MARCH 16-23 | $5 TICKETS

The Command Center by SMJ | Sat, March 16 at 8pm
Five apprentices at a high-profile regional theater known for its development of new plays are finally thrown a bone after working for a year. They get a coveted production slot in the summer season after one of the apprentices scores a commission from Hasbro to write a Power Rangers-based play. On the day of opening, the arrival of a Hasbro executive, a double-booked venue, cell phones that never stop ringing, and another awkward encounter with the Artistic Director Lindsay in their housing causes the day to head into a tailspin as emotional distress that has been repressed rises to the surface: dying parents, panic attacks, body issues, food scarcity, economic anxiety, and sexual tension. THE COMMAND CENTER explores how theater isolates people, how theater creates community, and how the theater industry… and Power Rangers exploit young people.

PRISONCORE! by kanishk pandey | Tues, March 19 at 7pm
PRISONCORE! is a multidisciplinary show that places the audience within a panopticon to confront the inherent cruel nature of prisons and investigate the possibility of prison abolishment. It focuses on two characters: Lucky, who works as the sole prison guard on the night shift while whittling away his massive debt by playing blackjack on an online gambling service hosted by Rain, a VTuber running the blackjack table.

Zeus 4 by Lauren Holmes | Thu, March 21 at 7pm
In a park in Boston, dog owners gather to let their dogs run around off leash — against park rules. As the seasons pass, they all must overcome constant threats to their dog park society from other park goers, from park rangers, and from each other.

Son of an Unknown Father By Reynaldo Piniella | Fri, March 22 at 7pm
Son of an Unknown father tells the story of the first Black saint of the Americas, Martin de Porres. Born into slavery in Lima, Peru in the 1600s, Martin aspired to break through the chains of his bondage by devoting his life to the Catholic Church. But no matter how virtuous Martin was, nothing could break through the barriers of his oppression. Until one day, Martin discovers he has the power to heal people with his bare hands. Suddenly viewed as the second son of God, people come from far and wide to meet the man with the magic hands. Martin's burden becomes too much and he is forced to make a decision - self-preservation or self-sacrifice?

The After Wife By Sophie McIntosh | Sat, March 23 at 7pm
It is 1963, and robotic engineer Martin has brought a prototype robot named Nora—the most authentically humanoid model created to date—to his home in the suburbs of Chicago to help take care of his house and children following the recent death of his wife. His daughter Ruth and son Wally, initially intrigued by the robot, become unnerved as its mannerisms grow increasingly and eerily similar to those of their deceased mother.

MARCH 4-19 | FREE ADMISSION

Come As You Are by Chloe Selavka | Mon, March 4 at 7pm
Mara copes with the aftershocks of her mother’s sudden passing while moving to Boston and preparing for her older sister’s wedding. A coming of age story, coming out story, found family story, and love story all rolled into one. Spanning one summer across the state of Massachusetts, Mara discovers what it means to truly love yourself, be loved unconditionally by others, and what it means to be alive.

Content Warnings: Grief, Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Stylized Depictions of Derealization.

The Word of The Day by Cori Diaz | Tue, March 5 at 7pm
The Word of the Day is an experimental drama about a woman who thinks she's being communicated with via the word of the day. 

A White Girl’s Understudy by Isabel Beatriz Tongson | Fri, March 8 at 2:30pm
Lyn Talaga has achieved her childhood dream. She is an off-stage understudy in the new Broadway play Speakeasy Love and covers the principal female role. However, her greatest love is the show's leading man and dating the leading woman. During a performance of Speakeasy Love, Lyn is forced to confront the reality of her job, recalling memories of how she attained what she thought was success in an industry that does not cater to her, and, along with other artists who have been forced out of the spotlight, reflects on how her work has changed her identity. Lyn imagines herself in scenarios onstage playing opposite of the play's star, but as the drama of Speakeasy Love bleeds into her reality and Lyn attains more than she bartered for, she must ask herself if her greatest desires are truly what she wants.

