Cherry Lane Announces its Mentor Project Line Up

To celebrate the Mentor Project's 22nd Season, Cherry Lane Theatre (Angelina Fiordellisi, Executive Director; Seri Lawrence, Artistic Director) has announced a workshop presentation by poet/ performer Shawn Randall of his original work (The Making Of) How to Save the World in 90 Minutes. He will be mentored by Diana Oh ({my lingerie play}) in the StudioTheatre, March 4 -14, 2020. Cherry Lane then continues its season in partnership with J.A.G. Productions for the rolling World Premiere of Esai's Table by Nathan Yungerberg, originally produced in workshop format by Mentor Project in 2017. Performances of Esai's Table begin March 19, 2020, on the Cherry Lane Main Stage.For tickets, schedule and more information, please visit www.cherrylanetheatre.org.

Shawn Randall's work in progress, (The Making Of) How to Save the World in 90 Minutes, ventures into new territory in American theater by working in a multi-disciplinary genre combining spoken-word, music, and improvisation, bringing the audience and performers together in transformative experience through the unmatched power of live theater. "There are onlye a handful of artists with the experience to guide Shawn along his uncharted path, and the fearless Diana Oh is one of these, whose visceral, multi-genre performance has taken New York's Off-Broadway scene to new experiential heights. We are thrilled to pair these two unparalleled artists in creative collaboration." Mentor Project Artistic Director, Seri Lawrence

In Esai's Table, written by Nathan Yungerberg and directed by Stevie Walker-Webb,destiny meets eternity for three young black men atop an ancient magical table in this mythic tale of black lives, friendship, family and love.

Originally developed at Mentor Project in 2017, mentored by Stephen Adly Guirgis, Esai's Table was recently presented in Vermont this past fall in a World Premiere co-production with JAG Productions (Jarvis Antonio Green, Founder/ Artistic Director), a Vermont-based theater dedicated to developing and producing African-American theatre. That production garnered praise as Esai's Table was called "Beautiful and powerful. A magical tale. Nathan Yungerberg's surreal drama is entertaining, breathtaking, riveting, and deeply moving," by the Barre Montpelier Times Argus.

The Mentor Project is the recipient of an Obie Award for its dedication to helping early-career playwrights develop new work - each year it partners an emerging author with a seasoned professional for a year of script work, rewrites, casting, rehearsals and a full production at Cherry Lane. Mentor Project is also the recipient of the James Kirkwood Award for American Playwrights. The Mentor Project is general managed by Mott/Fischer Productions.

Cherry Lane's Mentor Project has developed the works of sixty-four playwrights to date. Mentor Project artist alumni are a continual testament to the value of Cherry Lane and Mentor Project as a safe place of exploration for playwrights in the early phase of their careers, as well as a proving ground for the next big steps. This year Mentor Project will celebrate the success of four of its past Mentor Projects. In addition to Nathan Yungerberg's Esai's Table (2017, mentored by Stephen Adly Guirgis) at Cherry Lane; other premieres include: Jiehae Park's Peerless (2015, mentored Kwame Kwei Armah) will have its Off-Broadway premiere with Primary Stages; Jocelyn Bioh's Nollywood Dreams (2017, mentored by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins) will make its world premiere with MCC Theater and Ren Dara Santiago's The Siblings Play (2017, mentored by Lucy Thurber) will have its world premiere with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater.

CHERRY LANE MENTOR PROJECT 2020

Shawn Randall'S

(THE MAKING OF) HOW TO SAVE THE WORLD IN 90 MINUTES

Mentored by Diana Oh

March 4 - 14, 2020

Workshop tickets are $25 and can be purchased at cherrylanetheatre.org / Ovationtix: 866-811-4111

ESAI'S TABLE

Written by NATHAN YUNGERBERG, directed by Stevie Walker-Webb

March 19 - April 25, 2020

Ticket prices are $67-$87

For more information, tickets and performance schedule, please visit www.cherrylanetheatre.org

or call OvationTix at 866 811 4111

Cherry Lane Theatre is located at 38 Commerce Street, NYC

Shawn Randall (The Making Of) How to Save the World in 90 Minutes, playwright) is an actor, poet, singer-songwriter, musician, freestyle emcee, and producer. Born and raised in Brooklyn. He is a proud member of Ensemble Studio Theatre and The LAByrinth Theater. Shawn is the founder and host of Symphonics Live. Symphonics Live is a multi-disciplined evening that showcases the finest singer-songwriters and poets in NY. Along with elements of dance and improvisation, the show promotes Generosity, Love, Integrity, and Creativity through the continual exploration of humanity through the performing and visual arts. Symphonics Live has been featured at the Blue Note, Joe's Pub, Highline Ballroom, Joes Pub, and is currently in residence every month at The Bowery Poetry Club. Shawn has extensive experience in the theater, working with the acclaimed Blue Man Group, and performing at the Ensemble Studio Theatre, Joseph Papp Public Theatre, the Bardavon Opera House, The Kennedy Center, INTAR Theatre, La Mama E.T.C., and Brooklyn Academy Of Music. http://www.shawnalfredrandall.com

