Ritual Theatre Company
Strengthening the fabric of American theatre.
by
Lee Edward Colston II
A FREE AEA Staged Reading
Saturday, May 12
7:00pm
The Ars Nova Building
511 West 54th Street, NYC
Catered reception to follow presentation.
ALL BY INVITATION ONLY!
To request an invitation, email: RTC@RitualTheatreCompany.org
CAST ANNOUNCED SHORTLY
After Derek’s mother is arrested for the violent murder of his father, he and his sister’s childhoods are torn asunder, sending their lives spiraling in completely different directions. After having departed years before, Derek returns home to find his sister desperately trying to sell their childhood home - the home in which their father was murdered. A home which Derek mysteriously wants to keep.
When Derek’s mother is released from prison, however, Derek is forced to finally confront the demons of a past he has desperately tried to bury. Family secrets are exposed, and old lies threaten to tear open even deeper wounds - wounds which will shake the very foundation of his family to its core.
Lee Edward Colston II is a former prison guard turned actor, playwright, director, performance poet, and motivational speaker, best known for his empowering and supple story telling. His complex and pithy writing re-examines the human condition in fresh and innovative ways by bringing the poetry of urban language and mystique to complex and raw stories about the bare bones of human truth, and the rawness of the human experience in Urban America.
Mr. Colston is a graduate of The Brind School of Theatre at the University of the Arts, and has worked in the Philadelphia regional theatre for almost a decade. In 2005, his hit play ‘Solitary’ had its World Premiere at the Triangle Theatre in Philadelphia. Some of his other plays include: ‘Scab’, ‘Alvin’s Will’, ‘Roost’, ‘Spoken’, ‘Ahgotnekst Vol.1’, ‘The Greatest Trick’, and ‘Acts of Faith’. In 2008, Lee took first place in Philadelphia Theatre Workshop’s New Play Development competition and, as a result, ‘Solitary’ had a successful run with Philadelphia Theatre Workshop.
Lee’s book of poetry, ‘Phenomenal Brotha: Blood, Sweat, & Ink’, has sold numerous copies in both the U.S. and the U.K. and can be found on Amazon.com.
Mr. Colston is also a teacher of the Meisner Technique, having been trained under the guidance of Master Teacher Ernie Losso. Lee is passionate about mentoring and motivating youth, as well as introducing young people to the arts. As such, he dedicates his time to volunteering, cultivating, and inspiring young people in urban communities.
The RITUAL READING SERIES presents
KIND OF BLUE by Kuamel Stewart
STARRING
Frankie Faison* Andrea Frierson*
Andre Garner* Hannelore Williams
Stage Directions read by Mike Hodge*
Subject to availability
*Member of Actors’ Equity Association
Monday, August 15 6:00pm to 9:00pm
Lerner Auditorium at the LGBT Center
208 West 13th. Street, 3rd. Floor, NYC
This FREE performance will be ASL interpreted by Stephanie Feyne & Rick Rubin
Reception to follow presentation, catered by Chef Matthew Tivy of Cafe du Soleil ALL BY INVITATION ONLY!
To request an invitation, email RTC@RitualTheatreCompany.org
For seating purposes, please state if you are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing.
In early 1940s New York City, George Evans (a middle-aged bartender) is beginning to struggle mightily with the patriarchal role he has been seeking his entire life. When his wife Ruby, a nurse, attempts to help solve some of the problems that George’s shortcomings are starting to create for their marriage, it only makes matters worse. But when George and Ruby are suddenly surprised by the arrival of their daughter Nia from college with her new fiancée Joseph, a young poet and budding novelist who is failing to channel his own machismo (in Nia’s undying opinion), the Evans household becomes a powder-keg in which conflictng ideals of masculinity ignite an explosion of conflict between its four inhabitants.
“Kind of Blue” explores how varying understandings of male roles in society affect interpersonal relationships through a provocative and gritty naturalistic drama.
“Kind Of Blue” is Kuamel Stewart’s first full-length play in his Companion Play Cycle. He was deeply inspired by August Wilson’s Pittsburgh Cycle, which entailed a decade-by-decade dramatization of the African American experience throughout the 20th century (in essence paying homage to a contextualized experience that Stewart is attempting to emulate by paying homage to jazz), the categorically threaded plays of William Shakespeare via The First Folio (from which Stewart was inspired to devise his own categorically threaded plays), and the commitment to dramatize the most profound existential questions rooted in a provocative affection for societal critique akin to Edward Albee. From the combination of those muses, Stewart conceived of completing what he has titled, The Companion Play Cycle.
