PEANUT BUTTER & JELLY For The End Times: a play reading

Name: PEANUT BUTTER & JELLY For The End Times: a play reading
Start: 2025-03-04T19:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-03-04T20:45:00-05:00
Location: Rutgers Presbyterian Church

Schedule

Tue Mar 04 2025 at 07:00 pm to 08:45 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

Rutgers Presbyterian Church | New York, NY

A reading of Octavia Washington's blisteringly funny, thought-provoking, and wildly inventive new play
About this Event

A Reading of the new play Peanut Butter & Jelly For The End Times

Written by Octavia Washington

Starring Mazvita Chanakira as Em

Ben Ranalli as the Stage Manager/Ex

Dominique Payne as the Crew/Family/Penny

Music by Charmaine Elejonu & Abby Antias

SYNOPSIS: Today Em turns an undetermined age. To celebrate, she’s hosting her own (mandatory) birthday party inside of a theater, where she’s also kidnapped, trapped, and bound her entire family. Joining her on her first production are a ragtag team of run crew and a very competent stage manager Craigslist. As her distant family attempts to break free, she discusses everyone and everything she hates (that also hate her) in a series of multimedia presentations, mostly anchored around one question: why is the world so difficult for Black women?

Octavia Washington is a New Yorker, fashion nerd, writer, and dramaturg. She’s a graduate of Carleton College with a degree in English and current candidate for a Master’s degree in Dramaturgy at Columbia University. Her work has been published in Torch Literary Art's Online Archive and in Venus Theatre's Frozen Women/Flowing Thoughts. Outside of academia, she can be found shopping until dropping, probably, or on Instagram as Editor of @queerdearmag.

ADDITIONAL NOTES ON THE EVENING:

The Sanctuary will open at 6:45 pm.
The Reading starts just after 7 pm.

The Sanctuary is handicapped accessible. Hearing assisted devices are available upon request.

PRE-THEATER SPECIAL! Come early (6-7pm) and enjoy some tasty Mardi Gras refreshments in the Daniel Russell Room (located on the first floor of the Church House). Hosted by The Deacons of Rutgers Church.