photo collage from Annie, Fantastics, and Chicago of characters reading news

The Plays

The Plays: Cast & Synopsis

(Alphabetically by Playwright)

 

Glory be to… by Simone Brazzini

Offspring 1: Nicole Bailey

Offspring 2: Ratt Walsh

Mother: Laurice Quinn

Father: Cipriano Ortega

Advisor: Shannon Brennan

A voice: Paul Migliorelli

In the authoritarian world of Ventios, everyone does as they are told, feels as they are told, and lives as they are told. Living as sexless beings until their 18th birthday, Offsprings of Ventios are then assigned a Sex and a Chosen Partner to create a life with, all under the guide of The Circle. As Offspring 1 nears their Initiation Ceremony, unregulated emotions bubble at the surface, threatening to dismantle the way of life. But, can true love really conquer all?

 

The Party by a.a. brenner

Mariah: Shannon Brennan

Ashton: Apollo Blue

Sam: Paul Migliorelli

Joanne: Samantha Barrasso

Baby Lizzie/Gretchen Wilson: Ratt Walsh

Voice: Nicole Bailey

Two couples meet for a dinner party, where they end up serving much more than a meal.

 

Fed by Sxr OM Dxtchxss-Davis

Tina: Laurice Quinn

Kash: Nicole Bailey

Darkness: Paul Migliorelli

Usually when we see disability on stage or screen, we see it on a white body; we see it in a middle-class family. This hasn’t been my experience as a black disabled person from a low-income family. Fed is about two sisters. One’s living with a physical illness, one’s dealing with a mental illness. Every week they have to choose: who will get their medication, who will get fed, and who will go hungry. When you are black, poor, and disabled, you’re rarely the only family member who is suffering. But through love, community, and communication, we find ways to live. It’s not always pretty, but love is all we got sometimes.

 

DM by Ryan J. Haddad

Laurice Quinn

In DM, Oli engages with a potential suitor about how they might move things forward in the name of lust and romance.

 

Convenient Store Love Story by Kalyn Heffernan

Apollo Blue

Take a romantic getaway inside a raunchy existential rant, on a typical day in the life of a fragile lover. Explore the intimately close relationship between mortality and disability, where death and grief found joy and cripple pleasure.

 

Love Multiplied by Twanna LaTrice Hill

Middle School Teacher: Paul Migliorelli

Elementary School Teacher: Shannon Brennan

Know It All: Laurice Quinn

The Bully: Apollo Blue

The Child: Nicole Bailey

The Vixen: Samantha Barrasso

The Rebellious Teen: Ratt Walsh

The Shy Student: Cipriano Ortega

Being open to love for and from others is much more challenging if you don’t first love yourself. This can be tricky for some of us when love has been coupled with unkindness, but it is always within our reach. “Love Multiplied” explores this unending capacity for love – not just for our self, but for our selves!

 

Querida mi amor by Marcelina Ramirez

Cipriano Ortega

Ratt Walsh

Nicole Bailey

Samantha Barrasso

Marcelina's piece is a love letter to her people. Marcelina's least favorite verse in the world is "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth." Often this is because love at its truest is not always patient nor kind. Grief and love often make even the truest of loves resentful. Love is not linear and often love will cross death in beautiful and dark defiance. This piece is dedicated to the kind of love black and brown bodies experience. A love for each other is so deep because the rest of the world does not. Love for a city we can't afford. Love in the realization we have made it through the worst of times and still we are here.  This piece is dedicated most of all to Rashell "Ray" Elizabeth Hammond.  Hammond was last seen walking away from her Mosca, Colorado home on August 15, 2019. She left all her belongings behind, including her phone, identification, medication, car. computer, tools and pet dog, and has never been heard from again. If you have any information or have interacted with her please call the Alamosa Police Department at  719-589-6608. She is one of the many MMIW and her mother believes she is a victim of sex trafficking. We can bring her home.

 

Much Ado About Something by Sheila Ivy Traister

Rascal (Puck): Ratt Walsh

Mami Wata (Rosalind): Laurice Quinn

Thea (Juliet): Samantha Barrasso

Justice (Feste): Cipriano Ortega

Janus (Titania): Nicole Bailey

Stage manager: Shannon Brennan

When the weighted themes of Shakespeare's plays too closely reflect the ills of their modern day world, a troupe of Shakespearean actors find themselves leaning on one another for understanding and strength. Will they rally in time to rediscover their genuine love of self, each other, and the art of authentic and joyful storytelling...or will the curtain go up on an empty stage?