BROOKLYN QUARTET Opens 3/18 at The Medicine Show Theatre

After two years of development, both as a solo work and as an ensemble piece, Rock WILK's new play, Brooklyn Quartet, directed by Stephen Bishop Seely, will debut on March 18th, and run for 10 performances at The Medicine Show Theatre, 549 West 52nd Street, Third Floor, New York, New York 10019.

Brooklyn Quartet is a story about three kids who grow up together in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn, who become best friends; who love each other, and who eventually almost destroy one another, and is told by an angel named Queen. It is an exploration of how life treats each of them, both individually and collectively, over the course of twenty years, quite differently, simply because of who each of them are. Saint is black, Jamaal is white and Esther is Latina. The story is sprinkled with racism, sexism and white privilege, but most importantly, Brooklyn Quartet is a love story.

Click the links below to check out videos of the show!

http://youtu.be/GKLbb50cQUQ
http://youtu.be/wTfvWLMq59w

One stop along the Brooklyn Quartet journey last year was a performance right at home in New York, as part of The Downtown Urban Theatre Festival, whose artistic director is Tony nominated reg e. gaines, (Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk). He explains, "The idea of theater is to create magic, and possessing courage to allow an audience freedom to imagine is magic's main ingredient. Brooklyn Quartet is one of those rare moments where magic and metaphor leap from the lips of characters too cool to be cliché, yet too true not to be believed."

Playwright Rock WILK added, "My hope is that everyone who sees Brooklyn Quartet, whether you are black or white, red or yellow, a man or a woman, whatever or whomever you may be, my intention is to show that these four characters are somehow relate-able to all of us, that we can all see a part of ourselves in each of them, meaning at the end of the day, that we are all the same at our core, that we all really want the same things; to be happy, to be safe, to be warm, to be fed and to be loved. That we are all human beings."

Along with the opening of Brooklyn Quartet, Rock has unveiled his 50ShotIn10Days campaign, intending to raise awareness and to bring more of a sense of humanity to victims of gun violence; to ensure that they are never reduced to being "victims", "incidents", or simply "statistics". The connection of the campaign to his play is clear. "I was inspired to write Brooklyn Quartet after the Sean Bell shooting incident with the NYPD in 2006," Rock explains, "and with names like Oscar Grant, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, and Eric Garner existing so prevalently in our collective existence, I just feel like, as an artist, Brooklyn Quartet is my strongest contribution, or my creative 'offering', toward what I hope can push us to a better understanding of one another; a way to provoke dialogue that can begin to bring us together toward a better, more inclusive, and kinder world, for all of us."

For tickets and for more information about Brooklyn Quartet, please go online to www.brooklynquartet.com.

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