Theater Resources Unlimited Presents TRUSPEAK ... HEAR OUR VOICES! Gala, June 4

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) announces TRUSPEAK... HEAR OUR VOICES!, an evening to raise awareness of current social issues, as well as awareness of the work TRU has been doing for the theater community for 30 years.

The gala is presented with generous sponsorship from Patrick Blake of RHYMES OVER BEATS, Merrie L. Davis of NEXT ACT 2 FOLLOW, R.K. Greene and THE STORYLINE PROJECT, Linda B. Rubin Productions and Judith Manocherian LLC. Executive producer for the event is TRU executive director Bob Ost, the technical producer is Iben Cenholt and Rune Films, with consulting producers Janel C. Scarborough and TRU literary manager Cate Cammarata of Createtheater.com.

The evening will feature 6 new plays filmed for virtual performance, plus a special appearance by Joanna Gleason and other TRU friends and supporters and will be presented on Sunday, June 4, 2023 at 5pm on the virtual platform of Rune Films, LLC. Tickets and more information can be found at https://truonline.org/events/truspeak-2023/.

"Although the world has moved slowly back into live performance, we continue to celebrate the creative ingenuity that is inspired when approaching plays as films and having the works accessible to audiences far beyond our local area," states Bob Ost, executive director of TRU. "Three of the plays from our previous years were successfully submitted to film festivals. Change of Plan by Michelle Ann Miller from 2021 (winner of Paris International Shorts Festival First-time Filmmaker Award), and Slave Trade by Ian Patrick Williams and Obstacle by John Busser from last year's gala. Obstacle star Danny Bolero went on to win a Best Actor Award for an indie film in the Los Angeles Film Awards."

PROGRAM

SOCIALLY DISTANT by Phil Darg

directed by Epiphany Samuels

produced by Cady Huffman

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, Mark and Andrea are both isolated and living alone in their separate apartments. However, they have interacted extensively with each other online, and have finally agreed to meet in person at a public park. The precise purpose and terms of their encounter initially remains a mystery.

GUELLEN, KANSAS by Alex Goldberg

directed by Jordan Richards

produced by Amy Drake

Meeting at their favorite spot in Konrad's Village Wood (amidst two talking trees that only the audience can hear), high school junior Alice tells her senior boyfriend Chase that she is pregnant. Chase is surprised but ready to step up to the responsibilities of fatherhood. However, Alice doesn't want this pregnancy to ruin her future or Chase's. As the abortion laws have been changing, she must go to either Canada or Mexico for the procedure and the logistics are difficult to say the least. Confronted with this issue, Chase pushes for Alice to make a choice, preferably his choice

DITMAS by Glenn Alterman

directed by Ben Rauch

produced by Carolyn M. Brown

It's Happy Hour. Once again Sharon has "had a few to many" in a bar in midtown Manhattan. She accidentally falls off her bar stool only to be rescued by a kind stranger, Mel. As they talk, Sharon's obvious attraction to Mel is put on hold as Mel reveals that the two were classmates at Ditmas Junior High School. Sharon's discovery of their surprise connection is at the heart of this sweet play that explores transgender acceptance and the light that a little kindness can bring to someone in a dark place.

IN THE SOCIETY OF STAGE DIRECTORS AND CHOREOGRAPHERS

by Christopher Carter Sanderson

directed by Patrice Miller

produced by Burak Tatar

A union stage director has fallen on hard times and is homeless. He has read a union job ad that he's perfect for. He has requested that the union let him apply for the gig. He would like them to take his back dues out of the salary if he gets the job. The union says no. The union ignores him. At curtain rise he arrives in the waiting room of the Director of Membership of the union to respectfully plead his case. He never gets past the receptionist. He politely excuses himself and we hear an offstage pistol shot.

REPRIEVE by Lee Roscoe

directed by Miriam Eusebio

produced by Nicolette Blount

A Native American man is so distraught over the state of the world and so disconnected from any community that he is preparing to kill himself. A curious child befriends him which leads to an invite home for dinner that may change his course. Could our acts of kindness save each other and the dying earth?

MISSUS DOBBS, AMERICAN by Kate Katcher

directed by Misti Wills

produced by Cady Huffman

Inspired by a photograph that appeared on Facebook, the play about an entitled, middle-aged housewife from Cleveland who arrives at a Washington D.C. area airport on January 7, 2021, still clad in her blood-red MAGA fleece jacket, to find she has been placed on the no-fly list. Irate at first, she has irritably followed a Homeland Security Agent to an interrogation room where she sits, anxiously awaiting an explanation. Martha will soon come to grips with a sad reality: the law of unintended consequences.

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is the leading network for developing theater professionals, a thirty-year-old 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of the arts. Membership includes self-Producing Artists as well as career producers and theater companies.

TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, opportunities and productions; presents weekly Community Gatherings; offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program taught by prominent producers and general managers in New York theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop business skills. TRU serves writers through the TRU Voices Play Reading Series, Writer-Producer Speed Date, Practical Playwriting Workshop, How to Write a Musical That Works and a Director-Writer Communications Lab.

Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by the Montage Foundation, The Storyline Project and the Leibowitz Greenway Foundation.

For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit truonline.org.