13th Annual Downtown Urban Theater Festival Lineup Announced; Runs 5/13-30 at HERE

The Downtown Theater Festival (Reg E. Gaines, Artistic Director) proudly announces that its 13th annual season will take place in New York City from May 13th - 30th, 2015.

Founded in 2001 with the purpose of building a fresh repertoire of stories that echo the true spirit of urban life while speaking to a whole new generation whose lives defy categorizing along conventional lines, the 13th annual Downtown Urban Theater Festival (DUTF) will be presented on the Mainstage at HERE (145 6th Avenue, Enter on Dominick St. - one block south of Spring St. - in NYC). This year, DUTF will present seventeen new stage works by eighteen of America's finest emerging playwrights, all sharing stories that interpret our history and our times through live performances fusing theatre, dance, music, media and visual arts.

Founded in 2001, The Downtown Urban Theater Festival held its inaugural festival in 2002 at HERE in SoHo to help revitalize the NYC downtown arts scene, which was at the time experiencing a severe downturn following the WTC disaster. For the past thirteen years, DUTF has presented 147 plays written by 119 writers from across America's burgeoning multicultural landscape. Many of DUTF's previous playwrights have gone on to have their work presented in venues across the country, earning awards and other distinctions, including:

- Dominique Morisseau (DUTF 2006), whose play Detroit '67 was the 2014 Edward M. Kennedy Prize winner for Drama Inspired by American History;

- Karen Anzoategui, whose play Ser (DUTF 2012) went on to be produced by the Los Angeles Theatre Company and to win two LA Weekly Awards from five nominations in 2014;

- Helena D. Lewis, who won the 2014 AUDELCO Award for Best Solo Performance for Call Me Crazy (DUTF 2006);

- Darian Dauchan, whose play Death Boogie (DUTF 2012) won two awards for Best New Music and Best Innovation at the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland;

- Mayda Del Valle (Culture Bandit - DUTF 2002 and 2004), who went on to be take part in the Tony Award winning Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam on Broadway in 2003, and also to present excerpts of her poetic writings before President Obama and the First Lady at the White House in 2009.

DUTF has been recognized as "one of the world's best festivals for new works" and described as "not only prestigious, but a slice of heaven for playwrights who want the chance to freely express themselves." (Lisa Mulcahy, Theater Festivals, Allworth Press, 2005).

Two-time Tony Award nominee Reg E. Gaines (Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk) returns as DUTF's Artistic Director. The Downtown Urban Theater Festival is staffed by T. Marc Newell, Founder and Producer; Bill Toles, Production Manager; DeVante Lewis, Playwright Coordinator; and Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez, Graphic Design/Creative Services.

The 13th annual Downtown Urban Theater Festival will showcase emerging voices from all over the New York City area as well as from around the country. Their stories express ideas on love, social change, human existence, and survival as we travel from the beautiful city of Paris to the Renaissance of Harlem and the slums of present-day Chicago.

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The full line-up is listed below:

Bed Bugs and Hot Pockets

By Shonali Bhowmik (New York)

Thursday, May 14th at 8:30 PM (presented in a double bill with Blackout 03)

In a society that depends on technology, outsourcing and mass surveillance, jobs at CVS have disappeared. Bill has worked at CVS for years and is the last employee standing. Connie, a CVS customer, regularly stops by the store just to shoot the shit with Bill. On this day their conversation is forced to come to an abrupt halt.

Between a Hot Dog and a Hard Place

By Mel Nieves (New York)

Wednesday, May 20th at 8:30 PM (presented in a double bill with For the Flies)

In the wee small hours of the morning Vincent and Anamarie are dancing to the tune of Jack Daniels and smokes (and I ain't talkin' about cigarettes), but the music is about to stop and a shoe is about to drop before the sun rises.

Blackout 03

By Kate Bell (New York)

Thursday, May 14th at 8:30 PM (presented in a double bill with Bed Bugs and Hot Pockets)

Racial and class tensions flare between two couples on a Brooklyn rooftop during the blackout of 2003.

Blacksheep

By Darian Dauchan (New York)

Wednesday, May 13th at 8:30 PM

A glimpse into the lives of the minorities amongst the minorities . . . A theatrical exploration on those who, despite their skin, don't fit in with their own kin.

Changing Tables

By Kacie Devaney (New York)

Friday, May 22nd at 8:30 PM

Nina and Mathieu stumble across a metaphysical landscape as they confront their ideas of change and conformity. A kaleidoscope of shifting scenes and performance styles including original song and movement.

Distortive Ascent

By Nikolai Mishler (New York)

Friday, May 29th at 8:30 PM

"To be a mother is to be possessed by a power beyond wonder. It lives in every mother's heart. For her child, a mother will suffer any suffering." - Euripides

To be a son is to be possessed by a power beyond virtue. It is all -eternal.

Hypocrites & Strippers

By Kim Yaged (New York)

Thursday, May 21st at 8:30 PM

The story of a feminist who keeps dating strippers. You're gonna laugh your pants off. (Okay, maybe that wasn't the best choice of words.)