Stewart’s Cycle is comprised of eight distinct groups of plays with five plays in each group. Each group of plays are written as companion pieces to eight distinct forms of jazz including Dixieland, Swing, Bebop, Cool, Hard Bop, Modal, Free and Fusion jazz. For each group, Stewart takes any combination of aesthetic, technicality or context in which a jazz style was created, and translates that combination into a dramatic structure or dramatic narrative.
”Kind of Blue” is the first of the five Modal Plays in the Cycle written as a companion piece to the style of Modal Jazz. While also being the namesake of the iconic Modal Jazz album by Miles Davis, the dramatic structure of the play was birthed through the technicality of Modal Jazz which employed the use of musical “scales” that were colloquially called “modes”. Kind of Blue explores different “modes” of masculinity by dramatizing how varying understandings of male roles in society can affect interpersonal relationships.
EXPLORING ASL PERFORMANCE
Taught by Alexandria Wailes
This challenging, ground-breaking class focuses on the art of communicating the meaning and subtlety of the written word through American Sign language. This class is for Hearing, Deaf, or Hard-Of-Hearing users of ASL. Whether your knowledge is rudimentary or you are a lifelong practitioner, this class will hone the skills necessary to proficiently use ASL to express yourself on stage and on camera.
This six-week class will teach performance body awareness through monologue and scene work, as well as through improvised exercises and the basics of movement and dance fundamentals. It will also hone and shape the basics of what it takes to create and re-create the perfect audition.
5/17 - Studio X from 6pm - 8pm
5/24 - Studio Y from 6pm - 8pm
6/07 - Studio A from 6pm - 8pm
6/14 - Studio Y from 6pm - 8pm
6/21 - Studio X from 5:30pm - 7:30pm
6/28 - Studio Y from 6pm - 8pm
NO CLASS MEMORIAL DAY
Triskelion Arts Center
118 North 11th. Street, 3rd. Floor
Brooklyn, New York 11211
COST: $140.00 or $30.00/class - pay via check or via PayPal, both payable to Ritual Theatre Company.
Exploring ASL Performance is made possible by the support of the Sign Language Center of New York
Our instructor, Alexandria Wailes, has a BFA in Modern Dance 
from University of the Arts. She was classically trained in dance from the age of three and, since university, has choreographed numerous pieces that combine visual/non-verbal expression with contemporary dance. As a Deaf artist, Ms. Wailes has always felt at ease with dance and movement. She discovered early on that the communication of the body, through dance, is universal and defies spoken languages.
During the summer of 2002, one of her choreographies was featured at Deaf Way 2; LUCID FLIP. 2005 premiered NEITHER YOU NOR I, a piece she co-choreographed and performed for Chashama Summer Festival in NYC. Between 1999- 2002, she choreographed pieces for MSSD’S Winter Dance Concerts and Gallaudet University’s Young Scholars Program. In 2008, Ms. Wailes was the choreographer for the artist Sia, and her music video SOON WE WILL BE FO
UND.
In addition to being well-versed in dance, her professional credits as an actor include the Broadway revival of BIG RIVER; NY Shakespeare Festival’s MOTHER COURAGE (with Meryl Streep), FETES DE LA NUIT, PIPPIN, THE WILD BOYS, SLEEPING BEAUTY WAKES, and BIG RIVER (National tour). Television: LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT, NURSE JACKIE, CONVICTION; Film: ALWAYS CHASING LOVE, FREEDOM IS NOT FREE. Ms Wailes received a 2007 LA Ovation nomination for ‘Best Lead Female in a Musical’ for SLEEPING BEAUTY WAKES. In her spare time, she’s working on original plays, is a teaching artist for drama/movement, teaches American Sign Language, and is an educator at several museums in NYC.
Excerpt from a work session during our “Exploring ASL Performance” class!
MONDAYS, May 16 thru June 27 6:00pm - 7:55pm NO CLASS MEMORIAL DAYCOST: $140.00 or $30.00/class - pay via check or via PayPal, both payable to Ritual Theatre Company.
