HB Residency: Son of an Unknown Father by Reynaldo Piniella

Son of an Unknown Father tells the story of the first Black saint of the Americas, Martin de Porres. Born into slavery in Lima, Peru in the 1600s, Martin aspired to break through the chains of his bondage by devoting his life to the Catholic Church. But no matter how virtuous Martin was, nothing could break through the barriers of his oppression. Until one day, Martin discovers he has the power to heal people with his bare hands. Suddenly viewed as the second son of God, people come from far and wide to meet the man with the magic hands. Martin's burden becomes too much and he is forced to make a decision - self-preservation or self-sacrifice?

This project is part of 2024 HB Rehearsal Space Residency.

Reynaldo Piniella is an actor, writer, activist and educator from East New York, Brooklyn. In 2021, he was in the acting company of two Broadway shows at the same time – Thoughts of a Colored Man and Trouble in Mind. As a playwright, his work includes Black Doves (Thomas Barbour award for Playwriting), Real Life RPG (commissioned by Baltimore Center Stage, produced by San Diego Rep, Shakesqueer Theater Company and Pioneer Theater Guild), No Shade (produced by the Lee Strasberg Institute at NYU Tisch), I’m Old School (produced by Single Carrot Theater) and Black and Blue (Ars Nova’s ANT Fest.) His Off-Broadway acting credits include The Death of the Last Black Man…, Venus (Signature), The Skin of Our Teeth (TFANA), Lockdown (Rattlestick), The Space Between the Letters (The Public/UTR), Lockdown (Rattlestick) and The Best of Theatreworks (Working Theater).

Kevin R. Free (Director) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work as an actor, writer, director, and producer has been showcased and developed in many places, including The Fire This Time Festival, where he served as Producing Artistic Director for 5 years, winning an Obie for his work in 2015. He is now the Artistic Director of Mile Square Theatre in Hoboken, NJ (www.milesquaretheatre.org), where most recently he directed Berta, Berta by Angelica Cherí. Favorite Directing Credits include Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill (Peterborough Players); Pass Over (Marin Theater Company); and The Play That Goes Wrong (Portland Stage Company). He is a member of the Historic Apollo Theatre’s New Works Lab, where he is developing a solo show for André De Shields. He was just honored by Audiofile Magazine as a Golden Voice, for his lifetime of work as an audiobook narrator. Instagram: @kevinrfree More info: www.kevinrfree.com

HB Studio is dedicated to training and practice for the theater, and seeks to provide a commerce-free environment for the nurturing and growth of theater artists. In pursuit of this goal, HB offers five one-week Rehearsal Space Residencies each year for the development of creative projects. The HB Rehearsal Space Residency is an opportunity for practicing theater artists to collaborate on experimental projects, develop new work, and share workshop presentations among peers and colleagues, for constructive critical feedback and mutual growth. The Rehearsal Space Residency is an open opportunity; you do not have to be affiliated with HB Studio to apply. However we do ask that our resident artists work with us to engage with our community of students and faculty while in residence at HB. For more information on our HB Residencies. Click here.

This program is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, and many generous supporters.

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