Theatre East Announces 5X5 DRAMA SERIES

An unabashed love letter to New York City. Two exes in Queens, finding family in Brooklyn, cousins shooting a film in The Bronx, a job interview on Staten Island, friends memorializing a beloved bar in Manhattan. Come and celebrate our great city through these beautiful new borough-inspired short plays.

The five plays include CORTLANDT by Oliver Palmer, directed by Zach Murphy, and featuring Trey Cruz, Tom Green, Robert Lee Leng, DECKHAND by Dan O'Neil, directed by Shaun Bennet Fauntleroy, and featuring Christa Kimlicko Jones, Matthew Napoli, Violette Trotter, RESERVOIR by Travis Tate, directed by Bianca Puorto, and featuring Herb Benjamin, Ollie Corchado, THE BROOKLYN WAY by Shaun Bennet Fauntleroy, directed by Christa Kimlicko Jones, and featuring Erin Despanie, Toni Kwadzogah, Michaela Obro-Ababio, and REQUIEM FOR A BAR by Julia Rae Maldonado, directed by Judson Jones, and featuring Julio Lourido, Kelsey Sheppard, Kathleen Simmonds. The plays will be presented live and in person at Theatre East's new artistic home in LIC.

The series was founded in 2016 to bring great new plays beyond the footlights and into nontraditional spaces like breweries, rooftops, and taverns to provide an immersive and unique audience experience. This year, due to limited capacities at venues due to COVID restrictions, touring wasn't possible. In lieu of traveling to each borough, playwrights were commissioned to write 5 borough-inspired short plays. Fulfilling one of the company's core beliefs to make theatre more accessible to all, tickets are available on a suggested donation basis.

The 2021 5X5 Drama Series kicks off on December 16th. For more information visit www.theatreeast.org.