BIPOC Reading Series Festival

The BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) Reading Series Festival is a dynamic exchange of ideas between emerging and veteran artists. Four new plays receive 20-hour workshops and are presented to the public. Originally created for an in-person staged reading series, due to a new wave of COVID-19 spread the BIPOC festival moved its performances online to ZOOM.

Friday at 4 pm

ACETONE WISHES AND PLEXIGLASS DREAMS

BY STEPHANIE KYUNG SUNG WALTERS
director: Julia Cho
dramaturg: Jessica Nakamura
guest actor: Ruffy Landayan

Celina has moved home to Philly’s Koreatown to take over the neighborhood beauty salon. DIY reno keeps her busy, but discovering a secret about her high school buddy, Inky, and the gossiping chorus of aunties and uncles keeps her busier. However, Celina has a secret of her own; a secret that dragged her across the country, only to return home empty-handed. Will Celina prevent the rumors, ghosts, and aunties from chaining her down, or will she drag Inky into the dark web she’s brought home?

Friday at 8 pm

HAPPY FALL: A QUEER STUNT SPECTACULAR

BY LISA SANAYE DRING
director: Sean Cawelti
dramaturg: Mona Heinze
stunt coordinator: Celina Surniak
assistant stunt coordinator: Moll Wilson

Unipersonal Parabount Lisney Studios welcomes you to Felix Culpa, the STUNTMAN SPECTACULAR!

Go behind the scenes of one of the most dangerous jobs in Hollywood and witness the lives of real stuntmen as they navigate getting (and having) to be the strongest, straightest, hardest man in every room! Experience death-defying stunts of both the mind and body as people are forced to squash themselves into heteronormative definitions of what it means to be a Tough Guy!

Based on true-life stories collected from interviews with actual stunt performers, this interactive show is high octane, superphysical and mega puppet-y.

Saturday at 1 pm
MEMORIES OF OVERDEVELOPMENT

BY CARIDAD SVICH
director: Jonathan L. Green
dramaturg: Yasmin Zacaria Mikhaiel

This play is a film: a documentary about what people remember about dictatorships where they grew up and how they left and how they survived. An enactment of eight startling, personal interviews, inspired by true stories. A rebellious look at where we’ve been and where we are right now.

 Saturday at 5 pm
LOS FELIZ

BY CHRISTOPHER OSCAR PEÑA
director: Jenny Koons
dramaturg: Lindsay Allbaugh

Julian is the BIPOC showrunner of a new show. He has not always had the best luck with dating as a queer Latino and feels like movies have changed our perceptions of what relationships are really like. However, he remains a wistful romantic. Los Feliz follows his journey from being on set to being in a gay bar and contemplates the complications of dating today asking “is it really that bad to be a romantic at heart?” when you know the reality might be very different.