The Fled Collective will present its first season at Tribeca’s Flea Theater, as the organization’s key resident company, a reparative grant and partnership offered to a nascent company that centers Black, Brown, and Queer artists.
The season was planned using an unconventional democratic process they call “The Pitch Party,” an annual blowout event where members present in-depth project proposals and the collective votes in real-time to choose a season by the end of the night. In addition to theatrical productions, The Fled’s season will address a commitment to its members’ artistic development, as well as transformative justice in building a more equitable New York theatre industry and community.
First up is a live radio show, Radio Fled, hosted on Twitter Spaces every other Monday at 7 PM ET. Creators Dolores “D-Lo” Avery Pereira (she/her) and co-producer Bri Pollock (they/them) will host live community conversations with theatre professionals and listeners who “call in,” discussing various topics around building an equitable theatre industry. The March 7 broadcast will feature special guests Erick Lockley and Ryan Dobrin of The Movement Theatre Co. and Gineiris Garcia and Maribel Martinez of Dominican Artists Collective to talk transforming the theatre industry through integrating values into institutional practices. The March 21 broadcast will feature An Octoroon Obie winner Chris Myers discussing anti-capitalism for artists, and the unique challenges of raising money for anti-capitalist arts organizations and mobilizing for structural change.
A public reading of Liz Morgan's Deliver: Letters to the Motherland From a Foreign Body will be held May 7, following a developmental workshop. This poetic homage to immigrants focuses on three characters who all find themselves feeling unsafe in the place they call home: A young black doctor practicing medicine in rural America; her patient, a pregnant woman with a dark past; and a mysterious foreign body who must journey to a new world.
The season will also see the return of The Fled's Serials, a late-night episodic play competition newly prioritizing BIPOC and Queer voices. Featuring Fled resident actors and early career playwrights and directors, Serials sees team performing short, original episodic plays, while the audience votes for its favorites to return with a new installment. The series was originally created by Dominic Spillane and Stephen Stout and further developed by members of The Flea Theater's former resident artist companies. The first competition will be presented June 9-11, with a celebration concert June 11. The series will continue bi-monthly.
Jacob Marx Rice's The Tragical Historie of Maximilien Robespierre will receive a developmental workshop, followed by public performances June 9-11. This play follows the incredible life of Maximilien Robespierre from radical revolutionary to national hero to mass murderer. Performed by a gender queer and diverse ensemble in a wild array of theatrical styles, it captures the wild spirit of the French revolution.
October will see an additional workshop production of a new play by an emerging Latinx playwright, to be announced at a later date.
As part of a commitment to the equitable and accessible artistic development of its members, The Fled will also offer ongoing pay-what-you-can artistic training and learning opportunities, led by experts from within and outside the collective.
Learn more and stay up-to-date at TheFled.com.
