(LEFT) Elinor T Vanderburg (RIGHT) Ailema Sousa
(NEW YORK, NY) -- SheNYC Arts, an organization devoted to producing plays, musicals, and adaptations by writers of marginalized genders and who produces summer theater festivals of work by women/trans writers in NYC, LA, and Atlanta, has announced that for the first time this fall they will be producing an off-Broadway run of two shows by Festival alumni writers, September 23 to October 14, 2023 at A.R.T/NY Mezzanine Theater (502 West 53 Street).
The two shows are Fort Huachuca by Ailema Sousa and Bloodshot by Elinor T Vanderburg and they will run in rep (alternating performances). The two shows will transport audiences from the world of a WWII Army Base to a nightmarish, alternate-universe New York City. Fort Huachuca will open on Thursday, September 28 and Bloodshot on Friday, September 29.
In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, Mayvee, Georgia, Elinor, Majorie, and Thelma enlist to serve their country and are sent to Fort Huachuca, an army base camp in Arizona. As Black nurses, they're in charge of treating enemy prisoners of war. They quickly learn the rules of the camp: stay segregated from the white soldiers; in an emergency, always treat the white soldiers first; and remember that we're all on the same team, fighting for the same country. Universal and real, Fort Huachuca tackles social issues that are still relevant today: racism and sexism. It’s an inside look at survival in the army in the 1940s, when society treated women and people of color as “less than”.
Bloodshot is a vicious psycho-caper that pits the deprived against the depraved in a pulpy, noir-inspired mystery. Unreliably narrated, this deeply dark and acerbically funny mystery follows two detectives navigating a world that is being torn apart by a mysterious plague -- one causes chronic sleeplessness and spontaneous death. It's set in a city that feels like ours, but something feels off. Or is that just the insomnia kicking in? Bloodshot will also feature an original score written and performed by the band The Mombs.
“At SheNYC Arts, we are working to end the ‘pipeline issue,’ which keeps historically marginalized artists out of creative leadership positions and their work off of commercial stages,” said Artistic Director Danielle DeMatteo. “We’re fixing this by making our own pipeline. Our festivals across the country have always found and developed these artists, and we’re thrilled to be pushing that to the next level by bringing two of our most creative and talented Festival writers to this off-Broadway run.
“Fort Huachuca and Bloodshot both tell intimate, heartbreaking stories about the Black American experience—the first during a time where pro-American propaganda and pride was at its highest, and the second in a fictional time that mimics the pandemic we’ve all just lived through,” continued DeMatteo. “These two shows together pose the question: have we grown as a country? Has our culture really changed from the 1940s to the present? And does American identity really deserve all the pride it’s gotten?”
TICKET INFORMATION:
Performances are September 23 to October 14, 2023 at A.R.T/NY Mezzanine Theater (502 West 53 Street). Tickets start at $39 and audiences members can purchase a package for both shows for $65. Showtimes are Tuesday-Saturday at 7:30pm and Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00pm. Fort Huachuca will open on September 28 and Bloodshot on September 29.
For tickets and more information, please visit, www.shenycarts.org/repshows
The design team features Nora Marlow Smith (Sets); Elinor T Vanderburg (Costumes); and Marcella Barbeau (Lighting).
AILEMA SOUSA (Playwright, Fort Huachuca) is an Angolan-born British actress and writer. She graduated from the renowned Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 2016 and was the winner of “The Most Promising Playwright” Award at the Los Angeles Fringe Festival (2018). She was later commissioned to write her second play Morongo by the Inkwell Theatre Company. As an actor, she was in The Crown on Netflix.
ANI MARDEROSIAN (Director, Fort Huachuca) is an award-winning artist, and she has over 20 years of experience in the entertainment industry. She holds a B.A. degree in Theatre (Directing and Education emphasis) from CSU Fullerton and an M.A. in Theatre Education from the University of Northern Colorado. Most recent acting roles include: Maria (West Side Story), Fantine (Les Miserables), Anahit (Warrior Queen), and Olivia (Twelfth Night). Most recent directing credits include: Wonder of the World, Witness for the Prosecution, The First and the Last (Encore Award), and The Baltimore Waltz. Ani is currently a full-time actor for Kaiser Permanente’s Educational Theatre as well as a voiceover artist for KCRW.
ELINOR T VANDERBURG (Playwright, Bloodshot) is a Black-American writer, performer and voice artist born in Washington, DC. She writers plays for and about misfits, creating troubled, chimerical landscapes to call her audiences to real-world r/evolutionary action. Elinor is a Co-Creative Director of Fresh Ground Pepper, a writer-in-residence with Exquisite Corpse Co. & The Shelter. She lives and works in Bushwick Brooklyn.
NIGEL SEMAJ. (Director, Bloodshot) is a director, movement director, choreographer, and educator from Washington, D.C. Notable directing credits include: Ntozake Shange’s Spell No. 7, Paula Vogel’s The Baltimore Waltz, as well as new works such as Black Hollow, by Aeneas Sagar Hemphill, and “wolfchildren runslowly through a Bruegel landscape,” 1558 by Ruth Tang. Their 2015 production of For Colored Girls who have Considered Suicide when the Rainbow is Enuf won them awards in Excellence of Direction, Excellence in Ensemble Work, and Excellence in Costume Design. Their adaptation work includes a five-female adaptation of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus entitled 10,000 Moor, “For Hylas,” a queer retelling of the Hercules myth, and Call Me By Any Other Name…Just As Sweet: a queer deconstruction of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Nigel worked as Movement Director/Fight Director of Heartbeat Opera Company’s adaptation of Beethoven’s Fidelio by Marcus Scott which became a New York Times Critic’s Pick. They are currently working on a classical adaptation play cycle existing within the world of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy.
SheNYC Arts (Danielle DeMatteo,Artistic Director) is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization devoted to producing plays, musicals, and adaptations by writers of marginalized genders, to prove that these works are meaningful, high-quality, and commercially viable. SheNYC produces Summer Theater Festivals in New York City, Los Angeles, and Atlanta annually, as well as CreateHER, a semester-long program for high school students interested in careers as playwrights and producers. Through additional educational and community engagement programs, including The Broadway Women’s Alliance, SheNYC aims to make the theater industry a better place for all people.
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