New Year, New Plays! (Plus video from The Messiah)

SFNW2019, and me singing my face off...

You think you're talking to robots. Hello, and Happy New Year!  I'm starting off 2019 with a return to the world of new-play development I love so much, producing the first ever Sacred Fools New Works Reading Series (SFNW)! (Scroll down to watch me sing The Messiah :) I'm really excited about launching this first-of-its-kind effort by Sacred Fools to share exciting new plays with our community at such an early stage, and I can't think of four better playwrights to help us do it.  They're talented, playful, and fearless writers, joined in an effort to discover and reveal the future of the form. We kick off January 20th at 5pm, and follow up with three more readings Sundays at 5, all in the Broadwater Second Stage.  Click over to bitly.com/SFNW2019 to reserve your free seats today, and read on to learn more about these exciting plays! Sunday, January 20th @ 5pm MONKEY LOVE by Madhuri Shekar Directed by Reena Dutt Featuring Kapil Talwalkar, Ulka Mohanty, Troy Blendell, Lauren Van Kurin, Jax Ball Deep in the jungles of East India, two different couples (of the monkey and of the human persuasion) experience an eventful night of falling in, and out, and back into love. Finding your soulmate is tricky enough – the real challenge is holding on to them. Sunday, January 27th @ 5pm: BABEL by Jacqueline Goldfinger Directed by Shaela Cook Featuring Libby Baker, Joe Hernandez-Kolski, Lynn Adriana, Crystal Keith, Rowan Hall A talking stork, lesbian moms, and the power to build your own baby... Two couples, both early in their pregnancies, collide over what to do with their test results. With rapid advances in reproductive technology, modern eugenics is science's Wild West. How far will we go when playing God? SFNW Reservations Sunday, February 10th @ 5pm: THE COUCHES by David Jacobi Directed by Travis Snyder-Eaton Cast TBD Ethan Couch has lived in a bubble of pampered privilege for his entire life, so when he's convicted of killing four people while driving drunk, he and his mother Tonya flee to a resort in Mexico rather than face the consequences. In this self-imposed state of limbo, Ethan pays hotel clerk Daniel $1000 to be his friend and help maintain the facade of his prior life. Sunday, February 17th @ 5pm: U-R-U by Julia Lederer Directed by Jacob Sidney Cast TBD What happens when the powers of machines exceed those of nature? At what point will A.I. resemble humans enough to deserve human rights? Absurdly comic and existentially chilling, U-R-U examines the societal obsession with progress at all costs and the decreasing worth of humanity in this increasingly artificial world. Last month I sang the bass solos in The Messiah even though I'm a baritone and I lived to tell the tale though you might not be able to tell from the look on my face :) Here's to a prosperous and happy new year!  - j Copyright © 2019 Jacob Sidney, All rights reserved.