Off-Broadway premiere of ALTERNATING CURRENTS

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The Working Theater premiere of ALTERNATING CURRENTS started performances on April 26, in Queens, and then traveled to Urban Stages in Manhattan (May 1 – 20), followed by a tour to the other boroughs.

REVIEWS:

“This multiplicity of voices shines through in Alternating Currents, which, with only six actors but an entire community’s worth of characters, fills Urban Stages’ intimate blackbox with a nuanced portrait of Electchester.”

 – American Theatre Magazine

“If you love plays that… make you question your values, then go see this play.  A very impressive accomplishment.”

 – Theater That Matters   

“…a heart-felt ode to the utopian ideal of community driven co-op housing in NYC.  It’s a gritty excavating of systemic racism, union failure, mixed race marriage challenges and the desire for belonging.”

– Stage Biz

“…perceptively explores the messy realities of living and laboring in NYC, and, by extension, the United States today.  Kraar and the Working Theater able capture these… contradictions and nuances with empathy and humor.”

– Culture Catch

Directed by Kareem Fahmy, the cast included Robert Arcaro, Jason Bowen, Rheaume Crenshaw, LeeAnne Hutchison, Antoinette LaVecchia, Brian Sgambati and Liba Vaynberg.

The play was commissioned as part of The Working Theater’s Five Boroughs/One City Project.

When two newly married electricians move to Electchester, everything seems perfect: spacious apartment, low rent, friendly neighbors, and an incredibly close-knit community.  But as they settle in, they discover how much they may need to give up in order to really belong.

Feature in Broadway World:  click here.

THE KARPOVKSY VARIATIONS finalist for Blue Ink Playwriting Award

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The American Blues Theater designated THE KARPOVSKY VARIATIONS a Finalist for the 2018 Blue Ink Playwriting Award.

DANCING ON THE EDGE production at Theatre Novi Most

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A tragi-comedy about Isadora Duncan in Russia after the Revolution, DANCING ON THE EDGE opens September 7th at the Southern Theatre in Minneapolis.  The production will also tour to New Paltz, with performances Sept. 21st and 22nd at the McKenna Theatre at SUNY.

The play was commissioned and developed by Theatre Novi Most.

REVIEWS:

“The illusion of understanding between two people… is at the core of Adam Kraar’s gripping play.  This play… is clearly a labor of love.  In its staging and performance, it is a stunning work.”  – Talking Broadway

“What’s most striking about this piece is how it deals with language.  …when Duncan and Esenin communicate, Duncan speaks English and Esenin speaks Russian.  Through Duncan’s movement and the emotional honesty in this piece, something far greater is created.  … this play does wonders capturing it all…”  –  The Room Where It Happens

 “…an ambitious new work, telling a true story of brilliant artists, that captures the spirit of its subject.   It’s a fascinating story about two fascinating people, their art, and their turbulent relationship.  Dancing on the Edge is an intense and lovely play filled with movement and poetry.”                                     – Cherry and Spoon

To read the Broadway World feature, click here.

GREENWOOD at Theatre East’s 5×5 Drama Series

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My play GREENWOOD starts performances April 6 as part of Theatre East’s 5×5 Drama Series.

The production travels to each of New York City’s five boroughs, running through April 17th.

BEST AMERICAN SHORT PLAYS publishes THE SUBTERRANEANS

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Commissioned and produced by the Stella Adler Studio, THE SUBTERRANEANS has been published in Applause Books’ THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT PLAYS 2014-15.

Working Theatre’s FIVE BOROUGHS, ONE CITY

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Part of The Working Theatre’s FIVE BOROUGHS/ONE CITY project, ALTERNATING CURRENTS is directed by Gaye-Taylor Upchurch, and features Michael Braun, Rheume Crenshaw, Abigail Gampel, Clinton Lowe, Desiree Matthews, and Joe Urla.

Performances are Friday, May 8th at 6:30 pm and Saturday, May 9th at 4:00 pm at the Abingdon Theatre, 312 West 36th Street.  For tickets, please visit Brown Paper Tickets.

ALTERNATING CURRENTS is inspired by Electchester, in Queens, a housing development built by – and largely populated with – members of the International Brotherhood of Electricians.  When two newly married electricians, Luke and Elena, move to Electchester, everything seems perfect:  spacious apartment, low rent, friendly neighbors and an incredibly close-knit community.  But as they settle in, they discover how much they may need to give up in order to really belong.

Read the feature about FIVE BOROUGHS/ONE CITY in Broadway World.

BOGLIASCO FOUNDATION FELLOWSHIP

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I’ve been awarded a Fellowship from The Bogliasco Foundation in Bogliasco, Italy, where I’ll be in residence this Fall working on a new play.

FREEDOM HIGH production at Uprooted Theatre

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FREEDOM HIGH will be produced by Uprooted Theatre, directed by Marti Gobel, with a performance on November 17th at the University of Wisconsin and on November 18th at Next Act Theatre.

Inspired by actual events, FREEDOM HIGH takes place in June 1964, when black Civil Rights workers trained hundreds of white volunteers to work in Mississippi registering blacks to vote.  Jessica, a young white volunteer, has no idea has no idea how dangerous – both physically and emotionally – the project will be.  Instead, she throws herself into learning non-violent tactics and stubbornly trying to befriend an angry, wounded veteran of the Movement. 

When three Civil Rights workers who’d been at the training the previous week disappear, the volunteers and their leaders are forced to decide if they can risk their lives for a mission that seems doomed.  Jessica discovers the perilous complexity of her motivations, and those of everyone else involved.

This production is among a number of events across the country commemorating the 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer.

Theatre Novi Most presents staged readings of DANCING ON THE EDGE

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Theatre Novi Most presents two free staged readings of DANCING ON THE EDGE, about the legendary American dancer Isadora Duncan and her tumultuous marriage to the famous Russian poet Sergei Esenin.  The play brings to life two mythic characters whose outsized artistic and spiritual passions clashed tragi-comically with Russian society, the American Dream and each other.

On August 11th, the play will be presented at 7:30 pm at the Unison Learning Center in New Paltz, New York; and on August 12th, the play will be presented at 8 pm in Buttenweiser Hall at the 92nd Street Y at 1395 Lexington Avenue in New York City.

Read the feature in THE POUGHKEEPSIE JOURNAL.

THE KARPOVSKY VARIATIONS at Jewish Plays OPEN Residency

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The Karpovsky Variations has been selected for OPEN:  The Festival of New Jewish Theatre at the 14th Street Y.  A workshop of the play will culminate in a reading on June 13th at 7 pm.

Directed by Tamilla Woodard, the cast includes Geoffrey Cantor, Michael Countryman, Kathryn Kates, Christine Toy Johnson, Danielle Slavick and Joe Urla.  Margot Leverett of the Klezmer Mountain Boys will play clarinet.

“But nowhere is the new Jewish family more strikingly drawn than in Adam Kraar’s “The Karpovsky Variations,” in which disparate family members meet up in airport lounges over the years as one or another flies off to some distant place.” – The Jewish Forward

For more information:  Jewishplaysproject.org