Rage Play: Beyond the Scenes
An Interactive Livestream
Featuring the Cast and Creative Team of Rage Play
Saturday, May 30 at 7:30 pm
CLICK HERE to request the Zoom registration link
What Is It?
Flux’s world premiere production of Rage Play, by Nandita Shenoy and directed by Flux Creative Partner Lori Parquet, was scheduled to open in late March. As COVID-19 began to spread, however, we realized that it would be irresponsible to do anything but cancel the show, which we did just a few weeks before the play was to have opened.
But simply letting this production disappear into the void didn’t feel very Fluxy, nor would it have been fair to all the talented artists who had labored for months — even years — to bring their work to you. Also, we miss all of you in our community, and we especially miss being together to make and share art.
So we’ve re-assembled the actors and creative team to present a one-night livestream that showcases their incredible work. You’ll see selected scenes, performed live by the actors, and hear from the designers and fight/intimacy choreographer about what you would have seen on stage. Afterwards, there will be an opportunity to ask questions and discuss, echoing the play’s uniquely interactive ending.
While nothing could ever take the place of attending this production in person, we hope that you’ll join us for this peak behind, and beyond, the scenes.
When and Where?
Saturday, May 30, 7:30 pm via Zoom. RSVP HERE to receive the Zoom registration link.
What’s Zoom?
It’s online videoconferencing software designed for just this sort of thing. It’s free; you don’t even need to create an account to participate. Just use any web-connected device! We recommend a laptop or desktop, but your phone or tablet will also work just fine (note that depending on your device, you may need to download Zoom’s free app).
Wait, I’ll Be on Video?
No, don’t worry! This is a special Zoom set-up called a “seminar,” not like the free-for-all chats you’ve probably been having with friends, family, and coworkers. Only the cast and creative team will be visible and audible; attendees’ cameras and mics will be disabled. No need to tidy up your office or turn the phone ringer off, come just as you are. Audience members will be able to use the Q&A feature to submit text questions, which our moderator will pitch at the team during the discussion portion of the event.
Does It Cost Anything?
Under Flux’s Living Ticket initiative, all of our productions require no financial transaction to attend. And thanks to the generous support of the MAP Fund and LIT Emergency Relief Fund, you can rest assured that the folks you’ll see are all being compensated, in addition to the full, promised amount we have already paid each artist for the original production.
With that said, if you happen to be in a position to make a tax-deductible donation to Flux, and wish to, you may always do so HERE.
Whether you choose to give us a portion of your time, your money, or both, we remain grateful and honored to have you as part of our community.
We also wish to thank the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Council on the Arts for their institutional support.
How Can I Spread the Word?
All the usual (socially-distant) ways. Here’s a Facebook event to share around, if that’s your jam.
I Can’t Attend The Livestream. 🙁
Good news: unless we hit our maximum contractual capacity (which we don’t anticipate will happen), we will post a recording of the stream on this page through June 3rd.
What About the Unions? Are They Cool With All This?
They are. We wish to express our gratitude to the Performers’ Unions:
- ACTORS’ EQUITY ASSOCIATION
- AMERICAN GUILD OF MUSICAL ARTISTS
- AMERICAN GUILD OF VARIETY ARTISTS
- SAG-AFTRA
through Theatre Authority, Inc. for their cooperation in permitting the Artists to appear on this program.
The Story of Rage Play
Three women stand over the man they’ve killed, struggling to understand how it happened and why he keeps coming back to life. Again and again and again. Inspired by the #MeToo movement, Nandita Shenoy’s outrageous black comedy Rage Play explores the cost women face in fighting back against misogyny and patriarchy, and how they might be complicit in these systems. Through their purgatory, the women aim for liberation…and maybe even a little sweet revenge.
CAST
Leila Ben-Abdallah, Bea, (she/her/hers) is a Tunisian-American comedian, actor, and puppeteer. A graduate of the William Esper Studio, Leila has performed with The People’s Improv Theater, The Flea, ScaryMommy.com, CollegeHumor.com, and the NY Arab-American Comedy Festival. Leila served as associate producer for The Box Show and she’s a Resident Artist with New Light Theater Project. Leila is a twin so you’d think she’d be great at sharing, but instead she’s written four solo shows and performed them at the SOLOCOM Fest, NY Fringe Fest, The People’s Improv Theater, and in her living room for her two cats Sophocles and Gloria Steinem. leilaben-abdallah.com
Alexandra Curran, CeCe, (she/her/hers) is thrilled to be returning to Flux after performing in their Marian, or The True Tale of Robin Hood at The New Ohio. Other NY Theater includes: Wolf in the River (Adam Rapp/The Flea), Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom (Joel Schumacher/The Flea), My Dead Friend’s Porn (NYTF), Look Me In The Eyes (ARTC), Student Body (The Flea). She made her international debut in Pool Play at the Theater Festival of Kerala, India.
