CLEVELAND: Cleveland Public Theater (CPT) has announced its second spring programming, which is to be supplemented the previously announced Lively online offers. These new offers extend CPT’s virtual programming until the end of May.
The month of May features CPT virtual pop-up performances streamed on CPT’s Facebook and YouTube pages. The series begins with Frankenstein’s Wake (May 6), created by Holly Holsinger and CPT Artistic Director Raymond Bobgan, which re-enacts the Mary Shelley classic to offer a deeper, more evolved perspective on the themes of the story . Holsinger will star and Bobgan will direct.
Next will … or will it explode? (May 7th), written and directed by John Dayo-Aliya, playwright for the Nord Family Foundation 2020-21. Using poetry, dance, and other forms of contemporary theater, the production explores what it means to be a young black man in the 21st century by mixing up stories from men ages 16 to 35 in Akron, Ohio.
This is followed by the Dream Rust Workshop (May 13) with text by Bobgan and contributions from CPT community ensembles. Bobgan will lead this surreal theatrical experiment that follows a network of dream lines from a group of dreamers who seek meaning and manage to merge the boundaries of identity, home, land and relatives.
Next up is David Hansen’s Savory Taṇhā (16 short pieces performed by a rotating ensemble) (May 14). Caitlin Lewins will lead this virtual memory game about longing, loss, happiness, hope and navigating the paths of human desire.
The pop-up performances in May conclude with Dragon Hypothesis (May 27) with a text by Bobgan, which was co-created by Bobgan and the Cleveland CORE Ensemble. The work seeks theatrical poetry to discover and articulate the experience of encounter with the mind.
Live Zoom performances of An Extraordinary Love (Three Short Pieces in Progress) directed by Nicole Sumlin will also be on view in May from May 21-23. You can see Ananias J. Dixon’s The Proposal, Lisa Langford’s Smoking and Christian St. Croix’s Tiana. In these three 10-minute pieces, black artists explore black people’s love and relationships. Post-show discussions will also take place.
In addition to this programming, CPT continues to offer new development and online educational programs. More information on both is available Available online.
The Cleveland Public Theater is committed to developing new, adventurous work, promoting artists from northeast Ohio, and engaging communities through its educational programs.
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