Every day is opening night.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE

“THEATRE FOR ONE: HERE WE ARE”
ANNOUNCES COMPLETE CASTING

EIGHT WORLD PREMIERE MICROPLAYS
TO FEATURE
PATRICE BELL
EISA DAVIS
ZULEYMA GUEVARA
RUSSELL G. JONES
MAHIRA KAKKAR
SHYLA LEFNER
NIKKOLE SALTER
REGINA TAYLOR

TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW AT WWW.BFPLNY.COM/THEATRE
ALL TICKETS ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

New York, NY (August 17, 2020) – Today, Christine Jones (Creator and Artistic Director of Theatre For One), Jenny Koons (Co-Artistic Director for Here We Are), and Mara Isaacs (Producer) announced complete casting for Theatre for One: Here We Are, the first ever virtual experience from the globally acclaimed Theatre For One which brings together one actor and one audience member for a one-of-a-kind intimate theatrical experience. The Here We Are residency is commissioned by Arts Brookfield with additional support from Thomas M. Neff.

In addition, free ticket registration for this Thursday’s first performance is now open to the public through Brookfield Place’s #BFPLatHome initiative at www.bfplny.com/theatre. The free tickets for each performance will be made available the Monday prior to the performance starting at 10 AM ET at www.bfplny.com/theatre. Audience members will be able to sign up for specific time slots during the performance window and will be randomly assigned which microplay they see the evening of the performance.

Performances of Theatre For One: Here We Are will take place every Thursday from 6 – 7:30 PM ET from August 20 through September 24.

The eight world-premiere microplays that are part of Theatre for One: Here We Are are all written, directed, and designed by black, indigenous, and women of color and performed by BIPOC artists.

Below is complete casting for each of these new works:

• Patrice Bell will appear in Stacey Rose’s new work Thank You For Coming. Take Care. directed by Candis C. Jones.
• Obie Award^® and Audelco Award^® winner Eisa Davis will reunite with playwright Lynn Nottage for the microplay What Are The Things I Need To Remember under the direction of Tiffany Nichole Greene. Davis and Nottage previously collaborated on the acclaimed musical The Secret Life of Bees.
• Zuleyma Guevara will star in Carmelita Tropicana’s new drama Pandemic Fight, directed by Rebecca Martinez.
• Obie and Audelco Award winner Russell G. Jones will perform in Nikkole Salter’s play Here We Are under the direction of Tamilla Woodard.
• Mahira Kakkar will appear in Jaclyn Backhaus’ world premiere Thank You Letter, directed by Candis C. Jones.
• Shyla Lefner will perform DeLanna Studi’s Before America Was America with direction by Tamilla Woodard.
• Obie Award and Outer Critics Circle Award^® winner Nikkole Salter, who’s new microplay is also part of the Here We Are residency, will appear in Lydia R. Diamond’s new work whiterly negotiations, directed by Tiffany Nichole Greene.
• Golden Globe Award^® winner Regina Taylor will star in her own work Vote! (the black album) under the direction of Taylor Reynolds.

Theatre for One has answered the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic with a new performance venue in which the computer is the proscenium and the screen is the fourth wall artists and audiences are reaching through. Theatre for One: Here We Are is rooted in the belief that intimacy and human connection is possible at any moment, at any time, and with any person.

A laugh shared with a stranger, a world created by imagination, a soul nourished through storytelling: these are things only theater can accomplish. In eight world-premiere microplays, Theatre for One: Here We Are virtually brings together one actor and one audience member for a shared experience that connects us, anchors us, and boldly proclaims, “Here we are.”

While Theatre for One: Here We Are is inspired by the pandemic; the 100^th Anniversary of the ratification of the 19^th Amendment; and the Black Lives Matter, We See You WAT, and other movements fighting racism, the Here We Are writers have contributed works that span a spectrum of ideas and points of view. Theatre For One celebrates the vibrant chorus of voices creating deeply personal and passionately universal works that resonate in this shared moment.

The creative team for the production includes: Christine Jones (creator and artistic director), Jenny Koons (co-artistic director for Here We Are), OpenEndedGroup’s Marc Downie and Paul Kaiser (platform programing and design), Hahnji Jang (costume design), Stacey Derosier (lighting design), Bryan Hunt (production supervision), and Cherie B. Tay (stage management). Theatre for One is produced by Octopus Theatricals (Mara Isaacs, Executive/Creative Producer).

