News: Free Reading of Roger Q. Mason’s "The Pink" with Primary Stages on 11/4 at 59E59 Theaters

 

Playwright Roger Q. Mason Photo credit: Michael Alvarez

Acclaimed Black Filipinx playwright and Kilroys List honoree Roger Q. Mason will receive a developmental reading of their new play The Pink with Primary Stages as part of its Creative Access Grant Reading Series. The reading will take place on Friday, November 4 at 3pm at 59E59 Theaters (59 E 59th St, New York, NY 10022). The event is FREE and open to the public. For more information and to reserve your seat please visit https://primarystages.org/explore/creative-access-grants/readings.

The Pink: An Intimacy Ritual is a hook-up performed in real time between two queer people of color seeking intimacy in the age of dating apps and digital sex. As these two humans, Mel and Herman, grasp for “the real” in the bedroom, their conversations, silences, and moments of touch blur the lines between affection, sex, and euphoric romance.

“Smart phones, dating apps, and online porn have ruined our connections to touch and tenderness,” Mason reflects. “As a Queer POC lover, I seek the slow-burning sacredness of real connection - breathing, listening, making a partner feel good. That's all we really need in this cold and windy world - somebody kind to see, hold and handle us."

Playwright Roger Q. Mason was recently acclaimed “a daring theatrical talent” by Charles McNulty of the Los Angeles Times and "a major voice in the theatrical vanguard” by TheaterMania. The Brooklyn Rail said Mason is “quickly becoming one of the most significant playwrights of the decade."

The Pink is a commission from the inaugural Primary Stages Access Grant, dedicated to amplifying the work of underrepresented communities and artists. Playwright Roger Q. Mason was nominated by one of their long-time advocates, National Queer Theater. The reading will be directed by é boylan, with dramaturgy by Gaven Trinidad. The cast will feature Roger Q. Mason and Dylan Guerra.

Mason is a writer and performer who uses the lens of history to disrupt the biases that divide rather than unite us. Their playwriting has been seen on Broadway (Circle in the Square Reading Series); Off and Off-Off-Broadway; and regionally. As a filmmaker, Mason has been recognized by the British Film Institute, Lonely Wolf International Film Festival, SCAD Film Festival, AT&T Film Award and Atlanta International Film Festival. Their films have screened in the US, UK, Poland, Brazil, and Asia. They are the co-host of Sister Roger’s Gayborhood podcast; the host of This Way Out Radio's Queerly Yours: Portraits in Courage; and lead mentor of the Shay Foundation Fellowship and the New Visions Fellowship. 

boylan is a NYC based director, creator, and composer developing new work towards trans liberation. Past selected honors include: 2019 Trans Lab Fellow, 2019-20 MTC Directing Fellow, 2020 NAMT Musical Challenge Award, 2021 JMF Songwriter, 2021 Prospect MT Lab Commission, 2022 MTFxR Garage Artist. Currently, boylan serves as a member of Roundabout Theatre Company’s Directors Group and Musical Theatre Factory's Makers Cohort II, as well as a Resident Playwright at Lincoln Center Theater.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Review: The Immersive "American Blues: 5 Short Plays by Tennessee Williams" Takes Audiences on a Marvelously Crafted Journey

Review: "How To Eat an Orange" Cuts into the Life of an Argentine Artist and Activist

Review: From Child Pose to Stand(ing) Up: "Yoga with Jillian" and "Penguin in Your Ear" at the Women in Theatre Festival