The Virtual Re-imagining of The Rogue Theatre Festival
For the past two years, the 13th Street Repertory Theatre has been home to the relatively new festival, and this year, they used the space to anchor some of the work, albeit with all tickets sold online for virtual performances only. This year's third installment of the annual event offers 14 new productions, mostly from the New York area and some surrounding areas, opens next Thursday, December 10th, and running through the entire weekend.
The festival was created in 2018 by Allison Hohman, who currently manages and curates the festival. "With no in-person theatre happening, the challenge became to deliver a quality theatrical experience, but to do so virtually and safely in the comfort of the ticket holders' living room. Rogue was dedicated to still providing a platform for these new works and determined to reconstruct the festival to make that happen. We offered the options of filming with us safely at the theater or via zoom, location, etc. and did the work to provide safety and support. Now we’re presenting those fourteen pieces next week and over 75 artists get to see their work," says Hohman. Can you include two staff members?
The Rogue Theater Festival exists to provide an opportunity for new writers and artists to present their work in a professional and theatrical environment and that now includes a virtual environment too. They have been dedicated to equality from the start and created this company with BIPOC and LGBTQ+ artists in mind.
Here are the scheduled plays and a brief description. Please visit their website a9t https://www.roguetheaterfestival.com/ for more information or click the banners below for specific information on each of the productions and how to purchase tickets, which run for $9 per show, of a group pass of $30.
Full Schedule:
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10th.
Language Games
By: Barbara Yoshida
Set in a fictional world of philosophy and language, Sheela arrives for a spirited game of Mah Jong with three great thinkers from the past. As they play, the spirit of artist Joseph Beuys appears as a mythological hare. Invisible to the players, he interjects cultural incantations while the players contemplate how language evolved from naming animals to representing them with signs, and how the arts and myth serve the human need to imagine. Tensions mounts and physical chair-play builds to a crescendo, until Sheela challenges a basic philosophical theory and wins the game, while Beuys has the last word.
7:00pm
Buy Tickets: https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/40483
Addicted
By: Halie Kendra Smith
A short play that takes you through the experiences the main character faces with addiction. We see loss, as well as weakness, but in the end we are left with restoration.
7:30pm
Buy Tickets: https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/40495
Brian’s Poems
By: Larry Rinkel
Hoping to track down one of the only copies of an MA dissertation of poetry written by his deceased high-school crush, an elderly man travels to São Paolo, Brazil, only to find the library is about to close. But with the help of a somewhat ironic ghost, he finds he might have achieved his ends and then some.
8:30pm
Buy Tickets: https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/40487
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11th.
Sunset Limited
By: Michele Privette
Gabriel Garcia gets off the Sunset Limited train late at night looking for a fresh cup of coffee. She finds herself playing dice with Devil Bill Adams, the proprietor of a tamale truck. They both gamble on the idea that they can figure out each other's secrets.
7:00pm
Buy Tickets: https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/40488
Celine and Justin
By: Kieran Carroll
Celine and Justin written by Australian playwright Kieran Carroll is a 10 minute work. The play delves into the criminal and lonely online behavior of those seeking money and those seeking sex. Celine is a young Asian man pretending to be a Canadian lingerie model. In his searches for money and credit card details he meets Justin, a lonely middle-aged guy. Their conversation enters a world of sexual fantasies and proposed meetings until Celine finds Justin hard to negotiate with when trying to extract money from him.
8:00pm
Buy Tickets: https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/40489
Halloween 1981
By: Rossi
On Halloween morning, 1981, Rossi is awakened far too early by Rodney, her loud and flamboyant friend. Despite her complaining, Rodney demands she come out to the Halloween parade in Greenwich Village. While searching her apartment for a make-shift custom for Rossi to wear, Rodney forces her to see and accept who she really is. Then to embrace it, rather loudly.
8:30pm
Buy Tickets: https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/40490
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12th.
Untitled Monologues
By: Francesca Bolam
Therapy is unpredictable. It makes you think about things you thought you had locked away in a box in the back of your mind, situations that happened years ago come flooding back and conversations you wish you had are finally given the airtime. Untitled Monologues is a collection of pieces that explore the many universal yet personal experiences endured by women when they finally have the space to speak.
1:00pm
Buy Tickets: https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/41762
Morning Ritual
By: Serena Norr
VILLA is put to sleep at Morning Ritual, a seemingly peaceful retreat to help those who have undergone trauma. However, she wakes before she completes the transgressive period - causing her counselors (LUCIE and BEAM) to question her and everything they thought they knew about the science at the Ritual. With pandering and back and forth questioning, Lucie and Beam try to understand what caused Villa to wake up while doing their best to conceal the truth that Villa starts to reveal.