BIOGRAPHIES

Patrice Bell is excited to be on this Theatre For One journey. Broadway: Rocktopia. Off-Broadway: Office Politics, Serious Adverse Effects (National Black Theatre). Other New York and regional theater: FORA (Eugene O’Neill Theater Center), New Shoes, Park Plays (the Queens Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, You Can’t Take it With You, The Mikado, Little Shop of Horrors, and Disney’s The Jungle Book. Film and television: “FBI,” “Law and Order: SVU,” “Evil,” and Netflix’s “See You Yesterday.” Bell has a BFA in Theater from the University of Central Florida and is a Mary Louise Rockwell Award Recipient of Primary Stages ESPA. Sincere gratitude and thanks to Stacey Rose, Candis C. Jones, Theatre for One, and Octopus Theatricals for making this project possible. “Success through Longevity!” Instagram: @patriceb311.

Eisa Davis is an award-winning multi-disciplinary artist working on stage and screen. She has originated roles in The Secret Life of Bees (book by Lynn Nottage, Audelco Award), Kings (Drama League nomination), Grace Notes, Preludes, This, The Call, Luck of the Irish, Angela’s Mixtape, and Passing Strange. Davis also played Mayme in Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel. He television and film work includes “Betty,” “Bluff City Law,” “God Friended Me,” “The Looming Tower,” “Succession,” “Rise,” “House of Cards,” “Hart of Dixie,” and “The Wire.” She has written 12 full-length plays and released two albums of original music. Davis wrote narration for Cirque du Soleil’s Crystal and for both seasons of Spike Lee’s Netflix series “She’s Gotta Have It.” Distinctions include three Lortel Award nominations, an Obie for Sustained Excellence in Performance, a Creative Capital Award, and the Herb Alpert Award. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for her play Bulrusher.

Zuleyma Guevara was last seen in the world premiere of Azul at Southern Rep in New Orleans. Previously, she played Nora in the Actors Theatre of Louisville production of A Doll’s House Part 2. Other credits include: De Novo at New York Theater Workshop; the world premiere of Uncommon Sense for the Tectonic Theatre Project; the New Jersey premiere of Water by the Spoonful at Premiere Stages: La Paloma Prisoner and The Hour of The Star at Columbia Stages; the world premiere of Seven Spots on the Sun at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park; and Working Theatre’s production of La Ruta. Film and television credits include Sonia’s Choice for the #imhere campaign, “Law and Order,” CBS’ “Limitless,” Fox’s “Gotham” (The Red Queen), Rope Art, Danny Boy, New York State of Mind, “Designated Survivor,” and the recently released Third Trinity.

Russell G. Jones has worked for over a decade as facilitator, moderator, and as a teaching artist creating programming, workshops and curriculum for Artsgenesis, the ABC+ Program, Developing Artist Theater Company, the National Black Theatre, Community Word Project, Labyrinth Theater Company, Periwinkle National Theatre, the Liberty Partnerships Program at Bank Street Teachers College, Bronx Academy of Letters, and the Cleveland Public Theater. Jones has been a member of the Labyrinth Theater Company since 1995 where he has taught in the Master Class, Ensemble Workshop and Intensive Ensemble. He was the Program Coordinator for the 2014 Intensive Ensemble and currently serves on the Board of Directors.

As a stage director, he has worked at Intar (Good Grief), the Pure Pop Festival (The Maltese Chicken), the Cleveland Public Theater (Change 4 A Dollar), Mass Transit Street Theater (Lessons), and Harlem School for The Arts (Undercover On Another Day of Absence). He can be seen on stage, film, and television and is an Auldeco, Obie, and SAG Award-winning actor. www.russellgjones.com

Mahira Kakkar. Select Off-Broadway: The Headlands (LCT3); Arturo Ui (CSC); Henry VI (NAATCO); The Winter’s Tale (TFANA); Harper Regan (Atlantic); Clive (New Group); Against The Hillside and When January Feels Like Summer (EST); and Miss Witherspoon (Playwrights Horizons). Select regional: Berkeley Rep, Old Globe, Denver Center, Huntington, Cleveland Playhouse. Film and television: “A Suitable Boy” (BBC), “Hank and Asha,” “Hechki,” “Bite Me,” “New Amsterdam,” “Orange is the New Black,” “Friends From College,” “Blacklist,” “Blue Bloods,” “Law and Order,” and “Louie.” Training: Juilliard, Harold Guskin. Member: EST, The Actors Center. www.mahirakakkar.com. Instagram: @mahirakakkar

