Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas' RECENT ALIEN ABDUCTIONS Begins Run Today

The Play Company has announced the full cast of the New York premiere of Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas' Recent Alien Abductions (February 21-March 24). Through magnetic characterization and playful yet shattering storytelling, Recent Alien Abductions explores how families-and societies-are haunted by their pasts. Recent Alien Abductions was an acclaimed highlight of the 2017 Humana Festival for New American Plays, where it was hailed as a "dark and unsettling...shape-shifter, a mystery to be unfurled, and ultimately a very human story" (WFPL News Louisville). Performances take place February 21-March 24 at Walkerspace, 46 Walker Street, New York.

The cast includes Maria Cellario (Hedda Gabbler on Broadway; underneathmybed at Rattlestick), Daniel Duque-Estrada (Native Gardens, Othello at Trinity Rep), Vivia Font (PlayCo's Villa, Fernando at The New Ohio), Yetta Gottesman (The Last Days of Judas Iscariotat The Public, Women's Project Theater's Touch), Ronete Levenson (Recent Alien Abductions at Actors Theater of Louisville, Our Town at Barrow Street), and Rafael Sardina (Jorge Cortiñas' Sleepwalkers with Alliance Theatre Company, Sea of Tranquility at Atlantic Theater). The creative team includes Adam Rigg (Set Design), Fabian Fidel Aguilar (Costume Design), Amith Chandrashaker (Lighting Design), and Mikaal Sulaiman (Sound Design).

When Recent Alien Abductions begins, Álvaro, a queer artist from Puerto Rico-who relocated to New York after becoming estranged from his family-is obsessing over an early episode of The X-Files. Since he saw the original broadcast at age twelve or thirteen, he's been unshakably intrigued by the character of a Puerto Rican teenager whom Fox Mulder encounters. As Álvaro remembers it, Mulder quickly gets to know the teen and teams up with him in a stormy, dreamlike escape from an alien abduction. But though Álvaro has obsessively considered every aspect of what he remembers of the episode, his recollection has been slowly challenged by what he believes is a second, revised version with which mysterious conspirators are trying to replace the original broadcast. In this revised episode, the character is denied the safety, camaraderie, and subjecthood of the previous ending, and is simply abducted by aliens and left forever in obscurity. A few years after Álvaro has recounted the uncanny details of this childhood X-Files memory, his dear friend, a lesbian Nuyorican artist, visits his family in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, seeking their permission to publish his writings. As the barely-welcome visitor gets a sense of Álvaro's family life, his conspiratorial interpretation of the episode in question begins to reveal its place in reality.

In Cortiñas' play, small gestures and off-handed comments slowly reveal the colonial, racist, misogynist, and homophobic dynamics that constrain possibility in the lives of the characters. These power imbalances have been left to fester for so long that they create the alienating nightmare at the story's core.

Following PlayCo's celebrated production of Intractable Woman-the "carefully composed," "furtively poetic," and "vivid portrait" (The New York Times Critics' Pick review) of the intrepid and accomplished Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, assassinated in 2006-the company turns to another searing depiction of power imbalance and personal and political responsibility. Cortiñas, the author of plays such as Bird in the Hand and Blind Mouth Singing, has steadily built a celebrated body of work that uses the interpersonal realm to illuminate big political questions. As the austerity crisis and the aftershocks of Hurricane Maria continue to roil Puerto Rico, Cortiñas's exploration of Puerto Rican nationhood and its contested relationship to the United States becomes eerily prescient. His plays have been praised as "strange and beautiful" (The New York Times) and for their "visionary wit" (Chicago Tribune).

Performances of Recent Alien Abductions will take place February 21 - March 24, 2019 at Walkerspace, located at 46 Walker Street, New York, NY. Critics are welcome February 28, March 1, 2, & 3 for an official opening on Sunday, March 3 at 7pm. Regular performances will take place beginning Tuesday, March 5, Tuesday-Saturdays at 7:30pm, and Sundays at 3pm.

Tickets are now on sale, and can be purchased by visiting playco.org or calling 866 811 4111. Regular prices are $35 General Admission/$45 Premium Reserved.

PlayCo began a new ticketing initiative earlier this year, with multiple pricing levels to increase accessibility. On this initiative, Kate Loewald says, "PlayCo is committed to maintaining affordable access as part of our mission. We always maintain modest ticket prices, and our new OpenHouse Access Program will advance our efforts to remove price as a barrier." As part ofthe program, there will be a limited number of $15 "Theater for Everyone" tickets available from December 13 to January27. $15 student tickets can be purchased in advance with a valid school ID presented at will call. Group rates and discounts for teachers, librarians, first responders, and active duty personnel will also be available-call 212.389.2977 for details.

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