André De Shields & More to Star in NYTW Spring Programming, Featuring Work by Aleshea Harris and Kristina Wong

New York Theatre Workshop announced today upcoming artistic instigator projects for the 2020/21 season: Brother, Brother by Aleshea Harris, directed by Shayok Misha Chowdhury; and Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord by Kristina Wong.

BROTHER, BROTHER

By Aleshea Harris

Directed by Shayok Misha Chowdhury

Featuring Gbenga Akinnagbe, Amari Cheatom, André De Shields & Owen Tabaka

Virtual Premiere on April 26, 2021 and streaming through July 25, 2021

Jim and Wally are brothers traveling Appalachia by two-seater bicycle, stopping to play shows on their way to make it big in Tennessee. When a man in a maroon suit starts following them, they come face-to-face with their pasts. Playwright Aleshea Harris and director & former NYTW 2050 Fellow Shayok Misha Chowdhury's haunting illustrated audio play chronicles the winding road toward success. Featuring Affrilachian fiddle music from Jerron "Blind Boy" Paxton and the stunning visual imaginations of Ibrahim Rayintakatha??and Liang-Hsin Huang.

Tickets are $10 and are available now at NYTW.ORG

Kristina Wong, SWEATSHOP OVERLORD

By Kristina Wong

Streaming Live

Friday May 14 at 7pm ET

Saturday May 15 at 7pm ET

Sunday May 16 at 3pm ET

Born out of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kristina Wong's newest performance art piece unfolding during the pandemic details how she went from out-of-work artist to overlord of a homemade face mask empire in just ten days! With her trademark wit, she charts the process of building a sweatshop of hundreds of volunteer "Aunties"-including children and her own mother-to fix the U.S. public health care system while in quarantine. Wong hilariously unpacks the American Dream, America's pursuit of global empire at the cost of its citizens, and the significance of women of color performing a historically gendered and racialized invisible labor at a time of heightened anti-Asian racism in the U.S.

Tickets are $10 and are available now at NYTW.ORG

NYTW also announced today that Part 1 of 2020/21 Artistic Instigator project Hilton Als Presents, Portrait of Jason, is available now on all major podcasting platforms and streaming on NYTW.org.

Hilton Als PRESENTS

By Hilton Als

Hilton Als is, and has been, an invaluable contributor to American cultural life for decades. Join this Pulitzer Prize-winning critic, artist, writer and curator as he lifts up and takes a different look at what he considers marginalized classics of the 20th Century. Until now.

Part 1: Portrait of Jason

with Jessica Almasy & Mikéah Ernest Jennings

Shirley Clarke's Portrait of Jason was a groundbreaking work of cinema verité when it was released in 1967. Captured over a single evening, the portrayal of gay African-American hustler and aspiring cabaret performer Jason Holliday interrogated race, class and sexuality in ways that were and still are ahead of its time. Pulitzer Prize-winning critic, artist, writer and curator Hilton Als has adapted the film into an audio drama that captures the intimacy, vulnerability and rawness of the original piece while probing power and the price of storytelling itself. Join NYTW for an intimate evening with Jason along with Hilton's unique commentary and analysis.

Part 2: Selections from Tennessee Williams

In the second part of this series, Hilton Als will explore excerpts from three lesser-known Tennessee Williams plays: Clothes for a Summer Hotel, In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel and The Red Devil Battery Sign. While Williams is known, of course, for the formidable women in his plays, these excerpts will bring Williams' powerful men to the fore as well-characters who have a lot to say about masculinity in general and masculinity and the artist in particular.

Hilton Als Presents will be released as a free podcast on all major podcasting platforms and available for streaming on NYTW.org. Part 1: Portrait of Jason is available now; Part 2 will be available at a later date.

NYTW DIGITAL ARCHIVE

New York Theatre Workshop recently launched a digital archive, giving NYTW Members and Repeat Defenders a free all-access pass to stream many of the 2020/21 Artistic Instigator season's theatrical experiences on-demand. The archive launched with a special sneak peek work-in-process sharing of The Talking Circles, written and performed by Martha Redbone & Aaron Whitby. Other projects that are available to stream via the archive include What the Hell is a Republic, Anyway?; The Seagull on The Sims 4; Pinching Pennies with Penny Marshall; The Cooking Project; and The Wright Stuff. The NYTW Digital Archive can be viewed at www.nytw.org/streams. NYTW Memberships begin at $20/month and are available at NYTW.org or 212-460-5475.

While the Artistic Instigators are supported in their exploration of form and content, audiences will be invited to experience the evolution of the work through work-in-process sharings and behind-the-scenes conversations with artists. NYTW is asking audiences to take a leap. What it promises in return is a front-row seat to the unfolding of this experiment-and that the definition of a "front-row seat" will shift throughout the year. Some events will be exclusively virtual experiences while others may take place in person-when it is possible to do so with appropriate safety measures.

For tickets and more information about these projects and the Artistic Instigators, please visit www.nytw.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.