Marco Calvani's MASPETH Set for Planet Connections Theatre Festivity Tomorrow

Planet Connections Theatre Festivity helps close out Gay Pride Month with a reading of Marco Calvani's drama Maspeth, presented on Thursday, June 30 at 8pm at the Paradise Factory, located at 64 East 4th Street. The reading is directed by Shira-Lee Shalit, with a cast that includes Christina Toth, Evgeniya Radilova and Alexander Hodge. Joe Dolce, former editor in chief of Details and Star magazines and journalist for many of the world's leading publications, including The New York Times, is hosting a Talk Back session after the production.

Maspeth is an exploration of the need to belong in this world, this life, and to ourselves. With echoes of the Matthew Shepard murder and the Orlando massacre, the play raises important questions about the current condition of the LGBT cause in the United States. Gay rights may have been advancing at a rapid clip in the last few years, but has that really lessened homophobia? Or has it actually made it worse?

Sam and Vicky, roommates, friends, and occasional enemies, live together in a townhouse in Maspeth, Queens. Without Sam's permission, Vicky invites her co-worker Anja - a Serbian immigrant with an abusive ex-boyfriend and a penchant for the peculiar - to stay with them, causing their uneasy cohabitation to quickly descend into emotional chaos. When a young gay boy's body is mysteriously discovered along a creek near their home, Anja seems to know more than she's letting on, and it becomes increasingly clear that the truth under the mystery lies closer to home than they ever knew.

Admission to the reading is free, but reservations are strongly suggested and can be made by going to https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/cal/27385 and clicking on the link for Maspeth. The running time for the reading is approximately 80 minutes, with the Talk Back immediately following.

Marco Calvani is an award-winning playwright and director. He made his debut as a playwright in 2002 with Quasi, commissioned by the European Social Forum. Strong Hands was his first play to be performed to great acclaim throughout Europe. Commissions from Todi Art Festival, Phoenix Theatre of London, Teatro di Roma, Theatre de la Ville of Paris, La MaMa Theatre of New York and Grec Fundacio of Barcelone followed. In 2012 Marco created with his fellow Neil LaBute the international project AdA - Author directing Author (Spoleto Festival, Fringe Festival Madrid, La MaMa Theatre, Biennale Venice, Grec Festival Barcelone). In 2013 the Teatro Metastasio Stabile della Toscana organized a retrospective of his work for which he wrote and directed I Am Dracula. He is the winner of the 2011 S.I.A.E. Prize for Best Playwright, of the 2013 Outstanding Playwright for his play Oil (Planet Connections Theatre Festivity Awards) and of the 2015 Calcante Prize for The Second Time. He's also the recipient of the 2011 Cite Internationale des Arts Grant (Paris) and of the 2015 Writer Fellowship at the Edward F. Albee Foundation. Marco collaborates in the position of Literary Advisor to the National Theatre of Scotland and is the founder and artistic director of Mixo (www.mixonline.eu) an international cultural center based in Rome, Italy, that brings together young actors and writers and promotes original works for stage. www.marcocalvani.com

Planet Connections Theatre Festivity is designed to invoke the power of art in motivating philanthropy, community outreach and social change. Within the Festivity are multiple theater, film and music festivals. The Festivity is also the country's first eco-friendly arts festivity as their participating artists work to create eco-conscious art by revising their marketing, design and rehearsal techniques. Planet Connections artists are introduced to a community of like-minded theater makers, film makers and music makers as they raise awareness for an organization or cause of their own selection. The relationships formed during the Festivity allow artists to find new audiences and forge new partnerships. www.planetconnections.org