This Asian American theatre event will take place on Monday, November 6 at Houghton Hall Arts Community in NYC.
Leviathan Lab, a creative studio for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander theatre artists, in association with Theater Resources Unlimited's TRU Diversity initiative, will present a benefit reading of MARIANAS TRENCH, the first piece in a new speculative fiction trilogy by WGA award-winning and Emmy-nominated writer Scott C. Sickles, directed by Janet Bentley (Producing Artist, Roly Poly Productions). The benefit reading will take place on Monday, November 6th, at 7:00 p.m. at Houghton Hall Arts Community, located at 22 East 30th Street, NYC. The benefit reading will feature Nik Duggan, Jinn S. Kim, Chad Anthony Miller, Jon Okabayashi, Christine Verleny, Perri Yaniv, Nicholas Yenson, and Morgan Zipf-Meister. All proceeds will benefit Leviathan Lab's showcase production of MARIANAS TRENCH in Late Spring 2024. The reading will be followed by a reception.
Teddy Passanante and Anzor Khasanov are eleven-year-old pen pals. Teddy is an unathletic, half-Korean nerd living in a liberal U.S. made up of what used to be Blue States. Anzor is the child of Muslim refugees trapped in a militant right-wing Christian theocracy that used to be the Red States. The boys know their correspondence is mandated and monitored by Anzor's government. MARIANAS TRENCH is the first installment of a love story between two men from when they're 11-year-old pen pals until the end of the world nearly 50 years later.
Founded in 2009, Leviathan Lab is an award-winning not-for-profit creative studio whose mission is the advancement of Asian and Asian American (A/AA) performing artists and their work. Through the speaking of A/AA artists' words, and the presentation of A/AA bodies, presence, and gestures, Leviathan works to open spaces that promote social justice, bridge communities, and assert the power of art to change the world. We function as a lab where artists can be courageous, experiment, and thrive, even as they create works that captivate the audiences we serve. www.leviathanlab.org
Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) was formed to promote a spirit of cooperation and support within the general theater community by providing information and a variety of entertainment-related services and resources that strengthen the capacity of producing organizations, individuals producers, self-Producing Artists and other theater professionals. The TRU Diversity initiative highlights the work and explores the concerns of BIPOC theater professionals, with the goal to create programs that will support the current and urgent need for greater inclusion. www.truonline.org
Houghton Hall Arts Community is a vibrant rehearsal, meeting and gathering space for performing and visual artists in the NoMad neighborhood of midtown Manhattan. The rehearsal and arts management facility offers a mutually beneficial relationship with the Church of the Transfiguration, an inclusive church with historic ties to the theatre community.Houghton Hall Arts Community envisions a strong, collaborative group of artists, independent non-profit theatre companies, and arts entrepreneurs all helping one another persevere and thrive in the competitive New York artistic marketplace. www.houghtonhallarts.org
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