TV: Maniac (Netflix), Hawaii 5-0 (CBS). Excited to rage with this fantastic team of humans. alexandracurran.com
Chris Wight, Man, (he/him/his) is thrilled to be returning to Flux, especially to work with Lori Elizabeth Parquet, his traveling companion from their inaugural Flux production: Liz Duffy Adams’ Dog Act. He is an Artist Member of The Ensemble Studio Theatre and ‘Friend’ of Flux; there and elsewhere he has appeared in premiers of plays by Tennessee Williams (in the premier of Spring Storm with Peter Sarsgaard), Cassandra Medley, Cherie Vogelstein (36DD with Judy Gold), Sheri Wilner, Olivia Dufault, Arthur Giron, David Zelnick, Adam Szymkowicz, Cheryl L. Davis, Julie Selbo, Joshua Conkel, Amanda Keating, Christina Quintana, J. Holtham, John Augustine, Robert Simonson, Michael Louis Wells, Ryan Dowler, Maria McCarthy and many other acclaimed writers. He most recently appeared in Everyday Inferno’s production of Quicksand by Regina Robbins and Deya Danielle Drake’s Escape for FringeNYC. chriswight.net
Yolanda K. Wilkinson, aka Yeauxlanda Kay, Ay, (she/her/hers) has been dubbed ” one of the country’s most respected and talented spoken word artists” by Playbill, “charismatic and funny” by Dan Bacalzo of Theatremania and “Brilliant” by Inside New York. She appeared in the New York Neo-Futurists’ production of LOCKER #4173b, winner of the 2011 NYIT Award and called “smart” by The New York Times. She has performed at The Public Theatre, Lincoln Center, Cherry Lane, Manhattan Theatre Club, Classical Theatre of Harlem, The National Black Theatre Festival 2001 & 2005, and The New Black Theatre Festival with Suzan Lori Parks and Lynn Nottage in 2010. lovefibonaccisyste.wixsite.com/yeauxlandakay
CREATIVE TEAM
Nandita Shenoy, Playwright (she/her/hers) is a New York-based writer-actor who loves to hear an audience laugh. She returns to Flux as a playwright after performing in their Marian, or The True Tale of Robin Hood. Her play Washer/Dryer has been produced multiple times across the country after its world premiere in Los Angeles at East West Players and an Off-Broadway production in which she also starred. Her first full-length, Lyme Park: An Austonian Romance of an Indian Nature, was produced by theHegira in Washington, DC, and more recently, her play Satisfaction completed a developmental run at the Academy of Dramatic Arts. Her one-acts, Marrying Nandini, By Popular Demand, Rules of Engagement, You Are Here, and A More Perfect Date, have been produced in New York City and regionally. Currently, she is developing her play Baby Camp. Nandita has acted in world premieres of new plays by Richard Dresser, Madhuri Shekar, Chelsea Marcantel, Adam Szymkowicz, and Eric Pfeffinger as well as a season at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Nandita is the winner of the 2014 Father Hamblin Award in Playwriting for her commissioned one-act, Safe Haven, and a 2018 Mellon Creative Research Fellowship at the University of Washington School of Drama in partnership with Ma-Yi Theater Company. She is a proud member of the Ma-Yi Writers Lab and the Dramatists Guild. Nandita holds a BA in English literature from Yale University. nanditashenoy.com
Lori Elizabeth Parquet, Director (she/her/hers) is an actor, director, and playwright from New Orleans, Louisiana with a B.A. in Theatre Arts from Cornell University. Her New York City stage credits include Macbeth, Dispatches From (A)mended America (Off-Broadway, Epic Theatre Ensemble), The Providence of Neighboring Bodies (Dutch Kills Theater/Ars Nova), The Honeycomb Trilogy: Sovereign (Gideon Productions), Medea (Phoenix Theatre Ensemble), Dog Act, Ajax in Iraq, Honey Fist, Operating Systems (Flux Theatre Ensemble), and Republic, Baal, Murder In the Cathedral (JACK/Hoi Polloi). She made her international debut performing in Pillars of Society at Teater Ibsen in Skien, Norway. She also performed in The Providence of Neighboring Bodies at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2018. In 2019 she was nominated and won the New York Innovative Theatre Award for Best Actress in a Lead Role for her performance in Operating Systems. As a director, Lori has directed Topdog/Underdog at Princeton Summer Theater and assistant directed The Public Theater’s most recent Shakespeare in the Park productions of As You Like It, and Twelfth Night. She was also an acting coach on Disney’s Hercules, a Public Works production. Lori just served as Associate Director of New York City Center’s Encores: Off-center production of Maria Irene Fornes’ Promenade and has directed many readings and workshops with Public Works, Flux Theatre Ensemble, The Brooklyn Generator, and other theatre companies across New York City. As a playwright, Lori was selected as one of six featured playwrights for Season Five of The Fire This Time Festival, which produced a reading of her full-length play In Communion. Her short plays Sir and Blood Money have been produced through Flux Theatre Ensemble and New York Madness respectively.
