BE AMONG THE FIRST TO HEAR THESE PLAYS IN THEIR EARLIEST STAGES, BEFORE THEY ARE INTRODUCED TO THE REST OF THE WORLD
In 2022 Different Strokes! partnered with American Myth Center to create “A Different Myth“, which seeks to amplify stories that center Black voices and characters and the writers who create them. After reading through 48 submissions from emerging Black Playwrights, we selected three playwrights as members of our 2022 cohort and have spent the last year and a half working with them to develop new plays. Two of those plays (Dear God by Lisa Langford, and Juked by Mildred Inez Lewis) will be produced by Different Strokes! at the end of this season and the beginning of next, but before that happens, we have one more phase.
As part of the development process, each playwright has had the opportunity to hear actors read their words and get their feedback but now they are ready to hear from an actual audience about how the work impacts them. These live, fully cast, staged readings (script in hand) of the plays, allow the audience to engage with the material and provide feedback afterward. Your thoughts and observations as a theater enthusiast will be crucial in shaping the future development of these exciting new plays. This automatically makes you a member of our creative team -which gets you 20% savings on tickets when the show sees its full production.
DEAR GOD
written by Lisa Langford
November 10-11, 2023
In the world in which Dear God is set, Aliens have arrived from space, and they are turning Rev. Vonnie Braxton’s world upside down. Her congregation is freaking out; her husband is distant, and her faith is challenged. When someone from her past shows up, Vonnie must choose between the way things are and her commitment to social justice.
JUKED
written by Mildred Inez Lewis
November 17-18, 2023
Juked is a retelling of Sophocles’ tragedy Electra. This version is set in 1950s Asheville, and the “kingdom” is a chain of drink houses (private homes offering illegal alcohol) owned by the well-off, African-American Memnon family. Juked examines the relationship between Electra, her mother, and her sister, and asks what happens after tragedy – how do we recover?