Theater Breaking Through Barriers to Present 6th Virtual Playmakers' Intensive: VPI6: STAR CHANGERS

Theater Breaking Through Barriers has announced their 6th Virtual Playmakers' Intensive - VPI6: STAR CHANGERS, fifteen new, original short plays created specifically for digital platforms. Each play will be presented live, twice each evening. A talk-back with the artists will follow each performance. VPI6: STAR CHANGERS begins on Friday, March 18 and runs through Friday, April 1, 2022, with presentations streaming live YOUTUBE beginning at 7:30 pm (with live-streamed open captioning) and on Facebook at 8:30 pm. All performances are free of charge. For a detailed performance schedule, visit tbtb.org.

TBTB's Virtual Playmakers' Intensive randomly pairs groups of artists together to create original works tailored for performance on a digital platform. The theme for this Intensive is: "As we attempt to navigate through these turbulent times of division, pandemics, climate change, and threats of war from all sides, what can we, as a civilization, do to change our stars right now? Since all rational appeals to intellect are proving futile, can we find another way to reach each other before it is too late?"

Disability intersects with all populations in our world: Every age, race, gender, and sexual orientation. TBTB strives to create a common ground for all voices and serves as an ambassador in the quest for total, systemic equality in our world. The fifteen original plays constituting the 6th Virtual Playmakers' Intensive represent a diverse chorus within American culture. Created for and rehearsed entirely on the Zoom platform, TBTB's VPI6 will stream live performances of these new short works directly to you, wherever you may be!

"As we continue to work through the COVID pandemic and all its variants, we must now focus on the lessons we've learned over the past few years to help us plot a course toward normalcy. But what do we consider "normal"? To some, we lost our course long before COVID-19. To others, we"re still spinning in the maelstrom. One thing I believe all of us can agree upon is the fact that we've somehow managed to lose our bearings as a society - and it will take the society as a whole to pull us back on course towards common understanding and mutual respect for all . Our artists, an integrated mix of disabled and non-disabled people from all parts of our multi-faceted community, will seek to explore where we now stand and how we can appeal to each other as human beings to change our stars and right our current trajectory. Theatre Breaking Through Barriers' Artistic Director, Nicholas Viselli

"As an actress with a mobility disability, TBTB's virtual playmakers intensive gives me the opportunity to collaborate with other artists from all around the country and even the world without ever leaving my home. It has allowed me to meet, work with and make connections with artists that I otherwise would never know. It is one of the most satisfying ways to create new work and make new friends. I highly recommend it."

TBTB Company Member and performer Ann Marie Morelli

This year's 6th Virtual Playmakers' Intensive - VPI6: STAR CHANGERS will feature the following line up of new plays:

Friday, 3/18: DEAD TORSOS SHED NO TEARS by Jeff Tabnick

Directed by Richard M. Rose with Fred Backus (NY: Me Monster), Scott Barton (TBTB's Brecht on Brecht), and Dan Teachout (Film: Arnie Johnstone & The Vulva Tree).

Saturday, 3/19: PREAMBLE by Shellen Lubin

Directed by Graydon Gund with Dipti Mehta (Apple TVs "We Crashed", and Ann Marie Morelli (TBTB's Brecht on Brecht),

Sunday, 3/20: NO ESC by Nina Ki

Directed by Rhianna Basore with Subin Kara Ahn (International: Oo-Genesis),

Jennifer Bradley (TBTB's 5th Virtual Playwriters Intensive), and Bree Klauser (Apple TV's "See")

Monday, 3/21: DOWNLOADING by Robin Carmon Marshall

Directed by Heba Toulan with Aya Ibaraki (Film: 1/20), Paul Obedzinski (NY: An Attempt to Heal in the Contemporary World), and Estrella Tamez (TV: "Without a Trace").

