A #Youarenotcancelled Post
We’ve heard that sometimes “Life imitates art.” Such is the case with “BORDERS”, a brilliantly relevant play about navigating the online world with real emotions. The production, which was scheduled for a run in NYC this summer, will be available to all via livestream, starting this Saturday 4/18 at 9’pm Eastern.
A Note From The Artists:
“Dirty Laundry Theatre, an emerging New York City-based theatre production company, announced its unprecedented production of BORDERS, written by Nimrod Danishman and directed by Michael R. Piazza, to be broadcast in real time via livestream. This Saturday, a one of its kind, streaming adapted version of the play will be performed live by the actors in their homes (without breaking quarantine). The original production was awarded the best play nomination at the NY summer festival and scheduled for a run this summer. In the light of covid-19 realities, it has been transformed to an online storytelling experience, complete with all-new multimedia and video elements that bring this virtual dimension to life.
BORDERS delves deep into the private gay dating app conversations between two Middle-Eastern men who struggle with bringing their virtual relationship offline and into the real world. An intriguing and timely drama about what it means to connect with another human in a highly politicized and hyper-virtual world, BORDERS boldly examines the relationship between virtual space and physical life. The two-hander features Adrian Rifat and Eli M. Schoenfeld.
“This isn’t just another livestream of the play on stage”, says Maera Daniel Hagage, Dirty Laundry Theatre’s Founding Artistic Director. “This type of online play is unprecedented, and we are very excited about its launch this Saturday. The uniqueness of the story set in the virtual world, with the characters’ inability to meet physically, is more relatable today than ever.”
“I didn’t want to do it this way unless it could be cool,” says director Michael R. Piazza. “We really had to learn a New Medium, both on a technical level and in terms of storytelling. Each actor had to learn to function as a cameraman, and as a lighting and scenic designer- all while acting in their own separate apartments in Manhattan. My assistant and I are running the show’s sound and its new video elements from my little laptop out in Brooklyn. Our producer and stage manager are monitoring the stream and communicating with us over the phone. It’s been a fun challenge and I think the final product is going to pass my test – it will be cool. We all love Nimrod’s play and these characters so much, and luckily the story really works when being told this way as well. It’s a beautifully written, truly modern love story for the online era, and now we are telling the story completely online.”
Link to website/livestream:
Link to support Dirty Laundry Theatre:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/dirty-laundry-theatre
If you'd like to be included in the "#YOUARENOTCANCELLED" movement, please email:
jconroy-quirk@boldmediainc.com
- Janet Conroy Quirk, Editor-In-Chief, Bold Magazine
