Remote Theatre Announces New Dates for THE CHOICE

Remote Theater will now premiere THE CHOICE -- Seven Stories About Roe v. Wade -- on Saturday, September 24, 4 PM Pac./7PM Eastern.

This shift in dates will make room for a more comprehensive response to the Dobbs decision by the US Supreme Court -- which is expected only one the week before the original July date. Remote is also exploring several partnerships with advocacy groups.

The event will be produced in partnership with The Magic and The Marsh, two of San Francisco's top theatre companies for new play development.

"Despite the leak of Justice Samuel Alito's draft in the Dobbs case, the actual result is in question," said Giovanni Rodriguez, co-founder and artistic director for Remote. "This is an important decision and we are committed to making an appropriate response both artistically and from a timing perspective. The decision will have an impact on the midterm elections this Fall and the new date will help us become part of the national debate, from a practical perspective."

Styled after Remote's much-lauded January production, "Insurrection" - which examined the events of January 6, 2021 - "The Choice" seeks to bring greater understanding to ongoing conflicts in American civic life by dramatizing stories from diverse perspectives, featuring some of the nation's finest playwrights and actors. Co-sponsored by Magic Theatre and The Marsh, "The Choice" features plays by Anita Gonzalez, Debra Gipson, Lynne Kaufman, Giovanni Rodriguez, Tanya Shaffer, Ashley Smiley, and Shruti Tewari. The evening will be directed/orchestrated by Rodriguez, co-founder and Artistic Director of Remote.

The event is the first in a series of performances under the banner, The American Common Law Theatre Project. Early in his career, Rodriguez worked as a writer for several prominent litigators based in New York. His last contribution to the law-inspired theatre was a 1997 mock trial of Lizzie Borden at Stanford, starring the actual Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and William Rehnquist. The one-day-only fundraiser played to a crowd of 700, plus thousands more via media channels.

About The Magic Theatre

The Magic Theatre has now entered a new Golden Age with the appointment of Sean San José as the new Artistic Director in June, 2022. San José is the first Person of Color to fully lead the organization in its 50+ year history. With this new leadership the Magic Theatre is dedicated to making the Magic Theatre a home to more people by rightfully centering People of Color throughout the organization.

The Magic Theatre, while continuing to premiere bold and new plays as it has done for 54 years, has expanded its vision and programming with these new Programs: new Residency Program- which includes Home Resident Company Campo Santo and the historic Lorraine Hansberry Theatre (Artistic Director Margo Hall), along with Black Artists Contemporary Cultural Experience (Co-Artistic Directors Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe and Rotimi Agbabiaka), and Ellen Sebastian Chang/ Sunhui Chang; new Performances Program, telling theatrical stories in dance, poetry, and music led by San Francisco Poet Laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin; new Collaborations Program, working with sister groups to offer them the space, including Crowded Fire Theater and San Francisco Girls Chorus; and Resident Artists, which is highlighted by Playwright In Residence Star Finch and Resident Curator Juan Amador, and artists Russell Champa, Tanya Orellana, Joan Osato, Christopher Sauceda, and Brittany White.

For over 54 years, the Magic Theatre's belief in supporting the writer's vision has manifested in a rigorous artistic home where a full body of work can be imagined, developed, and produced. MagicTheatre.org

About The Marsh

The Marsh is known as "a breeding ground for new performance." It was launched in 1989 by Founder and Artistic Director Stephanie Weisman, and pre-COVID annually hosted more than 600 performances of 175 shows across the company's two venues in San Francisco and Berkeley. A leading outlet for solo performers, The Marsh's specialty has been hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as "solo performances that celebrate the power of storytelling at its simplest and purest." The East Bay Times named The Marsh one of Bay Area's best intimate theaters, calling it "one of the most thriving solo theaters in the nation. The live theatrical energy is simply irresistible." Since its launch in April 2020, the theatre's digital platform MarshStream has garnered more than 100,000 viewers.

The Marsh's first-ever digital festival, and the U.S. premiere of The Invisible Line, a new documentary about one of the world's most famous social experiments gone wrong. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic MarshStream has hosted over 700 LIVE streams, providing some 300 performers a platform to continue developing and producing art. The Marsh will continue to offer digital content on MarshStream, as well as its ever-increasing post COVID opening of in-person performances at its two venues.

About Remote Theater

Born during the pandemic, with an eye trained on the future, Remote Theater is a collective of artists exploring the boundaries of live online performance, what we call "live cinema." We're committed to developing and reimagining great dramatic works and finding global audiences for them. Artists we have worked with include Obie-award winning playwright Naomi Wallace, writer/librettist/TV producer Billy Aronson (the originator of the concept for RENT), and playwrights Tanya Shaffer, Anthony Clarvoe, and Lynne Kaufman, Herbert Siguenza, Eugenie Chan, Michael Gene Sullivan, and Caridad Svich.

Remote is the beneficiary of a Facebook Small Business Grant. Past and current partners include The Marsh, Actors Reading Collective (ARC), and Playwrights Foundation (for their support of our premiere reading of Tanya Shaffer's Manatee on Mars). We're a fiscally sponsored organization; all donations are tax-deductible. To learn more, please go to www.remote.theater.

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