Tuesday, 3/22: CONTRALTOS by Stuart Green

Directed by Ella Mock with George Ashiotis (Film: Maggie's Plan), Veronica Cruz (TV: "Chicago P.D."), and Christopher Hurt (LaMama's SEAGULLMACHINE).

Wednesday, 3/23: (of letters), or: book club by Rebecca Quinn Robertson

Directed by Subin Kara Ahn with Samantha Debicki (Film: A Childless Woman's Guide),

Melissa J. Gonzalez (NY: Carousel), and Gaia Visnar (Off-Broadway: Bite The Apple)

Thursday, 3/24: IN GRIEF AND PRAISE by Estrella Tamez

Directed by Robin Marshall with Lori Brown-Niang (Film: Stay Awake),

Dante Jayce (NY: Almost, Maine), and Patrick J. O'Hare (Film: Pandora),

Friday, 3/25: FARTHEST REACH by Ella Mock

Directed by Tamar Kummel with Pamela Sabaugh (TBTB's Brecht on Brecht) and Jack Sims (Film: A Suburban Fairytale).

Saturday, 3/26: AFTERMATH OF A DINNER PARTY by Cate Allen

Directed by Shellen Lubin with Sarah Bitar (Off-Broadway: Revolución), Meir Levi

Heba Toulan (Regional: The Last Floor), and Nick Walther (NY: Police in the Wilderness).

Sunday, 3/27: REMEMBER by Peter Marks

Directed by Ben Rauch with Borah Ahn (Film: Daughters), and Richard M. Rose.

Monday, 3/28: WE THE PEOPLE by Richard Lear

Directed by Fred Backus with Shashi Bangera (TV: "Sesame Street," "Kelly & Cal"), Sean Phillips (TV: "Ultimate Rush"), Everett Quinton (TV: "The Louise Log." National Tour: Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella), and Xen Theo.

Tuesday, 3/29: EPIDERMIS by Christopher Chan Roberson

Directed by Ashley Wren Collins with Veronica Cruz (TV: "Chicago P.D."), Keith Murfee-Deconcini (TBTB's Virtual Playmaker's Intensive 4), Aubree Dixon and Mikey Lorch (Film: Ordinary World).

Wednesday, 3/30: THE INTERVIEW by Enrique Huili

Directed by Eric Nightengale with Nina Ki and John Little (TV: "Boardwalk Empire").

Thursday, 3/31: HUMANS by Mrinalini Klamath

Directed by Stuart Green with Jessika Carter-Ross (Regional: Dearly Departed),

Ben Rauch (TV: "The Big Bang Theory"), Lisa Riegel (NYC: The Miracle Worker), and

Rebecca Quinn Robertson (NY: Sleep No More),

Friday, 4/1: MAYFLIES by Chris Shock

Directed by Everett Quinton with Courage Bacchus (TBTB's Virtual Playmakers Intensive 4 & 5), Alyssa H. Chase (TBTB's Charles Ludlam's Artificial Jungle), and Dan Teachout (Film: Arnie Johnstone & The Vulva Tree).

Theater Breaking Through Barriers (TBTB) is the only professional Off-Broadway theater company dedicated to advancing artists and developing audiences of people with disabilities and altering the misconceptions surrounding disability by proving that disability does not affect the quality or integrity of art or artists. TBTB began in 1979 as Theater By the Blind and is celebrating the 42nd Season! In 2008 the name became Theater Breaking Through Barriers, to include artists with all disabilities yet retaining the "TBTB" acronym and becoming the preeminent Off-Broadway Theater for people with disabilities, hailed by The New York Times as "an extraordinary troupe designed to defy expectations" and The New York Post as "quite simply one of the most enjoyable companies in the country."

To learn more about TBTB, check out "Meet the Theatre: Theater Breaking Through Barriers," created by Theater Development Fund. The video is available at https://vimeo.com/338880820.

For more information about the TBTB Writers' Workshop and any Theater Breaking Through Barriers' programs and upcoming productions, visit tbtb.org.

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