2022
Breaking the Binary Theatre presented the inaugural Breaking the Binary Theatre Festival in October 2022.
Throughout the week of October 10-16, 2022 (coinciding with LGBTQ+ History Month and National Coming Out Day), seven teams of TNB2S+ playwrights, directors, dramaturgs, stage managers, and performers (yes, even in roles written for cis folks!) came together at Theatre Row to develop and showcase new work created by and for TNB2S+ artists.
The 2022 Breaking the Binary Theatre Festival welcomed over 650 attendees to eight reading presentations.
All tickets were complementary.
Over $70,000 was paid out to over 100 TNB2S+ artists.
All creative decisions were made by TNB2S+ artists.
Co-Curators: Dominique Rider and Josephine Kearns (she/her)
Cultural Consultant: Samuel Morreale (they/them)
Line Producer: rohr driscoll
Casting Director: The Telsey Office / Charlie Hano, CSA
Marketing Advisor: Molly Barson (they/them)
Social Media Manager: Robert Ackerman (he/him)
TRANS WORLD by Ty Defoe (he/we/ty)
Monday, October 10, 2022 at 7pm
Directed by Dominique Rider
Dramaturgy by Josephine Kearns (she/her)
Stage Management by Sami Binder (they/them)
Featuring: b (they/them/b), Carolina Đỗ (she/her), Essence Lotus (she/her), Futaba Shioda (he/him/his), Logan Rozos (he/him), Maybe Burke (they/she), MJ Rawls (she/her/hers), Samy Nour Younes Figaredo (he/him/they/them)
Stage Directions read by Zainab Barry (she/they)
TWITCH by Liliana Padilla (they/them)
Tuesday, October 11, 2022 at 7pm
Directed by Jack Ferver (they/them)
Dramaturgy by Desiree S. Mitton (she/they)
Assistant Directed and Stage Management by Annika Prager (they/them)
Featuring Jojo Brown (she/her/hers), Joslyn DeFreece (she/they), Marilee Talkington (she/they), Pauli Pontrelli (they/them/ze/zir), Spencer Weidie (they/them), and TL Thompson (they/them/T)
Stage Directions read by Meghan Piper Johnson (mpj) (they/them)
HIDE AND HIDE by Roger Q. Mason (they/them)
Wednesday, October 12, 2022 at 7pm
Directed by é boylan (they/them)
Dramaturgy by Gaven Trinidad (they/he/siya)
Stage Management by Mars Neri (they/them)
Featuring Ayla Sullivan (they/he) and Han Van Sciver (they/them)
Stage Directions read by Eliana Coe (they/she)
WORK HARD HAVE FUN MAKE HISTORY by reid tang (they/them)
Thursday, October 13, 2022 at 7pm
Directed by Kedian Keohan (they/he)
Dramaturgy by Lewis Fender (he/him)
Stage Management by Elyse Durand (they/she)
Featuring Morgan Sullivan (he/they), Sagan Chen (they/he), and Z Infante (they/them)
Stage Directions read by Marisa Budnick (she/they)
NANA by Aziza Barnes
Friday, October 14, 2022 at 7pm
Directed by Rad Pereira (they/them)
Dramaturgy by Al Parker (they/them)
Stage Management by Joseph Distl (he/they)
Featuring Alex Lugo (they/she), B Alexander (they/them), Becca Blackwell (they/them), Ianne Fields Stewart (she/they), J Riley Jr. (she/they), Lily Dominique (she/they), Mele Sabú (they/them), and Mia Sterbini (they/she)
Stage Directions read by Zainab Barry (she/they)
THELMA AND LOUISE AND THE TIME MACHINE by Mara Vélez Meléndez (she/her)
Saturday, October 15, 2022 at 7pm
Directed by Sivan Battat (she/they)
Dramaturgy by Aydan Shahdadpuri (they/he)
Stage Management by Nat Kelley DiMario (they/them)
Assistant Directed by Pauli Pontrelli (they/them/ze/zir)
Featuring Alex Might (her), Che’Li (they/them), Nora Schell (they/them), and Tẹmídayọ Amay (they/them/friend)
OVERHEARD: Fifteen Commissioned Monologues Written by TNB2S+ Artists for TNB2S+ Artists
Sunday, October 16, 2022 at 3pm and 7pm
Co-conceived by L Morgan Lee (she/her) and George Strus (they/them)
by A.A Brenner (they/them/he), Azure D. Osborne-Lee (he/they), Bianca Leigh, Else Went (they/she), Isaac Gómez (they/them), Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin (they/she), Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi (she/her), Liqing Xu (they/she), Mashuq Mushtaq Deen (he/they), Sam Hamashima (they/them), Sharifa Yasmin (she/her), Sylvan Oswald (he/him), Timothy DuWhite (pronoun inclusive), travis l. tate (they/them), and Victor I. Cazares (they/them).
Directed by L Morgan Lee (she/her)
Dramaturgy by George Strus (they/them)
Monologue prompt created by Dominique Rider and Josephine Kearns (she/her)
Assistant Directed by Mika Kauffman (they/them/ze/zir)
Featuring Basit (they/them), Bianca Leigh, Evie Schuckman (they/them), L Morgan Lee (she/her), and yannick-robin eike mirko (they/he)
Stage Directions read by Ayla Sullivan (they/he)
In October 2022, Breaking the Binary Theatre co-hosted an Affinity Night for BTB Artist Victor I. Cazares’ AMERICAN (TELE)VISIONS at New York Theatre Workshop alongside The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center and PEN America. Victor participated in a post-show talkback alongside BTB Artists Gaven Trinidad and Rad Pereira (and Brian Otaño).
In November 2022, Breaking the Binary Theatre hosted a Trivia and Game Night via Signature Theatre Company’s SigSpace initiative. BTB Artist Z Infante hosted.
In November 2022, Breaking the Binary Theatre hosted a TNB2S+ Affinity Night at Roundabout Theatre Company’s Broadway production of 1776. Over 200 TNB2S+ artists were given complimentary tickets to the production (in collaboration with Thee Open House Project) and BTB Artist Dominique Rider moderated a post-show talkback with the production’s TNB2S+ cast members and creatives: Ariella Serur (she/they), Bex Ayers (they/she), Imani Pearl Williams (she/they), John Meredith (they/them), Sav Souza (they/them), and Sushma Saha (pronoun inclusive).
CERCLE HERMAPHRODITOS by Shualee Cook (she/her)
In December 2022, Breaking the Binary Theatre presented a private week-long workshop of Shualee Cook’s CERCLE HERMAPHRODITOS.
Directed by L Morgan Lee (she/her)
Associate Directed by Pauli Pontrelli (they/them/ze/zir)
Dramaturgy by Al Parker (they/them)
Stage Management by Joseph Distl (he/they)
Casting by The Telsey Office / Charlie Hano, CSA
featuring Adam Chanler-Berat (he/him), Han Van Sciver (they/them), Joslyn DeFreece (she/her/they/them), Justin David Sullivan (he/she/they), Kevin Kantor (they/them), L Morgan Lee (she/her), Mark Ashin (he/him), and Nick Mathews (he/him)