Mary Testa, Frankie J. Alvarez Set for Rising Circle Theater Collective's 6th Annual PlayRISE Festival

Four talented emerging playwrights of color - members of the 2015 INKtank Playwrights Lab - will unveil their exciting new works when Rising Circle Theater Collective presents its 6th annual PlayRISE Festival, a series of staged readings featuring two-time Tony Award nominee Mary Testa (On the Town, 42nd Street), Henry Yuk (Awake & Sing), Tia James (The Public's The Merchant of Venice), and Frankie J. Alvarez (HBO's "Looking"), February 25th to 28th in the Penthouse at Shetler Studios on W. 54th Street.

PlayRISE launches with Ngozi Anyanwu's Good Grief, directed by INTAR Artistic Director Lou Moreno, on Wednesday February 25th at 7:30PM.

"Memories are like constellations - bright, wondrous, and distant. Nkechi ("N") is a first generation Nigerian woman navigating her post-college life in the wake of losing her best friend - and first her love. We follow N as she sifts through her memories (both good and bad), and the people who help get her through it, around it, behind it, and eventually over it."

The cast of Good Grief includes Anyanwu, Oberon K.A. Adjepong, Ebbe Bessey, Clinton Lowe and Felipe Valle Costa.

The following night, Thursday February 26th at 7:30PM, Zhao Binghao's Dirty Paws, Or How To Make A Documentary Film will be directed by Nelson Eusebio.

"Set in the chaotic western region of China, Dirty Paws follows the life-changing experiences of an annoyingly naive aspiring documentary filmmaker Tao, picking grapes in his father's vineyard/winery with three child laborers, the treacherous Scarface, the warmhearted but gullible Skinny and the precocious Ma-Ye, under the supervision of the raving manager, 'Boss'. As the danger of terrorism approaches, evilness rises in each one of them. It's a story where civilization meets wilderness, the herbivore meets the carnivore, hypocrisy meets sensibility, and where terrorism destroys all."

The cast of Dirty Paws includes Henry Yuk, Eugene Oh, Ethan Nguyen, Tony Vo and Wei-Yi Lin.

Friday February 27th at 7:30PM, Rising Circle member Kareem Fahmy will present his new play, Violator, directed by May Adrales (Signature Theatre's The Dance and the Railroad) with a post-show discussion led by OUT Magazine Executive Editor Jerry Portwood about relationships and intimacy in the digital age.

"When Mal and Adam match on an online dating service, they form an immediate and intense bond. From the initial blush of flirtation, they gradually spiral into mistrust, secrecy and pain. Real-world and online identities become confused until nothing is what it seems. Violator is a darkly comic and terrifying look at intimacy, connection, and disconnection in the modern age."

The cast of Violator includes Frankie J. Alvarez, Mary Testa, Christina Pumariega, Hubert Pont-Du Jour, Philippe Bowgen and Ben Williams.

The festival will culminate on Saturday, February 28th at 7:30PM with Beto O'Byrne's Loving and Loving directed by Deadria Harrington, with dramaturgy by Meropi Peponides.

"Inspired by the story of Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple from rural Virginia who were arrested in 1958 for the crime of being married.Their decade-long legal struggle resulted in a landmark civil rights case decided in 1967, which upheld their right to live as husband and wife and struck down all remaining state bans on interracial marriage. Beginning in the present day and delving into the historically rich 1950's - 60's, Loving and Loving looks at this nearly 50-year old story from a 21st Century perspective, exploring the enduringly complex nature of intimacy, identity, and the impact of the law on our most personal decision."

The cast includes Tia James, Brendon Schaefer and Jenna Bosco.

PlayRISE will take place at Penthouse 1 at Shetler Studios, 244 West 54th Street, at 7:30PM. Doors open at 7:00PM. Admission is free but tickets must be reserved through Eventbrite (http://playrise2015.eventbrite.com).

Founded in 2000, Rod Bowen and Deepa Purohit, created Rising Circle Theater Collective to address the lack of stories and roles on stage that represent the diverse cultural communities in New York City. Now in its 13th year, Rising Circle Theater Collective is a not-for-profit arts organization dedicated to broadening the scope of storytelling on the American stage by providing a home for artists of color that empowers them to seek out unheard stories of people of color, thereby inspiring the creation of theater that challenges cultural misperceptions in an effort to bridge social divides. The company's members include Kareem Fahmy (director | playwright); Monet Hurst-Mendoza (playwright | director); Nancy Kim (actor | producer); Pirronne Yousefzadeh (director | educator). For more information, visit www.risingcircle.org.