ortiz and Elizabeth Spindler.
“The skill set of our community of artists continues to amaze me," says Artistic Director Niegel Smith. "I hope our Flea audience will grab the best seats on their couches, pop open a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon, and cast their ballots for their favorite SERIALS.”
As previously reported, Smith has teamed up with frequent collaborator Taylor Mac, Kristin Marting, Morgan Jenness, Emily Morse, and over 50 New York City artists to launch The Trickle Up, a video streaming service—available at $10 a month—from which donations will be used to help artists living below the poverty line during the coronavirus pandemic. The platform aims to get 10,000 subscribers paying $10 a month—and thereby get $10,000 each to 120 different artists affected by COVID-19 by the end of the year. Sign up to receive content from The Trickle Up here.
