P45 PLAY READING SERIES

A FESTIVAL OF 3 PLAYS IN ONE DAY

Play Readings by The MITTEN Lab alumni: Monet Hurst-Mendoza, Liz Morgan, and Andrew Rincón
Directed by Liz Gray, Khalia Davis, and Jesse Jou

Each season, Parallel 45 Theatre invites audiences to a series of play-readings featuring the work of daring playwrights produced across the country and around the world. These plays allow us to include multiple voices in important, ongoing conversations around race, religion, gender identity, and more. Each reading concludes with a talkback featuring artists and community members. 

Making up for lost pandemic time, this year’s readings will take place over the course of one day on the lawn of Parallel 45 Theatre’s outdoor performance space at Civic Center Park, creating a one-day festival of dazzling theatrical material, in-depth conversations, and safe community gathering opportunities. The 2021 playwrights are all award-winning alumni of the MITTEN Lab, a Michigan incubator for emerging theatre talent. The reading series’ directors hail from across the United States and will bring these readings alive in collaboration with the P45 actors you know and love.

Come for one or stay all day. Talkbacks follow each performance.

SATURDAY, JULY 31

Standard Seating (Lawn Seating)
$8 Per Reading
$12 All Day Pass

THANK YOU! THIS SHOW HAS NO MORE SCHEDULED PERFORMANCES.

PLAYS

I Wanna F*ck Like Romeo and Juliet

By Andrew Rincón
Directed by Jesse Jou
Featuring Maya Lagerstam (The Poet), Danielle Troiano (Valentine), Desiree Gonzalez (Cupid), Trey DeLuna (Alejandro Diaz), Moses Princien (Benny Randale), Arielle Leverett (Betti)
Reading at 2 pm

Snow in July, comets falling from the sky, the world is thrown into chaos as Cupid rips off her wings and gives up on Love. But her old flame Saint Valentine has a plan to bring her spirits back up; and it involves the relationship between two men, Alejandro and Benny. Moving from outer space to Hackensack NJ, Wanna F*ck like Romeo and Juliet is a Queer love story of epic proportions that investigates God and mortals, realism and fantasy, and the shame and joy within Queer love of color.

Our Father

By Liz Morgan
Directed by Khalia Davis
Featuring Maya Lagerstam (Shariffa Diamond), Denzell Tsopnang (Paul Wright Jr), Max DeTogne (Gene Graham), Ann Delaney (Phoebe Wright), Moses Princien (Carter Rogers), Arielle Leverett (Yvette Bayeza-Wright), Sarah Biehlman (Stage Direction)
Reading at 5 pm

P.J. has spent a long time living in his father’s shadow, but when he decides to write a biopic about his legendary “TV Dad,” his career finally starts to generate the kind of momentum he’s always wanted. He’s got the best representation team money can buy, but can they save him when real-life drama threatens to tarnish the legacy of his beloved family sitcom?

Blind Crest

By Monet Hurst-Mendoza
Directed by Liz Gray
Featuring Jordan Wallace (Tyrell), Desiree Gonzalez (Mara), Max DeTogne (The Warden), Trey DeLuna (Wilson), Moses Princien (Corrections Officer Jones), Mackenzie Holley (The Lawyer), Sarah Biehlman (Stage Direction)
Reading at 8 pm

Tyrell Johnson sits on Death Row for the double-murder of two undercover detectives. Mara Hernandez is a fresh-faced corrections officer, newly appointed to the night watch. Together, this unlikely pair, form an intense bond and make a pact to have a baby. A dark twist on “boy-meets-girl” and inspired by the unfolding true story of Ronell Wilson and Nancy Gonzalez, Blind Crest investigates racial identity and mass incarceration in the U.S. by compelling us to ask, “what is the value of a Black life in America, and at what cost are we willing to fight for it?”

Learn more about P45 Amphitheatre at Civic Center Park, our Seating Plan, Inclement Weather Policy, and Safety at P45 by visiting our Venue Page.

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