WWTNS? Announces Their 2020-2021 Season

What Will the Neighbors Say? has announced programming for the first half of their 2020-2021 season. The upcoming programming, which will all be held online between September and December 2021, reflect the leadership team's commitment to their core mission to "provoke questions through untold stories." The programming, which has been designed specifically for the needs of the current moment, combines WWTNS?' commitment to artistic excellence, community outreach and education in exciting and innovative new ways. The second half of the season will be announced in December, once the WWTNS? team has a clearer sense of what 2021 might look like. For further information, please visit www.wwtns.org.

Co-Artistic Directors James Clements, Ana Cristina DaSilva, Sam Hood Adrain and Jorge Morales Picó are especially excited to begin their work as the resident theatre company at CUNY Queens. The residency, which will include teaching, research and the development of a piece in collaboration with the Queens Public Library, will begin with the team acting as dramaturgs on the Fall 2020 Dance Film directed by Yin Mei Critchell, an acclaimed choreographer and the Director of Dance at the university. "We loved teaching at Queens in the Spring and getting to know the wonderful students, faculty and community there," said DaSilva. "We couldn't be happier about this residency and are looking forward to our work with Yin Mei in the fall."

The company will also be collaborating with their team of Resident Designers (Elizabeth M. Stewart, Johanna Pan and Pablo Calderón-Santiago), as well as invited performers, dramaturgs and directors, on a development process for a hybrid performance project combining Clements' and Hood Adrian's "Four Sisters" and "Sources of Light Other Than the Sun." Entitled "ISOLATION + CHAOS," the digital workshop will curate and combine key elements of both pieces, set during the First World War but told through utterly contrasting lenses, to highlight their shared themes and explore their relevance to today. "Our company, and each of us as artists, have grown so much since we first began working on these pieces, so we are thrilled to be revisiting these projects" stated Clements. "It's so exciting to have a chance to reflect and develop our earlier work, and re-consider it in the context of the current social and cultural moment" added Hood Adrain.

Throughout the autumn, the company will re-launch their long-standing community engagement programs, including continuing the monthly "storytime" event over Zoom, programming one of their bi-annual fundraisers for other crucial nonprofits in November and hosting a free digital happy hour in place of the company's annual holiday party in December. "Community engagement has always been at the core of what we do. We want to deepen our work in this crucial area, more important now than ever" noted Morales-Picó.

What Will the Neighbors Say? is a 501(c) 3 not-for-profit company that creates theatre that examines historical, social, political and economic narratives that have been disregarded, misrepresented, or otherwise untold in order to provoke discourse in our audience and community. WWTNS? maintains a consistent commitment to diversity, arts education, community outreach, and artistic experimentation.

www.wwtns.org

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