EST has aligned with Going to the River to offer the three-week festival of short plays by women of color. All nine short plays will be included in each performance of the run, which will be presented Sept. 14-Oct. 2 at EST.
The festival will showcase works by established playwrights including Taylor (Drowning Crow) and Pearl Cleage (Blues for An Alabama Sky), as well as new voices including France-Luce Benson, Christine Jean Chambers, Naveen Bahar Choudhury, Philana Omorotionmwan, Desi Moreno-Penson, Bridgette Wimberly and Cori Thomas.
Dee ("A Raisin in the Sun," "American Gangster") and DeLavallade (House of Flowers, Come Sunday) will alternate evenings as "a 110 year old woman who encounters a group of young people in an airport and is forced to confront a 'post black' generation." Taylor will also direct the play.
Here's a look at the other titles:
Learning to Swim by France-Luce Benson, directed by Elizabeth Van Dyke. "A woman grappling with loss discovers the only way to rise above her grief is to swim through it." One Quarter by Christine Jean Chambers, directed by Talvin Wilks. "A multiracial woman ponders the future of her progeny after suffering a miscarriage. How will her child inherit a culture she's always felt alienated from?"
One for the Brothers by Pearl Cleage, directed by Woodie King, Jr. "A love story set during the turbulent 60's & 70's when revolution was the norm."
Skin by Naveen Bahar Choudhury, directed by Jamie Richards. "A classic tale of Hip Hop Wannabe Boy meets Disenchanted Poet Girl."
The Settlement by Philana Omorotionmwan, directed by Dean Irby. "Isaac and Rebecca are new homeowners who find their domestic bliss permanently disrupted by the late-night arrival of Shirley, who insists that the land the couple's home sits on belonged to her ancestors and is rightfully hers."
Comida de Puta (F@$king Lousy Food) by Desi Moreno-Penson, directed by José Zayas. "In this short adaptation of Phaedra, a Bronx bodega owner’s wife is madly in love with her husband’s son, the lunch-counter boy, while her friend, the neighborhood ‘spiritual’ woman, offers advice and counsel."
Waking up by Cori Thomas, directed by Tea Alagic. "Two women on different continents face breast cancer. A play about what separates us and what makes us the same."
Modern Romance by Bridgette Wimberly, directed by Chuck Patterson. "Tanya has been lonely for a long time. Lately she has found something exciting to do with her afternoons...........but is he for real?"
For tickets, phone (866) 811-4111 or visit OvationTix.com. The Ensemble Studio Theatre is located at 549 West 52nd Street, west of Tenth Avenue.