The Nuyorican Poets Cafe Announces 2021 Online Theater Festival

The Nuyorican Poets Cafe will present the world premieres of 13 short plays and monologues during a six-day online festival.

The works are written, directed and performed by an accomplished lineup of artists, including Caridad Svich, reg e gaines, Ashley L. Calderón, Jossie Ortiz, Nia Akilah Robinson and many more.

Performances will take place on Zoom only; tickets may be ordered in advance at this link (or via this shortcut: bit.ly/2021OnlineFest).

The Festival will highlight innovative new works from emerging and established dramatists; featured plays and monologues will address themes of immigration, sexual orientation and identity, freedom of expression and cultural identity. Audiences will select the festival's top three works, which will each receive encore performances at the Cafe (once reopening is possible). Performances will take place at 7PM EST on the following dates: April 30th, May 1st, May 7th, May 8th, May 14th and May 15th.

The Cafe has previously presented short play and monologue festivals (including Nine Signs of the Times, in 2014, and a festival of short works in 2019), but this year's festival will be the Cafe's most ambitious such undertaking, and the first festival it has produced entirely online. Proceeds from the 2021 Online Short Play and Monologue festival will help support the Cafe's free online poetry workshops and open mics, which provide educational and performance opportunities to thousands of artists and students from across the country.

Audience members will use Zoom's polling feature to vote for their favorite works in the Festival, and the top three plays selected by audience voting will be featured in an evening of encore performances at the Cafe in Autumn 2021 (or as soon as reopening is possible). The Cafe will subsequently present workshop performances of other plays and monologues by the "Best of Fest" authors.

The 2021 Online Theater Festival at Nuyorican Poets Cafe takes place at 7PM on April 30th, May 1st, May 7th, May 8th, May 14th, and May 15th, 2021. Each play and monologue will be performed on each evening of the Festival.

The 2021 Online Theater Festival is made possible in part with support from the New York State Council on the Arts, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

The Nuyorican Poets Cafe's 2021 Online Theater Festival will feature world premiere performances of the following monologues and short plays:

"Tokens" by reg.e.gaines

"Blue" by Caridad Svich

"Papi" by Ashley L. Calderón

"Make La Diaspora Great Again: An Homage To Our Bodies" by Jossie Ortiz

"Dinner Date 2020" by Helene Galek

"American Slavery" by Nia Akilah Robinson

"Pronounced" by Khalif J. Gillett

"ProTips" by Eunice "LuLu" Alicea

"Spell It" by Michelle de la Rosa

"Adulting" by Amira Mustapha

"By Chance" by Vincent Marano

"Nosotras" by Isa Guzman

"Fair Play" by Shaquille Edwards

Produced by Nick Luis & Jason Quinones

Zoom Stage Manager Mariah Sanchez

PERFORMANCE DATES: April 30th, May 1st, May 7th, May 8th, May 14th, and May 15th, 2021, at 7PM each night

RUNNING TIME: 1 hour and 45 minutes with a 10 minute intermission
TICKET PRICES:
General Admission: $10 in advance via OvationTix
TO PURCHASE TICKETS: visit www.nuyorican.org

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