Online Benefit Reading Series launched 2020

DO MORE BENEFIT READINGS

Bedlam’s DO MORE Series was launched in 2020 in an effort to raise funds and awareness for the #BLACKLIVESMATTER movement and associated organizations working toward eliminating race-based discrimination. 

SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL Who HAVE DONated!

$28,975 RAISED and counting!

Do More 2021

Thanks to the generous support of the HOWARD GILMAN FOUNDATION, Bedlam was able to continue the DO MORE  fundraising series and produced a number of benefit readings and workshops interrogating the role of the classical theater in 2021, featuring new plays and musicals by some of the most exciting playwrights and composers working today.

Also visit NEW PLAYS for more upcoming shows in the 2022 DO MORE series.

Hang Time poster with Dock/Pier

HANG TIME

a new play by ZORA HOWARD
directed by ZORA HOWARD

Thursday, October 7th, 2021

SOLD OUT

Benefit Reading to support:

EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE

Three brothers chew the fat under an old, wide tree. In this exploration of intergenerational bonds, we peek into the interiority – the great loves and bitter blues – of Black men in America.

CAST: Keith Randolph Smith, Kamal Bolden, Joshua Boone

movement: Julian Elijah Martinez

walt whitman poster

DEATHBED EDITION

a new play by Julian Hornik
directed by Rory Pelsue

Monday, October 11th, 2021

7:00PM EST IN-PERSON at THE CONNELLY THEATER

or streamed LIVE via ZOOM

Benefit Reading to support:

THE ALI FORNEY CENTER

($812 RAISED)

When word spread that American icon Walt Whitman had fallen ill, the New York Times dispatched a reporter to keep a bedside vigil. Discover what he found in a pop-folk fantasia on sex, death, and a queer life lived fully.

CAST: Erika Anclade, Dylan Frederick, Julian Hornik, Zoe Mann

CHERRY ORCHARD

a new play by Emily Gardner Xu Hall

Monday, October 18th, 2021

7:00PM EST IN-PERSON at THE CONNELLY THEATER

or streamed LIVE via ZOOM

Benefit Reading to support:

Asian Americans Advancing Justice

($607 RAISED)

After the traumatic death of her beloved son, Lyuba abandoned everything she knew, including her daughter Anya and stepdaughter Varya. Now that the household is on the brink of collapse, the family must confront their generational trauma in order to overcome the forces of capitalism and the ambivalence of society.

CHERRY ORCHARD is a musical which reimagines the Chekhov play from a different perspective, revealing the systemic injustices of patriarchy and privilege that leave women and disenfranchised communities vulnerable.

CAST: Kate Douglas, Aaron Costa Ganis, Yonatan Gebeyehu, Chesney Snow, Patrick Vaill

Back of Girl Standing Poster

LITTLE STUBBY WINGS LIKE SHE COULD’VE GLUED THEM ON

a new play by Stefani Kuo

Monday, October 25th, 2021

7:00PM EST IN-PERSON at THE CONNELLY THEATER

or streamed LIVE via ZOOM

Benefit Reading to support:

VITAL VOICES GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS

($150 RAISED)

Little Stubby Wings, Like She Could’ve Glued Them On is a fantastical journey of one woman’s experience of trauma. In our protagonist Stefani’s story, each character takes shape according to her memory. From the victims of each car accident to fictional characters from popular animations such as Totoro, Dora the Explorer, and Up, Little Stubby Wings shows the complexity of how trauma and grief can be triggered. The play begins with a car accident in Baltimore, Maryland, and immediately slingshots Stefani back to her sister’s death. In trying to rewrite the death of her sister Mei, Stefani takes a pilgrimage through her memories with Mei. From Totoro’s Catbus to George and Martha, the children’s book, Stefani finds herself thrown back and forth between the fantasy of what could have been and the reality of what she has lost. 

CAST: Wai Ching Ho, Glenn Kubota, Jenelle Chu

Still Waiting

based on a short story by DOROTHY PARKER
adapted and performed by ZUZANNA SZADKOWSKI

Friday, May 21st, 2021

7:30pm EST LIVE via ZOOM

Benefit Reading to support:

18 MILLION RISING

($330 RAISED)

A solo performance going down the rabbit hole of memory and performance.

CAST: Zuzanna Szadkowski

Anna Karenina

written by LEO TOLSTOY
adapted by BEASIE GODDU & ZACHARY ELKIND
from the translation by CONSTANCE GARNETT

Friday, May 14th, 2021

7:30pm EST LIVE via ZOOM

Benefit Reading to support:

The Loveland Foundation

($1636 RAISED)

Tolstoy’s tragedy performed live from bedrooms across the city.

CREDITS: SCENE I – DOLLY: Annabel Capper & Violeta Picayo, directed by Violeta Picayo. SCENE II – KARENIN: Katie Hartke & Ryan Quinn, directed by Annabel Capper. SCENE III – SERYOZHA: Rachel Botchan & Benji Brooks, directed by Hal Brooks. SCENE IV – VRONSKY: Arielle Yoder & Zachary Fine, directed by Beasie Goddu. SCENE V – LEVIN: Aïssa Guindo & Sammy Grob, directed by Nina Goodheart.

