Author Archives: Karen McConarty

SEASON 19 LAUNCH PARTY

Thursday, October 26th | 6:30pm
@ Urbano Project (29 Germania St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130)

COME SEE HOW WE GET DOWN.

In our groundbreaking 19th season, Company One Theatre aims to amplify the brilliant, bold, and oft-untold. We’re showcasing >>What’s Next in American Theatre, and we want you to be there from the beginning.

Join us for our season kick-off party: an evening of performances, games, and a celebration of C1’s 2017-18 programming. Mingle with the artists and get an insider’s look at all that Season 19 has to offer!

This event is totally free and open to the public. Please RSVP so we know you’re coming!

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LEFTOVERS: A PlayLab Public Reading

Sunday, July 9th | 2:30 – 5:00 pm
@ Dudley Cafe, Roxbury

Join us as we ramp up to next summer’s production of LEFTOVERS by Josh Wilder! Get a sneak peek at the script-in-development and meet the playwright at this free public reading — part of C1’s groundbreaking PlayLab program. Your participation helps guide the continued development of the play leading up to its Company One premiere next summer.

Free and open to the public, but registration is required to save your space! CLICK HERE to RSVP.

About LEFTOVERS:
Weeds are a given in the heart of South Philly, but when a giant dandelion sprouts overnight and wishes start falling from the sky, one family begins to see a way out of the cycle of poverty that has governed their lives. For brothers Jalil and Kwamaine, hope is running thin as they wait for the arrival of their absent father—and in time, discover the power of their own dreams and the transformative influence of forgiveness. Seizing the possibility of no longer feeling like the city’s leftovers, the two brothers find themselves on an adventure they never could have dreamed of.

Josh Wilder is a playwright from Philadelphia, PA. His work has been developed at various theaters and festivals across the country including Company One Theatre, The Fire This Time Festival, New York Theatre Workshop, The Drama League, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and the 2015 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference. His play LEFTOVERS was the recipient of the Holland New Voices Award at The Great Plains Theatre Conference and will be receiving its World Premiere at Company One Theatre in Boston this season. Recent commissions include, Play On! at Oregon Shakespeare Festival; and THE HIGHWAYMEN at The History Theatre. Josh is a former Jerome Fellow and Many Voices Fellow at The Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis; has been in residence at The Royal Court Theatre; and is currently an MFA candidate in Playwriting at Yale School of Drama.

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THE KING OF LOVE IS DEAD: A PlayLab Reading & Closing Celebration

Wednesday, August 2 | 7:00 pm
Location: Boston Center for the Arts

Join us for a special C1 reading and PlayLab closing celebration! First, get a sneak peek at THE KING OF LOVE IS DEAD, a script-in-development by C1 PlayLab Fellow Liana Asim. Chat with the playwright about her writing process, then join us in celebrating the hard work of this year’s PlayLab cohort with a celebration like no other!

Free and open to the public, but registration is required to save your space. Click here to RSVP!

The King of Love is Dead by Liana Asim
A C1 Reading & PlayLab Closing Celebration

It’s 1968 in Gateway City — a momentous year in American history in an “everyone knows everyone” town. All over the country, the riots, sit-ins, and marches of the Civil Rights Movement rage on; a plea for equality echoing through streets, homes, and hearts. The Jones’ — the epitome of a loving, respectable church going family — find themselves struggling to navigate and uphold a normal life as they are confronted by hate, police brutality, and political corruption. Told through the narration of Crispus, the youngest son in the family, The King of Love is Dead explores whether or not the love of family can prevail when challenged by a discriminatory society trying to tear them apart.

About the playwright:
Liana Asim is a playwright/actor/director. She recently directed the world premiere of family musical, The Hairy Scary for The Outside the Box festival 2016. She was recently seen on stage as Mai Tamba in The Convert at Central Square Theater (winner of the Elliot Norton Award for most Outstanding production.) And also played Marcus Lycus in the Stoneham Theatre production of A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum. A 2015 BCA and Company One PlayLab Fellow, her full-length plays include Bedfellows, The King of Love Is Dead, Slut Walk or A Play About Marilyn Monroe, The Hairy Scary (musical co-written w/J. Asim and Joshua Stephen Kartes.) Her work has been developed at BCA/Company One, Boston Theatre Marathon, Fresh Ink Theatre, Davenport Studios NYC, Playwright’s Platform and Emerson College in Boston, MA. She has studied performance art at Northwestern University and screenwriting and playwriting at Emerson College. She is the proud wife of author Jabari Asim, mother to five brilliant children and a grandmother of two delightful grandbabes. She wholeheartedly believes in the power of LIVE theatre to change the world.

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Young Person’s Guide

Young Person's Guide
Resources for Admissions Process
Ways to De-Stress
Community Partners

Young Person’s Guide to:

peerless by Jiehae Park

PLOT

Twin high school seniors L and M are dead-set on attending not just an Ivy League school, but the Ivy League school, and they think their acceptance is guaranteed. When a rival student emerges, the twins will do anything to knock out the competition—but does that include murder? Mean Girls meets Macbeth in this dark comedy, which sets one of Shakespeare’s bloodiest plays against the backdrop of competitive college admissions.

THEMES

PEERLESS crop

Rejection
Loyalty
Pressure of the future
Stress
Model minority myth

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

How do you handle rejection?
Should family equate loyalty? Why or Why not?
What scares you the most when you think about your future?
How do you deal with stress?
What causes you stress?
What does a successful student look like to you?

DRAMATURGY BLOG

Want a peek into the rehearsal room? Click here to check out our dramaturgy blog for insight into the play and production process. Don’t see what you’re looking for? Ask a dramaturg!

RESOURCES FOR THE ADMISSIONS PROCESS

Boston Public Library’s College Planning Center
The ASA College Planning Center at the Boston Public Library offers guidance on choosing a college, applying for financial aid and scholarships, managing money, and choosing a major or a career.

College Board
College Board is dedicated to providing students with resources regarding choosing colleges, applying for financial aid, and registering for the SAT.

Common App
Common App guides students through the College Application process for 700 colleges and institutions.

Early Action V. Early Decision
College Board article describing the differences between Early Action and Early Decision

WAYS TO DE-STRESS

The Benefits of the Coloring Book

Music as a De-stressor

Focus on Well Being in Schools in Massachusetts

Easing Student Stress at Lexington High School

Here is a list of C1 community partners for peerless that work mainly with youth and/or offer youth programs. Click on the organizations’ names below to learn more about the resources they offer!

Hyde Square Task Force
Breakthrough Greater Boston
Boston University’s Asian Women’s Action for Resilience and Empowerment (AWARE)
ASPIRE
Boston Asian: Youth Essential Services
Actors’ Shakespeare Project
Boston GLOW

Additional community partners:

Asian American Commission
Massachusetts Institute of Psychoanalysis
Korean Cultural Society of Boston
Pao Arts Center

>> For more information about Company One Theatre’s production of peerless, please visit the production page.

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