EXPLORING ASL PERFORMANCE
Taught by Alexandria Wailes
This challenging, ground-breaking class focuses on the art of communicating the meaning and subtlety of the written word through American Sign language. This class is for Hearing, Deaf, or Hard-Of-Hearing users of ASL. Whether your knowledge is rudimentary or you are a lifelong practitioner, this class will hone the skills necessary to proficiently use ASL to express yourself on stage and on camera.
This six-week class will teach performance body awareness through monologue and scene work, as well as through improvised exercises and the basics of movement and dance fundamentals. It will also hone and shape the basics of what it takes to create and re-create the perfect audition.
MONDAYS, March 7 thru April 11 - 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Triskelion Arts
118 North 11th Street, 3rd Floor, Studio Y
Brooklyn, New York 11211
www.triskelionarts.org
COST: $30.00 / class - pay via check payable to Ritual Theatre Company, or at PayPal.
Exploring ASL Performance is made possible by the support of the Sign Language Center of New York
http://www.ritualtheatrecompany.org/node/58
For details, contact DavidAronDamane@RitualTheatreCompany.org
OF RIVERS, OF DAYS
PRESENTED BY SOUL STRATA THEATER in cooperation with
A theatrical adaptation of Henry David Thoreau’s first book, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, performed in movement, song, sign, and the spoken word. With live musical score by Cornelius Dufallo.
Performances:
February 22-27, 8pm // with 2pm matinee Saturday the 26th
IRT: 154 Christopher Street , #3B (3rd floor)
Tickets – $15
Purchase at Brown Paper Tickets
Hank and Jonna (re-interpreted versions of Henry and John Thoreau) set off in “a vessel of spirit placed on the medium of nature”— a journey in a boat these two adventurous siblings handcrafted to explore the legendary Concord and Merrimack rivers. This duo find themselves guided on a quest to find the means to heal the profound trauma that befell Hank, a great American activist, scientist, and man of letters. Set in the lands that mark the birthplace of the American Revolution, Hank and Jonna experience the ancient ways in which the human soul resonates and interfaces with nature, while witnessing the lives of country folk and the living world’s growing relationship with modernization.
An adaptation of the story behind Thoreau’s first book, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, Of Rivers, Of Days is a journey through the mind of this great writer during his darkest hours. A play with a powerful musical landscape, it challenges conventional theater through movement, song, sign, and the spoken word. The story is framed through the lens of a modern eye, helping to connect the audience to Thoreau’s timeless musings.
Of Rivers, Of Days has four central characters – Hank, the brother; Jonna, the sister; their omnipresent guide; and the River they travel on. This River is an original music score composed by Cornelius Dufallo, violinist of the avant-garde string quartet, Ethel.
Soul Strata Theater is a family of theater artists dedicated to helping one another develop artistic voice and vision in an effort to impact the world.
Danyon Davis is movement teacher at the Juilliard School Drama Division and Circle in the Square Theater School, where he is assists Moni Yakim, the Head of Movement and Physical Acting programs. Danyon also teaches private movement classes.
Danyon is a veteran regional theater actor. He notably performed with the SITI Company in the United States and Europe from 2001-2006. Danyon also spent time in the early part of the last decade with Felix Ivanov’s workgroup – often found on Brighton Beach fighting vampires on Saturday mornings. In 2004, Danyon began residence at the live/ workspace, studio111, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn where he began to working on OF RIVERS, OF DAYS with Cornelius Dufallo and Kenji Bunch. Danyon was blessed to spend time with Thomas Richards, Mario Biagini, and the team at the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards in early 2005. In 2008, Danyon spent time alone at the Harveyville Project in Harveyville, Kansas deepening his analysis of movement, as well as his understanding of all of the methodologies he’d been exposed to.
Danyon’s continued efforts to make work led to a residency hosted by Orlando Pabotoy at California State Long Beach, in the summer of 2008. It was at this time that Danyon and Abby Gerdts began their collaboration by creating the etude, MONODY, with Ali Sohaili. Danyon and Abby went on to begin development of OF RIVERS, OF DAYS in Los Angeles that summer, and would go on to continue their researches in Istanbul, New York City, and New Hampshire intermittently over the next few years.
Beginning in the fall of 2008, Danyon was fortunate to begin a dialogue with Aaron Kubey, the Artistic Director of the National Theater of the Deaf, who coincidentally and aptly suggested that Alexandria Wailes might be an ideal collaborator to join Soul Strata Theater.