DO MORE 2020

($27,009 Raised in 2020!)

Richard II poster with a silhouette of a king chess piece

PAST: SIGN UP CLOSED

The tragedy of Richard II

Written by William Shakespeare

Directed by Zachary Elkind

Tuesday, June 9th, 2020

6:30pm EST: Music

7:00pm EST: Reading

Benefit Reading to support:

NATIONAL BAIL FUND NETWORK (RAISED $3220)

(RAISED $3220)

Shakespeare’s most intimate history play charts Richard II’s growth into maturity and poetry as he loses everything.

Cast:  EDMUND LEWIS​, PAUL LAZAR, RYAN QUINN, SHIRINE BABB, LISA BIRNBAUM, AUNDRIA BROWN, JOHN TERRY, GALEN MOLK, CAROLINE GROGAN, VIOLETA PICAYO, SIMON SCHAITKIN

LOCATION:  ZOOM & Facebook Live

icon of a car with a tree on top of it

PAST: SIGN UP CLOSED

The Long Christmas Ride Home

Written by Paula Vogel

Directed by Violeta Picayo

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2020

6:30pm EST: Live Music by Brandy Butler

7:00pm EST: Reading

Benefit Reading to support:

THE AUDRE LORDE PROJECT

(RAISED $2935)

Paula Vogel breaks open the American family play in this fractured, beautiful exploration of a family of five in crisis.

Cast: Shaun Taylor-Corbett, Kathryn Tkel, Katie Hartke, Tramell Tillman, Maggie Adams McDowell, EDMUND LEWIS

LOCATION:  ZOOM & Facebook Live

PAST: SIGN UP CLOSED

Entertaining Mr. Sloane

Written by Joe Orton

Directed by Annabel Capper

Tuesday, July 7th, 2020

6:30pm EST: Music by George Stass

7:00pm EST: Reading

Benefit Reading to support:

Equal Justice Initiative

(RAISED $2015)

Comedy is the greasy underbelly of psychopathy in Joe Orton’s sexy, biting satire of middle-class England in the swinging ‘60s.

Cast:  Nigel Gore, Annabel Capper, Dan Amboyer, Maurice Jones

LOCATION:  ZOOM & Facebook Live

Icon of a greek figure

PAST: SIGN UP CLOSED

Coriolanus

Written by William Shakespeare

Directed by Nathan Malin

Tuesday, July 21st, 2020

6:30pm EST: Music by Doug Waterman

7:00pm EST: Reading

Benefit Reading to support:

NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund

(RAISED $2557)

Shakespeare’s rarely-seen Roman history is a taut, brutal reminder that a society founded on war can never be at peace with itself.

Cast: Tina Packer, Vasile Flutur, David Keohane, Arash Moktar, Khadija Bangoura, Paul Lazar, Maurice Parent, Nigel Gore, Julia Ty Goldberg

LOCATION:  ZOOM & Facebook Live

"Man and Superman" benefit reading poster with silhouette of young man and old man

PAST: SIGN UP CLOSED

Don Juan in Hell

Written by George Bernard Shaw

Directed by Randolph Curtis Rand

RESCHEDULED: THURSDAY, August 27, 2020

6:30pm EST: Music by Joshua Fried (RADIO WONDERLAND LIVE)

7:00pm EST: Reading

Benefit Reading to support:

Southern Poverty Law Center

(RAISED $2225)

Bedlam loves George Bernard Shaw, and this one-act — originally Act III of Shaw’s “Man and Superman” — is Shaw at his purest: his gift for language and comedy never fails, even in Hell.

Cast:  LISA WOLPE, RANDOLPH CURTIS RAND, SHIRINE BABB, ERIC TUCKER

LOCATION:  ZOOM & Facebook Live

PAST: SIGN UP CLOSED

China Dreams or The Conservation of Parity

Written by Stefani Kuo

Directed by Nicholas Polonio

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

7:30pm EST: Music by Curtis Stewart

8:00pm EST: Reading

Benefit Reading to support:

INTEGRATE NYC

(RAISED $380)

This stunning new play from Stefani Kuo traces the life of Wu Chien-Shiung, an overlooked Chinese-American physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project, in the first new play in our reading series.

