On today’s special episode, Nick brings his professional life to the podcast! We talk about Long Wharf Theatre‘s upcoming world premiere of “On The Grounds of Belonging“. We dive into a short conversation about the new face of American Theatre, while discussing the excitement of an LGBTQ+ themed production premiering in New Haven.
Returning from break, we are joined by playwright, Ricardo Pérez González and Director David Mendizábal to chat about the upcoming world premiere of On The Grounds of Belonging.
On The Grounds of Belonging
By Ricardo Pérez González Directed by David Mendizábal October 9 – November 3, 2019
Timeless in its telling, this stirring, universal story of star-crossed lovers will sweep you away. In Houston at the height of Jim Crow, segregation pervades society in every way, including the underground and illegal gay bar scene. One night a chance encounter between Russell, a local at the Blacks-only Gold Room, and Tom, from the whites-only Red Room, leads to a forbidden romance that could destroy them both. The spellbinding On the Grounds of Belonging signals the arrival of a bold new voice in the American theatre.
USE CODE: GAYTALK when booking for $15 off tickets, restrictions apply by visiting longwharf.org
RICARDO PÉREZ GONZÁLEZ (Playwright), a queer Puerto Rican playwright and TV writer with bacalao on his breath and salsa on his hips, recently finished writing for the third season of Designated Survivor on Netflix. His first play, the story of the WWI Christmas Truce In Fields Where They Lay (dir. Brad Raimondo), was hailed by the NY Times as “gripping” and “moving drama.” Since that debut, his Alan Turing biopic, The Tender Peel, won him an Alfred P. Sloan Grant. He is an alumnus of the Emerging Writers Group at the Public Theater and Sundance’s screenwriters intensive and theatre lab. On the Grounds of Belonging debuted at the Public as part of Public Studio. It’s the first in a trilogy that follows a pair of lovers, one black and one white, from the 1950s to the present day. Additional writing credits include the drag ball musical Neon Baby (book writer/co-lyricist, Pregones); Ashé, his Puerto Rican style two brothers myth (UP Theater; Labyrinth); his transgender family drama La casa de Ocaso (Asunción Playwriting Competition); and his BDSM drama R.A.C.K. Works in progress include a comedy about cultural scapegoating, Name & Blame, Inc., and a play about the cutthroat world of women in academia, The Judgment of Athena. Upcoming projects include Orlando, a pilot with Nina Tassler about the Puerto Rican diaspora after Hurricane María, and dditional workshops of the Belonging Trilogy, and the Magic Theatre World Premiere of Don’t Eat the Mangos.
For more information on RICARDO PÉREZ GONZÁLEZvisit: Website ●Instagram
DAVID MENDIZÁBAL (Director) is a director/designer and one of the Producing Artistic Leaders of the Obie Award winning The Movement Theatre Company. He is also the Associate Artistic Director of The Sol Project. Select directing credits include: Then They Forgot About The Rest (INTAR); The Maturation of the Inconvenient Negro, oriNegro (Cherry Lane Mentor Project); And She Would Stand Like This, Look Upon Our Lowliness, and Bintou (The Movement); and Tell Hector I Miss Him (Atlantic / Drama League Nomination). Former Artistic Associate at Atlantic Theater Company, current member of Latinx Theatre Commons, and Wingspace. Alumnus of Drama League, Lincoln Center Theater Director’s Lab, NALAC Leadership Institute, & artEquity. BFA NYU/Tisch.
For more information on RICARDO PÉREZ GONZÁLEZvisit: Website ●Instagram
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