Danyon is a rabid Green Bay Packers fan and cannot seem to part with the ashes of his dearly departed cat, Peg.
Abby Gerdts would like to thank Danyon for all of his dedication to making OF RIVERS OF DAYS come to life – It’s been an honor. In 2006, Abby helped to found a non-profit organization called ASTEP (Artists Striving To End Poverty) that seeks to use the arts as a tool to empower young people in underserved communities around the world. She continues to work for ASTEP in New York City and has also implemented similar programming independently in communities in the United States, The Dominican Republic, South Africa, and Turkey. At home and abroad, Abby has performed in plays, musicals, children’s theater, and jazz clubs. Abby is a graduate of The Juilliard School’s Drama Division.
Ali Sohaili is a member of Soul Strata Theater who also happens to be in his 2nd year of training as a member of the 42nd Group to be admitted to the Juilliard Drama Division. So, he’s busy.
Alexandria Wailes has a BFA in Modern Dance from University of the Arts. She was classically trained in dance from the age of three and since university, has choreographed numerous pieces that combine visual/non-verbal expression with contemporary dance. As a Deaf artist, Ms. Wailes always felt at ease with dance and movement. She discovered early on that the communications of the body, through dance, is universal and defies spoken languages.
In 2008, Ms. Wailes was the choreographer for the artist- Sia- and her music video: SOON WE WILL BE FOUND. 2005 premiered NEITHER YOU NOR I, a piece she co-choreographed and performed for Chashama Summer Festival in NYC. During the summer of 2002, one of her choreographies was featured at Deaf Way 2; LUCID FLIP. Between 1999- 2002 She choreographed a few pieces for MSSD’S Winter Dance Concerts and Gallaudet University’s Young Scholars Program.
In addition to being well-versed in dance, her professional credits as an actor include Broadway: BIG RIVER; NY/Regional: MOTHER COURAGE (w. Meryl Streep), FETES DE LA NUIT, PIPPIN, THE WILD BOYS, SLEEPING BEAUTY WAKES, BIG RIVER; Television: LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT, NURSE JACKIE, CONVICTION; Film: ALWAYS CHASING LOVE, FREEDOM IS NOT FREE. Ms Wailes received a 2007 LA Ovation nomination for ‘Best Lead Female in a Musical’ for SLEEPING BEAUTY WAKES. In her spare time, she’s working on original plays, is a teaching artist for drama/movement, teaches ASL and is an educator at several museums in NYC.
EXPLORING ASL PERFORMANCE
Taught by Alexandria Wailes
This challenging, ground-breaking class focuses on the art of communicating the meaning and subtlety of the written word through American Sign language. This class is for Hearing, Deaf, or Hard-Of-Hearing users of ASL. Whether your knowledge is rudimentary or you are a lifelong practitioner, this class will hone the skills necessary to proficiently use ASL to express yourself on stage and on camera.
This six-week class will teach performance body awareness through monologue and scene work, as well as through improvised exercises and the basics of movement and dance fundamentals. It will also hone and shape the basics of what it takes to create and re-create the perfect audition.
MONDAYS, March 7 thru April 11 - 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Triskelion Arts
118 North 11th Street, 3rd Floor, Studio Y
Brooklyn, New York 11211
www.triskelionarts.org
COST: $140.00 / 6-week session - pay via check on the 1st day of class, payable to Ritual Theatre Company, or at BROWN PAPER TICKETS.
NO SINGLE-CLASS PAYMENTS ALLOWED.
http://www.ritualtheatrecompany.org/node/58
For details, contact DavidAronDamane@RitualTheatreCompany.org
COMING SOON - STAY TUNED FOR DATES AND TIMES!!
EXPLORING ASL PERFORMANCE
Taught by Alexandria Wailes
This challenging, ground-breaking class focuses on the art of communicating the meaning and subtlety of the written word through American Sign language. This class is for Hearing, Deaf, or Hard-Of-Hearing users of ASL. Whether your knowledge is rudimentary or you are a lifelong practitioner, this class will hone the skills necessary to proficiently use ASL to express yourself on stage and on camera.
This six-week class will teach performance body awareness through monologue and scene work, as well as through improvised exercises and the basics of movement and dance fundamentals. It will also hone and shape the basics of what it takes to create and re-create the perfect audition.
