PUBLIK PRIVATE to Take the Stage in Special Developmental Readings by The Sol Project and PlayPenn

After a year of partnership discussions, The Sol Project and PlayPenn are proud to announce a joint project that serves the missions of both organizations. The organizations will partner on two developmental readings of the new bilingual play Publik Private by eppchez yo-sí yes.

 

The Sol Project and PlayPenn began discussions about a collaboration in 2022, after Associate Artistic Director Santiago Iacinti participated in that year’s SolFest. As part of The Sol Project’s efforts to support Latiné voices in the theater across the country, The Sol Project is excited to work with the vibrant theater community in Philadelphia for the first time and support the work of a Philadelphia-based playwright, eppchez yo-sí yes, and their new play Publik Private.

 

Some private things have to be made public if we want to live—in the way that our bodies become public when we go outside, where we will be perceived. Publik Private grapples with the past, as the protagonist attempts to reconcile their ancestors’ own gender expansiveness with the roles those same ancestors played in erasing queerness through colonization and genocide.

 

Through collaboration with PlayPenn and The Sol Project, this play has been expanded from a solo performance piece to a three-person cast. The first reading will receive a week-long, 29-hour development process. After the reading in Philadelphia, a post-show conversation will take place with the playwright and audience for questions and feedback that can be incorporated into the play in advance of the New York reading. 

 

PlayPenn Associate Artistic Director Santiago Iacinti states, “As a producer, I believe it is crucial to center stories that are intersectional. I admire that, since day one, The Sol Project has combated the idea of all Latinés as a monolith, by championing work by a multiplicity of different Latine lived experiences. So I am thrilled that I was able to serve as a bridge for the partnership, and I am even more honored that the playwright thought of me to direct as well.”

 

The first reading will take place in The Proscenium Theatre at The Drake (302 S. Hicks Street. Philadelphia, PA 19102) at 2 p.m. on July 23. The team includes Santiago Iacinti (Director), Santiago Tonauac Castro (Dramaturg), Melody Wong (Stage Manager), Brenna Geffers (Casting), Xavier Chenet-Smith (Performer 1), Han Van Sciver (Performer 2), Ximena Violante (Performer 3), and Gabriela Pereira Dupont (Stage Directions). The reading will be open to the public free of charge and seats can be reserved now (RSVP HERE).

 

The second reading is set for late August as part of the sixth annual SolFest, The Sol Project's Latiné Theater Festival, produced in partnership with Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater. The reading will take place in Pregones/PRTT’s space in Midtown Manhattan (304 West 47th Street). The annual festival features new work by Latiné playwrights that reflects the diaspora of Latinidad. Santiago Iancinti will return to direct. Cast and ticket information for the New York reading will be announced at a later date.

 

"We are honored to partner with PlayPenn on readings of eppchez’s new work to share with both Philadelphia and New York audiences," shares Adriana Gaviria, SolFest Producer and The Sol Project Co-Artistic Director. "It's been a joy working with Santiago, who was part of SolFest in 2022, and with the rest of the PlayPenn team. We are so excited to collaborate with eppchez for this year's SolFest, and to continue working with community partners like PlayPenn to help amplify the work of Latiné playwrights."

 

For more information, please visit www.playpenn.org or www.solproject.org.

 

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT

eppchez yo-sí yes (they/them) is a Quaker, gender-expansive, Cuban & Jewish theater maker. In 2016, eppchez started up Alma's Engine; a process-focused production company/creative ministry developing their playful and profound new work across a variety of mediums. eppchez has collaborated as a writer, performer, and deviser with Philly companies such as Pig Iron, Simpatico, Bearded Ladies Cabaret, Swimpony, and Applied Mechanics, among others. eppchez has institutional connections to Wesleyan University (BA in theater & creative writing), Headlong Performance Institute, PlayPenn (current member of The Foundry, an emerging Philly playwright’s group), Azuka Theatre’s New Pages writer’s group.

 

The Sol Project is an Obie-award winning national theater initiative dedicated to amplifying the voices of Latiné playwrights in NYC and beyond. Guided by the values of advocacy, collaboration, and joy, The Sol Project works in partnership with leading theaters to produce the work of Latiné playwrights and nurture a growing community of Latiné theater artists. The artistic collective includes Adriana Gaviria (SolFest Producer, Co-Artistic Director), Rebecca Martínez, David Mendizábal, Jacob G. Padrón (Co-Artistic Director), Julian Ramirez, and Laurie Woolery. George Strus is the Artistic Producer. Isabel Pask is the Producing Associate. Brian Herrera is the Resident Scholar. Stephanie Ybarra is the Resident Dramaturg. Kaelani Burja is the Student Intern and SolFest Dramaturg, and John Venegas Juarez is the 2023 Sol Summer Intern.

(http://www.solproject.org)

 

PlayPenn is a Philadelphia artist-driven organization dedicated to the development of new plays and playwrights. PlayPenn fully supports the needs of the writer and the demands of the play in an ever-evolving process within which playwrights can engage in risk taking, boundary-pushing work. (https://www.playpenn.org)

 

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