Three moms, a stay-at-home dad, and a nanny watch their kids play at Mommy-Baby Meetup. One mom is the queen bee and one is here to shake things up. The dad just wants to fit in, and the nanny doesn’t say a word. When catastrophe comes, the five of them have to figure out how to survive a war and each other. MOTHERS examines the primal heartache of raising children in a disintegrating world.
Genre: Drama
Forgiveness
Who would you forgive?
Minnesota convicts who have served their time are given the opportunity after five years to apply for “Forgiveness.” Appearing in front of the Governor and his panel, they can explain, in ten minutes set by a timer, the reasons they want or deserve it. If they receive forgiveness, their rights as a citizen are restored: the ability to vote, possess firearms, and freedom to travel throughout the U.S. and abroad. They no longer have to identify themselves as former convicts, which makes a huge difference in their abilities to get better jobs and housing.
Your decision?
The audience votes to forgive or not forgive the four applicants.
Diversion
Emilia is a devoted nurse in an ICU unit, highly regarded by her boss, Bess, and her peers: Amy, Mike, and the new hire Mandy, who Emilia has taken under her wing. When it’s discovered that someone on the unit is stealing medicine, the nurses are unsettled, particularly when an outsider shows up, effectively placing them all under a microscope. When the culprit is finally revealed, the nurses must fight to save themselves and the integrity of the unit.
right before I go: School Edition
Stan Zimmerman (The Golden Girls, Roseanne, Gilmore Girls) brings to life the last words written in letters by individuals lost to suicide—including celebrities, veterans, kids that were bullied, LGBTQ, and the clinically depressed—and those who have survived suicide attempts. Since its acclaimed first performance at the Hollywood Fringe Festival in 2015, the play has traveled across the country, raising awareness and offering hope for suicide prevention.
Mrs. Harrison
At their 10-year college reunion, Aisha and Holly meet by chance. Aisha is a Black, successful playwright; Holly is a white, struggling stand-up comedian. Aisha’s most successful play bears a striking resemblance to a tragic event in Holly’s life. Is it a coincidence or is it theft? They both have a story that they’ve been telling themselves about what happened years ago and they’re both willing to fight for the truth in the present.
The Unbelieving
We often see stories of people who go from non-believer to believer. We seldom see the opposite journey. The Unbelieving takes a penetrating look into the lives of practicing clergy members—Mormons, Catholics, Jews, Episcopalians, Muslims, Fundamentalists—who have stopped believing in God. Using their actual words, obtained during a groundbreaking study by philosopher Daniel C. Dennett and qualitative researcher Linda LaScola, the play explores the struggles, courage, and great humor of these “unbelievers” as they face the hardest decision of their lives—whether to continue living in secret or to risk everything by telling the truth.
The Scarlet Letter
A visceral exploration of “original sin,” Kate Hamill’s highly-theatrical, vital reimagining of The Scarlet Letter follows strong-willed, intelligent Hester Prynne as she tries to find her own moral compass and raise her daughter in a society that harshly punishes women for independent thought, sexuality, or defiance. Hester and the other Massachusetts Bay colonists—including her guilt-ridden lover and her estranged husband—struggle with their own deeply-ingrained shame, as they debate what transgressions might truly be “unforgivable”… and learn how violence, superstition, repression, and uncomfortable truths may shape the land that will become America.
Possessing Harriet
In 1839, Harriet Powell, a young, mixed-race, enslaved woman, slips away from a hotel in Syracuse, New York, and escapes from the white Southerner who owns her. With the aid of a worker at the hotel, a mysterious free black man named Thomas Leonard, Harriet finds temporary safe harbor in an attic room at the home of impassioned abolitionist Gerrit Smith. With the slave catchers in pursuit, Harriet spends the hours before her nighttime departure on the dangerous journey to Canada in the company of Smith’s young cousin Elizabeth Cady, an outspoken advocate for women’s equality. Confronted with new and difficult ideas about race, identity, and equality, and with confusion, fear, and desperation multiplying, Harriet is forced to the precipice of radical self-re-imagining and a reckoning with the heartrending cost of her freedom.
The Happiest Man On Earth
Eddie Jaku’s story is one of unimaginable grief and tragic loss, yet it is also a testament to the indomitable spirit of the human soul. Defying all odds, he declared himself “The Happiest Man on Earth,” a testament to his resilience and determination to find light even in the darkest circumstances.
Bridge
Frances, Mary Todd and Janie, intelligent, sociable ladies, learn that Sally, the urbane new “fourth” in their bridge club, is transgender. The revelation prods Frances to address painful memories. Mary Todd, wrestling with moral issues, is challenged by her specially-abled son J-Pat. With wisdom and wit, Janie puts it all in perspective. And J-Pat provides a poignant unexpected insight. The bridge club survives: the three remaining members must search for a “fourth”—again. BRIDGE is a compassionate dramedy, that examines how people react when they encounter the new, the unknown or the misunderstood.