Rocio Mendez, Fight and Intimacy Director, (she/they) is an actor/fight director/teacher from Hell’s Kitchen, NYC. Fight | Intimacy | Movement Direction credits include: The Wolves (Actor’s Theater of Louisville), Love in Hate Nation (Two River Theater), The Secret life of Bees (Atlantic), Leap and The Net Will Appear (New Georges), The Royale (Geva Theater | The Kitchen), Southern Promises, Good Friday (The Flea Theater), Marian; and The True tale of Robin Hood, Hearts like Fists (Flux Theatre Ensemble). Film credits include Bad Writing, Clandestiny, Tied Up, Hurt filling. Nominee for two New York Innovative Theater Arts Award – Outstanding Choreography and Movement, Winner for Artemis “Women In Action” Film Festival. Rocio is a Team Member of Unkle Dave’s Fight House. rociomendez.com
Will Lowry, Scenic Designer, (he/him/his) is a multidisciplinary designer with an MFA from UNC Greensboro, and he has been a Creative Partner with Flux since 2011. This is his eighteenth Flux production, the most recent being World Builders (NY & LA). He has completed over 110 scenic, costume, and lighting designs ranging between New York, regional, and academic theatre, and he has worked as an assistant on eleven Broadway productions. He serves as an Assistant Professor of Theatre at Lehigh University. Love to B&P. will-lowry.com
Kia Rogers, Lighting Designer, (she/her/hers) has had her work seen at BAM Fisher, 3LD Art & Technology Center, The Gym at Judson, The SoHo Playhouse, Theatre at St. Clement’s, Danspace, St. Luke’s and the 4th Street Theatre. Regional: Thieves by Charlotte Miller in LA. Selkie by Sarah Shaefer in San Francisco. International credits: Associate Lighting Designer for Slutforart/98.6 in Gothenburg, Sweden with Muna Tseng. Tours: The God Box Project with Mary Lou Quinlan, and Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca. Awards: Outstanding Lighting Design for Jane The Plain with the NYITA, 2014 and nominated in 2016 for Rizing. krogersld.com.
Karen Boyer, Costume Designer, (she/her/hers), designs and builds costumes in NYC. Past and recent collaborators include Object Collective, The Flea Theater, Pan Asian Repertory Theater, Catherine Galasso, Target Margin Theater, Meta PhysEd, Little Lord, harunalee, and Yangtze Repertory. For more: karenrachelboyer.com
Rena Anakwe, Sound Designer, (she/her/hers), is an interdisciplinary artist and performer working primarily with sound, visuals, and scent. Exploring intersections between traditional healing practices, spirituality and performance, she creates works focused on sensory-based, experiential interactions using creative technology. Currently, Rena is a 2020-21 Abrons Arts Center Performance AIRSPACE Resident. She was a 2019 ISSUE Project Room Artist-in-Residence, a 2019 Abrons Arts Center (AAC) Sound Series commissioned artist, a 2018 Signal Culture Artist-in-Residence and has collaborated, produced and shown audio/visual/scent work at venues including: Knockdown Center (NYC), Lincoln Center (NYC), BAMcafé (NYC), MoMA PS1 (NYC), CultureHub (NYC), Pioneer Works (NYC), and Montez Press Radio (NYC). Rena is based in Brooklyn, New York by way of Nigeria and Canada. || aspaceforsound.com
Jodi M. Witherell, Production Stage Manager, (she/her/hers), was most recently seen as PSM for Flux’s Operating Systems and Adam Szymkowiz’s Rare Birds (Red Fern). Favorite credits include: miscellaneous work on The Miracle Worker (Queens Theatre) and Mac Rogers’ Universal Robots and The Honeycomb Trilogy (Gideon Productions); That Which Isn’t (Theater Accident), All Systems Go: Mission 4 (Mission to (dit)Mars); Moby Dick (Fireboat Productions); AM I DEAD? Marian, or the True Tale of Robin Hood, Rizing, Salvage, Once Upon a Bride…, Jane the Plain, Hearts Like Fists, Deinde, Ajax in Iraq and many others with Flux; as well as shows with The Gallery Players; Avalon Studios; The St. Bart’s Players; Working Man’s Clothes; Pembi Players; Playwright’s Company; Audax Theatre Group; Streetlight Productions and The American Globe Theatre. NYIT Award Winner: Outstanding Stage Manager 2016.
