ReproEco: Six Short Plays with Dance

ReproEco is a collection of six short plays written by six fabulous women that connect our reproductive health and the environment. Through humor, mythology, Afro-futurism and drama, we look at toxins, our bodies, our communities & our futures.

Two Showtimes:

Friday, September 19 at 7 PM (doors at 6:30 PM)

Saturday, September 20 at 3:30 PM (doors at 3 PM)

Runtime: 2 hours with intermission

Playwrights Diane Breeser, Cindy Cooper, Alinca Hamilton, Mildred Inez Lewis, Cassandra Medley & Laura Shamas.

ReproFreedomArts.org commissioned these talented playwrights, who represent a cross-section of America, to create new works inspired by investigations and conversations with experts in reproductive rights and environmental justice.

This presentation includes original dances created by Jennifer Chin to accompany the plays.

Co-produced by Cindy Cooper (ReproFreedomArts.org Artistic Director) and Lorca Peress (MultiStages Artistic Director)

Directed by Lorca Peress & Allison Astor-Vargas

Lorca Peress (Director and Producer) is a freelance theatre, opera and musical theatre director, and the Founder and Artistic Director of MultiStages in NYC. a multicultural multidisciplinary NYC theatre company. She is an advocate for women in theatre and an equity diversity activist. https://www.lorcaperessdirector.com/

Allison Astor-Vargas (Director) is an alumna of The Lincoln Center Directors Lab and a current participant of The Actor’s Studio Playwrights and Directors Workshop. She has been the Manager of Special Projects and Education for Repertorio Espanol Theatre for the past 27 years. 

Jennifer Chin (Choreographer/Dancer) is a dance artist who has performed and taught throughout the US and abroad. Her choreography has been presented in New York City, Mexico, Croatia, Scotland, Italy, Nicaragua, and Guatemala. Her company, JENNIFERCHINdance, has an ongoing collaboration with WADE, operating at the intersection of performing arts, activism, and social change. https://www.jenniferchindance.com/

Music composed by Sun Hee Kil

Sun Hee Kil (Composer/Sound Design) Associate designed Broadway productions to PyeongChang Winter Olympics Opening & Closing Ceremonies in South Korea. Her sound design includes Off Broadway, regional and international theatre productions. Her sound designs were nominated for Henry Hewes Awards and World Stage Design and selected to exhibit at Prague Quadrennial. Sunny is an Assistant Professor of Sound Design at Purchase College, State University of New York and proud member of United Scenic Artists Local 829, Audio Engineering Society and Theatrical Sound Designers & Composers Association. www.sunheekil.com

Dramaturgy by Lisa Lindstrom

Performing Artists Announced Soon

PLAYS:

"Maybe Our Baby" by Diane Breeser A pregnant woman has a comical nightmare after reading an article on forever chemicals in her doctor's waiting room.Diane Breeser lives in western Wisconsin, writes historically-based plays, and is co-founder of an award-winning theatre group, The “Alternative Truth” Project.

"Until the Change Comes" by Cindy Cooper An advertising duo begins to question their work after an uninvited visit from Theo Colborn, a woman scientist from years gone by who became the first to identify toxic harms to health.Cindy Cooper is an award-winning playwright, journalist and author, and the founder of ReproFreedomArts.org.

"Always Never Really Here" by Alinca Hamilton Monica and Gabrielle Tompkins, a mother and daughter, face the harsh realities of living without clean running water in the verifiably real town of Sand Branch, Texas.Alinca Hamilton is a New York born and bred actor, writer and creator with an MFA in Acting from Columbia University.

"Through Water Into Blood" by Mildred Inez Lewis After a devastating miscarriage, a West Virginia woman confronts her birth doula and they both realize the role toxic chemicals may have played.Mildred Inez Lewis is an AGE Legacy award winner who writes and directs for stage, screen and audio while holding commissions from the Lucille Lortel and SPARC Theatre's Science@Play and teaching English at Chapman University.

"We Are Our Ancestors Reasons for Living" by Cassandra Medley In an Afro-futurism style, intergenerational women experience an altered world in which nature is so degraded that the out-of-doors must be delivered and enjoyed virtually.Cassandra Medley (We Are Our Ancestors Reasons for Living) is a New York City African-American playwright and winner of the 2023 Helen Merrill Playwriting Award.

"Priorities" by Laura Shamas In a dystopian future, two gynecologists and a midwife meet in secret to prioritize the needs of their pregnant patients, so they can escape to a better environment.Laura Shamas is a playwright whose award-winning ‘Four Women in Red’ played at the Victory Theater in Burbank, CA, directed by Jeanette Harrison this year.

Host or Publisher Culture Lab LIC is an arts and community resource center.