For the Flies

By Camilo Almonacid (New York)

Wednesday, May 20th at 8:30 PM (presented in a double bill with Between a Hot Dog and a Hard Place)

Pilar and Juan, two Colombian immigrants, take us on an interactive tour -- with a musical score and shaman-like transformations -- of the St Valentine's Day Massacre in the City of Chicago during the Roaring 20s . . . a time in history abundant with corruption, crime, and violence.

Good Morning for Coffee

By Daphny Maman and Sujin Kim (New York)

Wednesday, May 27th at 8:30 PM (presented in a double bill with La Bestia: Sweet Mother)

Every day a young barista arrives at the coffee shop to serve its customers, but today, the first customer at the shop is an odd-looking man with an unusual and surprising request that impacts the barista and his manager in a way they never imagined.

La Bestia: Sweet Mother

By Tom Block (Maryland)

Wednesday, May 27th at 8:30 PM (presented in a double bill with Good Morning for Coffee)

The knife's edge between creation and destruction . . . Based on humanity's earliest creation myths, it is a multi-media (live music, a capella chorus and dance) exploration of three mothers -- a Syrian, Honduran and American -- who are forced to become destroyers. Such, we are told in those earliest tales, is the cycle of life.

Outside of the Box

By Irene Hernandez (New York)

Thursday, May 28th at 8:30 PM (presented in a double bill with Run. Hide. Be Quiet.)

A young woman gets unexpected thrown out of her apartment... in a text message. When it comes to surviving in New York, she'll have to think outside the box... and pack her sense of humor.

Run. Hide. Be Quiet.

By Shyla Idris (New York)

Thursday, May 28th at 8:30 PM (presented in a double bill with Outside of the Box)

A woman finds herself confined to a seclusion room on an inpatient psychiatric ward. Here she will have to wrestle with her sanity, her family, a dark secret and her future . . . if she can get out.

Say Something

By Dominique Miller (California)

Saturday, May 23rd at 8:30 PM (presented in a double bill with Spades)

Are public figures obligated to use their fame to address social issues? Are community problems more important than global issues? Academy Award winner Hamilton Robinson finds himself having to wrestle with these questions until a tragic event forces him to say something.

Shenanigans

By Helena D. Lewis (New York)

Saturday, May 16th at 8:30 PM

While struggling to take care of her 82 year-old father and his pimp-like dog, Smokey, a "menopause baby" finds humor and resiliency in the unexpected loss of her mother.

Spades

By J.E. Robinson (Missouri)

Saturday, May 23rd at 8:30 PM (presented in a double bill with Say Something)

To the surprise of his fellow Harlem Renaissance writers, Wallace Thurman returns to New York after working as a Hollywood screenwriter as a sick, dissolute man, and his friend, Bruce Nugent, wonders "why?"

Stigma

By Keelay Gipson (New York)

Saturday, May 30th at 8:30 PM

A group of friends meet to welcome home Kenneth, a runway model who has just spent time in Milan for Fashion Week. With the wine flowing, and the arrival of Kenneth's new significant other, they begin to talk about standards of beauty. Will the mention of a new job opportunity for Kenneth lead their conversation into some stigmatizing territory?

Supermen

By Adam Esquenazi Douglas (New York)

Friday, May 15th at 8:30 PM

World War II. Cleveland, Ohio. Two young, Jewish comic book creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, create Superman and change the world forever. But few know the real, bloody story behind the birth of the Man of Steel and the tragedy he created for these two artists for generations to come. The secret origin of the world's first, great superhero, and the heroes and villains who created him.

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This year, DUTF will proudly launch the New York International Urban Film Fest (NUFF) as part of its programming to provide an outlet for diverse emerging filmmakers to share stories and artistic reform. NUFF's mission is to create a marriage between theater and film by presenting works with strong theatrical elements that focus more on dramatic text and less on visual effects. DUTF has been inspired by several of its past playwrights who have incorporated film elements into stage plays or later adapted their plays into films, such as The Northern Kingdom and Crush (winner of the Best Short Film Script Competition at the 2011 NY International Latino Film Festival). As DUTF allows writers to bring their work from the page to the stage, NUFF will include works adapted from the stage to the screen. Desmond Hall, acclaimed filmmaker and former Creative Director for Spike Lee, is the Curator for NUFF. For more information, selected films and screening schedule, visit www.nuffnyc.com.

The 13th annual Downtown Urban Theater Festival will be presented on the Mainstage at HERE (145 6th Avenue, Enter on Dominick St. - one block south of Spring Street) Wednesday, May 13th - Saturday, May 30th, 2015. This season's selected plays will be performed once, and all performances will be presented Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8:30 PM. Tickets for all plays being presented as part of the 13th annual Downtown Urban Theater Festival are $18.00 and will be available beginning April 13th. For schedule, tickets and other information, please visit DUTF online at: www.dutfnyc.com. For more, follow on Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Downtown-Urban-Theater-Festival/152194641470752 and Twitter: www.twitter.com/DUTFNYC.