Shyla Lefner recently performed in the East Coast premiere of Mary Kathryn Nagle’s Manahatta at Yale Repertory Theatre. A company member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, she appeared in the American Revolutions world premieres Between Two Knees by the 1491s and The Way The Mountain Moved by Idris Goodwin. Some other theater credits include: Alice in Wonderland, Henry V (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Fairly Traceable, Off The Rails, The Frybread Queen (Native Voices at the Autry); The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Urban Theatre Movement, Company of Angels); My Story, Our Voices Will Be Heard (La Jolla Playhouse/Native Voices Festival of New Plays). Some film and television credits include: Polar Sun (ImagineNative), Point of Origin (indie), Grace (Cinequest), Whatever it Takes (Sony), and Woo (New Line). Lefner is a proud member of the Native Voices Theatre Company based out of Los Angeles, CA.

Nikkole Salter is an award-winning actress, playwright, educator, and arts advocate. For her work she has received an Obie Awrd, an Outer Critics Circle Award, a Global Tolerance Award from the Friends of the United Nations, a Selfdes-Kanin fellowship from the Theatre Hall of Fame, and most recently a Lily Award for her contributions to the betterment of the theater field. Her writing has been produced on three continents in five countries, has been published in 12 international publications, and has been featured on the WNET program “Theatre Close-Up.” She is a graduate of Howard University and NYU. www.nikkolesalter.com

Regina Taylor is an actress, director, playwright, educator, and activist. She is the Andrew Mellon grant playwright in residence for Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. Taylor’s Oo-Bla-Dee is being presented for Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and Theatre Three 2020-2021. Taylor is writing new plays for Audible and SMU (the black album). She recently curated and directed Love and Kindness in the Time of Quarantine (short plays by Magaly Colin-Christopher, Migdalia Cruz, Erik Ehn, Catherine Fillioux, Lyle Kessler, Yilong Liu, Eugene Lee, Rohina Malik, Chrystal Skilman, Chesney Snow, and Jose Rivera. Planet Connections Zoom Festival). In addition, her playwrighting credits include Bread (Edgerton Award. Water Tower Theater), Crowns (four Helen Hayes awards, including Best Director), Oo-Bla-Dee, (Steinberg-ATCA Award), Drowning Crow, (Broadway, MTC), The Trinity River Plays (Edgerton Foundation Award), and stop.reset (Signature Theater Residency Five).

Taylor received the Denzel Washington Endowed Chair Fordham University at Lincoln Center. An Artistic Associate of Goodman Theatre, Taylor is its most produced playwright. As an actress, Taylor is featured in Netflix’ All Day and A Night starring Jeffrey Wright, Ashton Saunders, and directed/written by Joe Robert Cole (writer: Black Panther). She guest stars on “Council of Dads” (NBC) and “Love Craft Country” (Jordan Peele, J.J. Abrams, Mischa Green), “Red Line” (Producer Ava DuVernay CBS), and “The Good Fight.” For her television role as Lily Harper in “I’ll Fly Away” she received a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress, three NAACP Image Awards, and two Emmy Award nominations. Her other television roles include “The Unit.” Taylor was first African-American lead in Masterpiece Theatre’s “Cora Unashamed,” starred as Anita Hill in HBO’’s “Strange Justice” (Gracie Award), and “A Good Day to Die” starring Sidney Poitier. She has co-starred in USA Networks’ “Dig” and guest starred in “Elementary” and “The Black List.” Taylor’s film credits include Saturday Church, The Negotiator, Courage Under Fire, Clockers, and Lean on Me. Taylor was also the first Black woman to play Juliet in Romeo and Juliet on Broadway.

ABOUT THEATRE FOR ONE

Theatre for One was originally conceived as a mobile state-of-the-art performance space for one actor and one audience member. Conceived by Artistic Director Christine Jones and designed by LOT-EK architects, Theatre for One commissions new work created specifically for each venue’s one-to-one relationship. Embracing serendipity, Theatre for One is presented in public spaces in which audience members are invited to enter into an intimate theatrical exchange in which actor and audience member encounter each other as strangers and are equally dependent on each other. Theatre for One is produced by Octopus Theatricals and was originally produced by True Love Productions.

Theatre for One residencies have been seen in Times Square, Brookfield Place’s Winter Garden, Zuccotti Park, Grace Plaza, Signature Theatre, Fairfield University, Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts, University of Arkansas, and the Cork Midsummer Festival. This October a residency will take place at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre. Here We Are marks Theater for One’s first ever virtual residency.

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