JACK to Present Melisa Tien's BEST LIFE

JACK will present Best Life by New Dramatist resident playwright Melisa Tien. Directed by Susanna Jaramillo, Best Life is an alarming dark comedy that centers on two women trying to bridge their racial and economic differences. Best Life runs October 21 - November 6, 2021, at JACK (20 Putnam Ave, Brooklyn). Tickets are now on sale at jackny.org.

Best Life, which was originally scheduled to premiere March 21-April 5, 2020, is one of the first canceled productions to reopen following the pandemic.

If you could turn back time, what would you do differently? In this absurdly funny and unsettling new play, Lourdes, a woman of color aiming to get free, can rewind time-but only within the last five minutes. At a café, she meets Sheryl, a wealthy white woman with heartfelt yet deeply misguided intentions. As they talk, Lourdes keeps rewinding time in an attempt to have the 'right' conversation with Sheryl. Soon, the forces of social responsibility, public allyship, and private guilt creep their way into the exchange.

"Best Life is my response to the differences in how progressive white people and progressive BIPOC folx view and talk about race," says playwright Melisa Tien. "The play's recursive structure reflects what, to me, feels like the nature of this country's conversations around racism, allyship, and how to be a 'good white person'. Particularly when complicated by class differences, these conversations can often feel like endless loops, and require superhuman effort, patience, and a willingness to face hard truths before meaningful progress can happen."

The cast of Best Life features Cherrye J. Davis as Lourdes and Erin Anderson as Sheryl.

The creative team for Best Life includes set designer Deb O, costume designer Alicia J. Austin, lighting designer Christina Watanabe, sound designer Carsen Joenk, production stage manager TaTyana Smith, and production assistant Karen Loewy Movilla.

Thirteen performances of Best Life will take place October 21-November 6 at JACK, located at 20 Putnam Avenue in Brooklyn. Critics are welcome as of October 23 which will also serve as the official opening. $15 preview tickets and $20 regular tickets are available online at Jackny.org or by calling OvationTix at 212-352-3101.

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