In Loving Memory by Drew Nova | Fri, March 8 at 7pm
When you lose someone chances are someone else lost them too. Death takes things from us too soon or maybe just in time. Our only choice as the living is to grieve what's lost. But that's hard, isn't it? Especially, when everyone around sees things differently than you do. They all have an opinion but it's up to you to define yours. This is a play meant to analyze grief and family. Forcing the audience to ask themselves who have they lost and who they grieve. Grieving is reconciling with the loss of a person, of someone meaningful. But do you always grieve who you knew, who everyone else thought they were, or who they are?

Guilt (or the US Army Field Manual on Gold Star Families) by Mohammed Ali Alani | Sat, March 9 at 3pm
After a year and a half of being Missing in Action (MIA), Captain Sam Al-Jundi is officially declared dead. The Al-Jundi family, an upper-middle-class Iraqi American household, is thrust into turmoil as they grapple with the devastating news. However, their grief takes a backseat as they must put on a facade of normalcy for the impending arrival of guests: none other than Donald Rumsfeld and Officer Tilden, who come with an invitation to the White House for a ceremony in honor of their son’s heroic sacrifice and contribution to his country.

The Swan by Emma Rey Dias | Sat, March 9 at 5pm
Depictions of violence, mental illness, themes of suicide & self harm, psychiatric hospitals & healthcare, and medical trauma.

A storyteller’s world falls apart around them, so they hold fast to the first sure-thing they can get their hands on: Olympic figure skating. But as everything continues to crumble for our unreliable narrator, and for the athletes trapped in their screen, they begin to learn that nothing is ever a sure-thing. They must battle the obstacles of their own mind and events taking place halfway across the world in order to get somewhere. Where we’re headed is hard to say.

Jen Knows by Sam Walsh | Sun, March 10 at 3pm
Joe knows that Jen knows how he should move forward with his life. Joe knows that Jen knows he needed to leave his job, his wife, his kids. Joe knows that Jen has a good reason for taking Kay’s credit cards and moving all of her stuff into storage - that she needs to sleep in her car for a while. Joe knows he can’t let her into the office. A fractal fantasia examining the many iterations of self, Jen Knows dares to question the base need for certainty in our lives.

Rockstars Need Eyeliner by Hamad Naroze | Tue, March 19 at 3:30pm
My play, Rockstars need Eyeliner, follows Jespal “Jesse” Singh as he enters college life and starts trying to live a life that is not of his father’s design and against his expectations. His journey also strains his relationship with his older sister, Aasha, and best friend, Blake. Jesse traverses through these difficulties, trying to make sense of what he really wants, and who he really is.

Inspired by the 15th century morality play Everyman, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ play follows Everybody as they travel down a road toward life's greatest mystery and confront the inevitable (their death). An unpredictable, hilarious, and inventive inquiry into the ways we cope with our own mortality.

PERFORMANCE DATES:

Wed. Nov. 15th at 2:30pm Open Dress Rehearsal (free performance) & 7:30pm
Fri. Nov. 17th at 2:30pm & 7:30pm
Sat, Nov. 18th at 2:30pm & 7:30pm
Mon. Nov. 20th at 12:00pm

General Admission - $10 | Students - $5

NOTE: Students ID required when entering the theater

Big Love is a tragicomic, modern re-telling of one of the western world's oldest plays, The Danaids by Aeschylus. Fifty brides flee an arranged marriage to their fifty cousins and seek refuge in a villa on the coast of Italy. When the fifty grooms catch up with the brides demanding they honor the contract, mayhem ensues: the brides and grooms sing, dance, throw epic tantrums, make vulnerable confessions, and eat cake. Big Love deals with themes of refugeeism, gender roles, dysfunctional relationships, and ultimately love. It questions the worth of the institution of marriage and shows us there are no easy answers.

PERFORMANCES:

Wednesday May 17 - 2:30PM & 7:30PM
Friday May 19 - 2:30PM & 7:30PM
Saturday May 20 - 2:30PM & 7:30PM

“Fauve” : A story of redemption, of second chances, and of the power of one person to make a difference.

In this coming-of-age tale, we follow the life of a young man who has given up his personal dreams to help others in his community. When he is about to commit suicide, he reflects on his own life and after an epiphany, realizes his life has meaning and matters to those around him as well.

The goal of the performance is to bring awareness to the staggering rate of suicide for those on the Autisim Spectrum.