Diana Oh (The Making Of) How to Save the World in 90 Minutes, mentor) (they/she) is a multi-genre performer, singer, songwriter, musician, actor, and creator of performance, installation, concert-ritual, and party. As a Refinery29 Top LGBTQ Influencer, the First Queer Korean-American interviewed on Korean Broadcast Radio, a TOW Fellow (Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre), Van Lier Fellow in Acting (Asian American Arts Alliance), Venturous Capital Fellow, Sundance Institute Fellow, writer with The Public Theater's Mobile Unit and EWG, Williamstown Theatre Festival Artist-in-Residence, Oh tours with their art in unexpected spaces and enjoys not fitting into boxes. Oh is the creator and performer of {my lingerie play} with touring national installations and concert staged in an effort to provide a safer, more courageous world for women, queer, trans, and non-binary humans to live in, CLAIRVOYANCE (installations and concert in Harvard Yard, the Boston Public Library, Institute of Contemporary Art, Harvard Arboretum and A.R.T.), The Infinite Love Party: an intentional barefoot potluck dinner, dance party, and sleepover for QTPOC and Their Allies (Bushwick Starr), Asian People Are Not Magicians (mic.com) and My H8 Letter to the Gr8 American Theatre (The Public Theater). TV/FILM: Queering, How to Be Single, NY is Dead (Tribeca Film Fest), Hey Yun (feat. on Janet Mock), Unicornland. The New York Times calls Oh "irreverent," her neighbor calls her "the punk goddex," you can call her "friend."

NATHAN YUNGERBERG (Esai's Table, playwright) is a Brooklyn-based playwright. His plays include Esai's Table, The Son of Dawn, Pousada Azul, Evelyn Dreams of Horses, Orchids and Polka Dots, Golden Gate, Brush Strokes, and Isosceles. Nathan's work has been developed or by The Playwrights' Center, Crowded Fire Theater, The Brooklyn Museum, The Nuyorican Poets Café , The Lorraine Hansberry Theater, Brava Theater, The Lark, The Fire This Time Festival, 48 Hours in Harlem, The National Black Theatre, The Hansberry Project, The National Black Theatre Festival, The Classical Theatre of Harlem, Blackboard Reading Series, T. Schreiber Studio, The Dramatist Guild, Flashpoint Theater, The August Wilson Red Door Project, New Venture Theater, The Brooklyn Generator, Multistages theater and BBC Radio Afternoon Drama. Nathan is one of seven black playwrights commissioned by The New Black Fest for HANDS UP: 7 Playwrights, 7 Testaments. Awards and honors: The 2016 O'Neill National Playwrights Conference (Semifinalist), Ken Davenport 10-Minute Play Festival (Winner), 11th Annual InspiraTO Festival (Finalist), Blue Ink Playwriting Award (Semifinalist), and PICK OF THE VINE 2016 at Little Fish Theatre (Semifinalist).

Stevie Walker-Webb (Esai's Table, director) is a director, performing artist, and cultural worker. He is a Princess Grace Award Winner- Gant Gaither Theater Award 2015. He is a co-founder of the non-profit C.A.S.T. where he served as Executive Director. CAST creates theatre for social change. He's served as the Artistic Director of the Jubilee Theatre and as a Teaching Artist with Mission Waco-Mission World where he devised work with urban youth, and the homeless community. He has worked as the Outreach Coordinator for Theatre of the Oppressed-NYC. He is a 2050 fellow at New York theatre workshop. He holds an MFA in directing from the New School For Drama, and a B.S. in Sociology from the University of North Texas, and is a Hemispheric Institute EMERGENYC alumnus. Stevie has developed work with: New York Theatre Workshop, The Public Theatre, La Mama Experimental Theatre, Lincoln Center Education, Dixon Place, TONYC, Theatre Row, Baby Crow Productions, Wide Eyed Productions, Petit Jean Performance Festival, New York International Fringe Festival, Jubilee Theatre, Texas Playhouse and the American Civil Liberties Union.

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