Miami New Drama Presents The World Premiere of DEFEACING MICHAEL JACKSON
This semi-autobiographical play written by South Florida native playwright Aurin Squire is based on a group of children in Opa Locka, Florida.
By: A.A. Cristi Feb. 27, 2023
Miami New Drama will debut its world premiere production of Defacing Michael Jackson on March 9, 2023, at the Colony Theatre.
This semi-autobiographical play written by South Florida native playwright Aurin Squire is based on a group of children in Opa Locka, Florida, in 1984 who have a Michael Jackson fan club and decide to build a mural in the town in honor of their hero. Defacing Michael Jackson is a universal story that will resonate with all communities and people whose perception and admiration of their childhood heroes and idols shifted dramatically as they grew into adulthood./.
Squire was inspired to write Defacing Michael Jackson when he participated in an exercise writing class as an intern at New Drama in New York City. The exercise called for looking at childhood rituals that formed a community, giving you identity and creating rituals that disintegrated when you grow up. The 20-minute one-act play version of Defacing Michale Jackson was born from that exercise. Squire's one-act play won an award at the Samuel French festival and was published. After the death of Micheal Jackson, Squire decided to expand it into a full-length play.
"Defacing Michael Jackson is a semi-biographical, fictional memory play, partly historical, revisionism with an exploration of memory. It brings us back to a time in the 1980s when many people did not fit in," said Aurin Squire. "With the drug war, riots, and other cultural issues happening, people looked for someone to look up to and celebrate. Whether it was Michael Jackson, Mike Tyson, or Michael Jordan, people were looking for the heroes in their lives." This coming-of-age story plays upon a universal tone of how we viewed our heroes and idols as a child and how that appreciation or admiration shifts when we grow up and learn more about them as an adult.
"This is a play about people, identity, where we belong, why we worship idols and need heroes in our lives," said Shaun Patrick Tubbs, director of Defacing Michael Jackson.
"We are incredibly proud to be doing the world premiere of this play and continue our commitment to Aurin Squire as an artist. - Michel Hausmann, Artistic Director, Miami New Drama.
World Premiere of Defacing Michael Jackson By Miami New Drama
March 9th-April 2nd
Colony Theatre-1040 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach, Fl
Tickets and Info: miaminewdrama.org
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