Rising Sun Performance Company Announces Free Two Day Theatre Festival On Governors Island This Weekend

Founding Artistic Director Akia Squitieri announced today that Rising Sun Performance Company will be presenting a rotation of children's plays to be performed in person outdoors on Governors Island for two days August 21st & 22nd.

Akia stated, "After over a year of being apart, we are excited to return to in-person theater and are thrilled to return to Governors Island for our 4th year of presenting free and vital programming to our local communities." "In the past years, we have offered indoor programming on Nolan Park and Colonels Row. In response to Covid-19, we worked closely with Governors Island's programming team to create outdoor works that will allow safe and fun entertainment for all."

Rising Sun Performance Company's Theatre for Young Audience Festival promises to be entertaining, interactive, and inspirational for audiences of all ages. The cast of professionals are not only gifted performers but passionate members of the NYC arts community and dedicated to awakening young imaginations and sparking a light for the performing arts.

The festival will be presented on Governors Island multiple times each day from 11:30am-4:30pm. The festival will perform at various places across the island, using the local environments and sounds of the park. With each play being 45 minutes or less and spreading across different times, families can easily attend all four plays as they wander the grounds and enjoy all that the Island has to offer.

Locations include Castle Williams, The Oval, and the Lawns near Colonels Row.

Festival Schedule

Saturday, August 21st & Sunday, August 22nd

11:30AM Puka Who

12:30PM Report Back to Space & Playing Possum

2PM This Sinking Island

3PM Report Back to Space & Playing Possum

3PM Puka Who

4PM This Sinking Island

Rain/Extreme Heat/Inclement Weather Dates Saturday, Aug 28th & Sunday, Aug 29th

The Plays:

Playing Possum

by Holly Hepp-Galván

directed by Anel Carmona

assistant director Chelsey Smith

stage manager Madeleine Blossom

assistant stage manager Fatemata Krubally

translation support by Orlando Rodriguez, Lluvia Almanza & Anel Carmona

featuring a rotating cast: Lluvia Almanza, Rick Benson, Rachael Langton, Denisse Mendoza, Mateo Moreno, Orlando Rodriguez, Ayesha Saleh, Rachel Shardt, Mary Sheridan & Danielle Stanek

Playing Possum retells the Mexican folklore of Possum's adventures where perhaps he plays one trick too many. Don't miss this playful tale filled with animals that will be sure to bring giggles to audiences of all ages. Presented with dual language elements

Report Back to Space

by Judd Lear Silverman

directed by Chelsey Smith

stage manager Madeleine Blossom

assistant stage manager Fatemata Krubally

featuring: Luis Feliciano & Rachel Schardt

On a hot summer day in the park, an alien from another planet arrives to learn just how our planet functions-and gets an earful from a well-rooted creature closely in touch with the earth: a flower, who tells him not only how the planet really works, but how the humans only think they run it. This brief comedy is a humorous look at the state of our world and the opportunities for pleasure that humans often miss.

This Sinking Island

devised by The Anthropologists,

written by Melissa Moschitto with original music by Mariah Freda

directed by Rachael Langton

choreography by Marissa Joyce Stamps

properties & design elements support Akia Squitieri

stage managed by Callie Considine

featuring: Emma Copp, Luis Felciano, Jonathan Frye*, Leica Lucien & Josephine Pizzino

This Sinking Island is an interactive piece that challenges us to work together to help our neighbors when climate change displaces us from our homes. It's devised in two parts. Part one showcases a chorus of climate refugees who tell their stories of home and how extreme weather changed their lives. Part two focuses the threat of climate change to one story about three siblings who meet an unexpected friend while relocating homes after rising sea levels flood their Manhattan apartment.

Puka Who

by E.R Merwin

directed by Eric Parness

assistant directed by Akia Squitieri

choreography by Paulina Tobar

stage managed by Paulina Tobar

featuring: Maggie Kissinger, Monique Pappas, Sean Phillips, Jose Vargas & Molly Bader

The story centers on a new park ranger with night patrol duties of Castle Williams. During her night watch, she encounters a furry and mischievous "Puka" and has an adventure of learning and exploration with the help of her new Puka friend and the ghost of a young soldier who used to live on the Island in 1854.

Costume Design for all plays by Catherine Fisher

Properties, production design support, creative consultation by Akia Squitieri

Environmental Storytelling Devised By Akia Squitieri

Production Stage Manager Madeleine Blossom

Covid Safety officers David Stallings & Mateo Moreno

Graphic Design Rachael Langton

Social Media Jennifer Iris Rivera

Accessibility Coordination Rebecca Kane

All performances are lawn seating, and audiences are encouraged to bring their own blankets or seating. We encourage guests to visit our social media and website for inclement weather notifications.

With safety being of the highest priority the cast, crew, and creatives of the production are all fully vaccinated, tested on a weekly basis, and following a strict safety protocol led by a team of certified health & safety compliance officers.

Performances are free and subject to change due to weather.

Donations are welcome and appreciated but not required for attendance.

For information, location maps, and details visit www.risingsunnyc.com

This Sinking Island is being presented as an Actors Equity Showcase Code Production

* Actor is appearing courtesy of Actors Equity Association

Akia Squitieri, Creative & Artistic Director is one of 500 New York City-based artists to receive $5,000 through the City Artist Corps Grants program, presented by The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA), with support from the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) as well as Queens Theatre.

Over the course of three award cycles, more than 3,000 artists will receive $5,000 grants to engage the public with artist activities across New York City's five boroughs this summer and fall. Artists can use the grant to create new work or phase of work, or restage preexisting creative activities across any discipline.

Members of the public can participate in City Artist Corps Grants programming by following the hashtag #CityArtistCorps on social media.

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