Arturo Luíz Soria will perform his new solo work, The White Whale Journal, at Joe’s Pub at The Public as part of the 24th Season of the Downtown Urban Arts Festival. This intriguing tale follows a writer, who after the tragic death of his brother, inherits a strange archive. What emerges is not an answer, but a widening: a brother restored not as a final act, but as a vast, unfinished human story still breaching the surface. Performances run May 29-30.
Company member Carole Monferdini is in Outside Mullingar, written by John Patrick Shanley and directed by Bram Lewis at The Schoolhouse Theater. Anthony and Rosemary have been neighbors their entire lives, circling one another with equal parts affection, exasperation, and sheer Irish obstinacy. The problem? Neither of them is very good at saying what they feel—until, perhaps, it’s almost too late. Performances run May 15-31 in Croton Falls, NY.
Company member Monica Wyche is in This Is The Way The World Ends, a short film by Jeremiah Murphy. As the world counts down its final eight hours, two middle-aged women find joy, comfort, and unexpected meaning in the quiet, tender moments they share—revealing that love and true human connection can transcend anything. Even the apocalypse. The short will premiere on May 17 at the New York Short Film Festival.
Company member Jason Kravits is in Matched, a television pilot from creator Dominique Salerno. The show follows ex-playwright turned elite matchmaker Diana who is plagued by medical bills and on the brink of losing her job. Desperate, she uses her wealthy clients’ lists of impossible romantic demands as casting breakdowns, hires her broke actor friends to portray these “dream dates,” and inadvertently launches an underground empire. The pilot won Best TV Episode at the New York Comedy Film Festival in February, and won the Kickass Short Award at the LA Women in Film Festival in April. Watch trailer here.
Company member Benja Thomas is in The Last Day Of Byron Bray, a short film from director Michael Borrelli. The short tells the story of two dear friends – one at the end of his life and the other struggling to find his place in the world. William Sadler plays Byron Bray, an elderly gay man who has a dream portending his nearing death and tries to impart some final wisdom to his young friend in this film featuring music from M83 and Japandroids. The short won the Grand Jury Best Narrative Short award and the Audience Award at The Florida Film Festival in Maitland, FL. Watch trailer here.
Company members Caroline Aaron, Nathan Darrow, Judy Kuhn, Lizan Mitchell, Maria-Christina Oliveras, and Gerry Rodriguez were nominated for individual honors at the Drama Desk Awards. Caroline, Nathan, Lizan, and Maria-Christina were nominated for Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play (The Reservoir, (un)conditional, Cold War Choir Practice, and The Balusters, respectively); Judy was nominated for Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical (The Baker’s Wife); and Gerry was nominated for Outstanding Fight Choreography (The Monsters).
Read more here.
Company member Jeff Hiller is in Widow’s Bay, a new series from creator Katie Dippold and director Hiro Murai, on Apple TV. Widow’s Bay is a quaint island town 40 miles off the coast of New England. But something lurks beneath the surface. Mayor Tom Loftis is desperate to revive his struggling community. There’s no Wi-Fi, spotty cellular reception and he must contend with superstitious locals who believe their island is cursed. But Loftis is determined to turn the island into a tourist destination. Miraculously, he succeeds: tourists are finally coming. Unfortunately, the locals were right. After decades of calm, the old stories that seemed too ludicrous to be true start happening again. The series premieres on April 29, with new episodes airing on Wednesdays through June 17 on Apple TV. Watch trailer here.
Company member Emma Ramos is in Alien Girls, written by Amy Berryman and directed by Jaki Bradley, at The Old Globe. Tiffany is pregnant. Her best friend, Carolyn, is trying to be happy for her, but failing. When Carolyn’s true feelings become public in the form of an essay that goes viral, the fallout may be irreparable. Time traveling through decades of friendship between two writers on the brink of huge life changes, Alien Girls is a heart-filled comedy about the tension between creating art and creating life. Performances run through May 10 in San Diego, CA.
Company member Ben Beckley is in Indian Princesses, written by Eliana Theologides Rodriguez and directed by Miranda Cornell, presented by Atlantic Theater in a co-production with Rattlestick Theater. In the summer of 2008, five young girls of color and their white fathers attend a program designed to bond families through handmade activities, camp-like adventures, and a heavy dose of cultural appropriation. But where can these girls turn when the program sparks questions that their fathers are unable—or unwilling—to answer? Inspired by the playwright’s experiences in a father-daughter program of the same name, Indian Princesses explores the stories we tell, the histories we omit, and the truths that live inside us, waiting to come out. Performances run April 30-June 7.
Company member Heather Alicia Simms is in Wilderness Generation, written by James Ijames and directed by Taibi Magar, presented by Philadelphia Theatre Company. Over one summer weekend in the Tidewater South, four cousins gather at their grandmother’s home—a place steeped in family lore and unspoken truths. As laughter gives way to old wounds and long-buried secrets, what begins as a celebration becomes a reckoning. This play explores the cycles of silence and survival that define a generation raised in the shadows of trauma—and the strength it takes to imagine something different. Performances run through May 3 in Philadelphia, PA.