Cast:  Cricket Brown, Ethan Luk, Joel Rueben Ganz, Wai Ching Ho, Woody Fu, FANG DU

LOCATION:  ZOOM & Facebook Live

PAST: SIGN UP CLOSED

MACBETH

Written by William Shakespeare

Directed by Ryan Quinn

Tuesday, September 1st, 2020

6:30pm EST: Music by John Taney

7:00pm EST: Reading

Benefit Reading to support:

BLACK WOMEN PLAYWRIGHTS

(RAISED $1630)

Cast:  joe tapper, shirine babb, truett felt, nigel gore, rajesh bose

LOCATION:  ZOOM & Facebook Live

Icon of a bottle

PAST: SIGN UP CLOSED

ROMEO & JULIET

Written by William Shakespeare

Directed by Eric Tucker

Tuesday, September 15th, 2020

6:30pm EST: Music by Jeffrey Young & Carlos Cotallo

7:00pm EST: Reading

Benefit Reading to support:

COMMUNITIES UNITED FOR POLICE REFORM

(RAISED $1420)

Cast: NIGEL GORE & TINA PACKER AS ROMEO & JULIET

WITH ALLYN Burrows, ANNABEL CAPPER, CHARLS HALL, SPENCER ASTE, ALAN ALTSCHULER, DRIA BROWN, MIKE LABBADIA, SAMANTHIA NIXON, NATHAN MALIN, JAMIE SMITHSON, TED LEWIS, AND RANDOLPH CURTIS RAND 

LOCATION:  ZOOM & Facebook Live

Hedda Gabler benefit reading poster with silhouette of eye and a tear

PAST: SIGN UP CLOSED

HEDDA GABLER

Written by Henrik Ibsen

Directed by Zachary Elkind

Tuesday, September 29th, 2020

6:30pm EST: Music: Constant Strangers: Chris Peters and Mary Bolt

7:00pm EST: Reading

Benefit Reading to support:

ARTISTS STRIVING TO END POVERTY

(RAISED $3620)

A woman at war with society’s expectations, Hedda Gabler refuses to play by anyone else’s  rules in Henrik Ibsen’s revolutionary play.

Cast:  Shirine Babb, JOÉL PÉREZ, RAJESH BOSE, RACHEL BOTCHAN, CHRIS MURRAH, IONE WANG

LOCATION:  ZOOM & Facebook Live

PAST: SIGN UP CLOSED

The price

Written by Arthur Miller

Directed by Annabel Capper

Tuesday, October 13th, 2020

6:30pm EST: “New York” by Annabel Capper

7:00pm EST: Reading

Benefit Reading to support:

THE OKRA PROJECT

(RAISED $991)

Arthur Miller’s dramatic two-act piece about family dynamics, the price of furniture, and the price of one’s decisions.

Cast:  Annabel Capper, Rajesh Bose, Arash Mokhtar, Michael Twaine

LOCATION:  ZOOM & Facebook Live

PAST: SIGN UP CLOSED

the bear and other stories

 

THREE ONE-ACT PLAYS

By Anton Chekhov

Directed by Nathan Malin

Tuesday, October 27th, 2020

6:30pm EST: Music by Quinlan Fitzgerald

7:00pm EST: Reading

Benefit Reading to support:

PRINCESS JANAE PLACE

(RAISED $975)

Cast:  Ashley bufkin, michael hammond, tramell tillman

LOCATION:  ZOOM & Facebook Live

PAST: SIGN UP CLOSED

The machine stops

Written by E.M. Forster

Adapted & Directed by David Keohane

 

Tuesday, November 10th, 2020

6:30pm EST: LIVE MUSIC by Olive Fine with visuals by Eliza Fichter 

7:00pm EST: Reading

Benefit Reading to support:

Climate Justice Alliance

(RAISED $393)

campaign zero

(RAISED $393)

Cast:  ZUZANNA SZADKOWSKI, AWESTA ZARIF, MIGUEL LONG

LOCATION:  ZOOM & Facebook Live

PAST: SIGN UP CLOSED

Titus Andronicus

Written by William Shakespeare

Directed by Randolph Curtis Rand

Tuesday, November 24th, 2020

6:30pm EST: LIVE MUSIC by Eric Powell Holm

7:00pm EST: Reading

Benefit Reading to support:

THE INNOCENCE PROJECT

(RAISED $1483)

Cast:  Rajesh Bose, Ted Lewis, Caroline Grogan, EQUIANO MORIESI, GEORGE OLESKY, David Keohane, Rakeem Lawrence, Adam Paterson, Mary Neufeld, Lyndsey Anderson, Kelly Klein, Lucius Robinson, NATHAN MALIN

LOCATION:  ZOOM & Facebook Live

Three Sisters benefit reading poster with silhouette of Russian onion shaped domes

PAST: SIGN UP CLOSED

THREE SISTERS

Written by Anton Chekhov

Directed & adapted by Violeta Picayo

Tuesday, december 8th, 2020

6:30pm EST: Live music by Kenyon Duncan

7:00pm EST: Reading

Benefit Reading to support:

BLACK THEATRE NETWORK

(RAISED $955)

Cast:  Lauren modica, jessica frey, kathryn tkel, violeta picayo

LOCATION:  ZOOM & Facebook Live

PAST: SIGN UP CLOSED

The importance of being earnest

Written by Oscar Wilde

Directed by Annabel Capper

Tuesday, december 22nd, 2020

6:30pm EST: Music

7:00pm EST: Reading

Benefit Reading to support:

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS CAMP

(RAISED $905)

Cast: Sachi Parker, Margaret Odette, Zachary Fine, Jamie Smithson, Lauren Modica, Aleca Piper

LOCATION:  ZOOM & Facebook Live