2:00pm
Buy Tickets: https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/40492
And Everything Was Perfect
By: Monte D. Mongecleagre
Five identical men sit at five identical desks, silently scrutinizing the others while bemoaning their own choice to turn their back on the Moon.
5:00pm
Buy Tickets:https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/40493
Idolatry
By: Nicholas Bompart
Anna and Andrew, a young couple, are having dinner with Anna's parents. The subject of Alex, Anna and Andrew's young son, comes up. The family quarrels over Alex's recent diagnosis with ADHD and how best to address this issue. Drama of generational proportions ensue between the family members while Alex practices his piano playing.
7:00pm
Buy Tickets:https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/40496
Crossover
By: Danielle Moore
Meet CROSSOVER, the newest singing competition to hit the airwaves with a streaming-era twist: the competing artists must prove that they’re adept at both writing and performing across different genres in order to claim the title of CROSSOVER Champion. When contestants 101 (Regina “Reggie” Carlyle, a soul-singing Stanford dropout), 13 (Hallie Harper, a country sweetheart on a mission), 69 (KC Parker, a wannabe rock goddess and the daughter of a famous guitarist), and 78 (Maxine “Max” Green, an electro-pop starlet on the rise) tie in the regional competition, they reluctantly opt to compete on the national broadcast as a group: Four-Way Tie. As they navigate the ups and downs of sudden fame, they learn more about themselves and each other than they ever thought possible. CROSSOVER’s megamix-style score, featuring influences from dance-pop, country, R&B, and rap, reinforces the show’s message: love between women, romantic or otherwise, is something to sing about.
8:00pm
Buy Tickets: https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/40497
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13th.
Rise Esperanto
By: Wayne Firestone
Members of a reconstituted Lower East Side Esperanto Society meet after the 2016 Presidential election and debate whether this is the moment in history for a borderless, international language. Millennial activist Esperanza mistakenly attends the meeting. She learns about the optimism of the Esperanto inventor in his 1900 Warsaw ophthalmologist office with his skeptical Yiddish speaking patient. Esperanza explores the language through a new app that transports her to speak directly with the characters from the prior century. Esperanza’s journey is about her own hidden identity and unlikely claim to the leadership of a predominantly white male European legacy movement.
1:00pm
Buy Tickets:https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/40498
The Cockroach of Broadway
By: Hope Weiner
Arguably, if one wanted to make law school fun one could dedicate the full three years to studying Harvey Weinstein's recent fall from grace and come out with an amazing understanding of the current American legal system. Given that so much of the law is determined by "community standards" his case really asks us to deep dive into what our standards are. Furthermore we are also asked to deep dive into our belief in the potential for rehabilitation. As for the title, well Jesse Green made me laugh in 2018 when he reviewed the Donna Summer Musical but at the time I felt that even more so than the scourge of jukebox musicals, this title belonged to Harvey Weinstein. So at last musings on Mr. Weinstein and other men of questionable repute.
2:30pm
Buy Tickets:https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/40500
Over the Rainbow
By: Andy Crosten
Picture it: Oz- Almost a century later.
As a young queer boy from Maryland, Andy yearns to travel the world in search of his destiny. For his seventh birthday, he is
gifted a pair of ruby slippers that possess a secret power. Transported to the magical land of Oz, he journeys to meet The Wizard who can unlock the key to self-discovery and can help make America gay again!
Join performing artist and ‘Friend Of Dorothy’ in this reimagining of Oz, where Andy portrays all your favorite characters- lions, wizards, and witches, oh my! The audience will experience a fantastical musical journey down the yellow brick road in an evening of fun and fabulous digital entertainment.
Welcome back to Oz, where new adventures await!
3:00pm
Buy Tickets: https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/41763
Main Ticket Page: www.showtix4u.com/events/RogueTheaterFestival
For those who can't view the debut performances on the dates of the festival, you can return to view the productions anytime from December 14th- 21st. The tickets are $10 for every show.
Tickets go on sale December 7th and can be streamed anytime December 14th- 21st.
Visit: http://www.showtix4u.com/events/RogueTheaterFestival
The Rogue Theatre Festival usually plays at the 13th Street Repertory Theatre, Joseph Battista, Artistic Director.
The festival Stage manager is Elizabeth Emond, and Media manager is Deangelo Miller
