NYC Sheen Center’s – Two Remarkable Plays

By Mabel Pais

The Sheen Center for Thought And Culture presents two plays: “When It Happens To You” and “Unheard Voices” in October 2019.

 When It Happens To You

“The first time I held my daughter after she was born I made a silent promise to her I would always protect her”

– Tawni O’Dell, playwright, author

When It Happens to You,”a theatrical memoirby “New York Times” best-selling authorTawni O’Dell (“Back Roads,” “Angels Burning”), will play a seven-week limited engagement, October 2 – November 10, off-Broadway at The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture(18 Bleecker Street, corner of Elizabeth Street, NYC) in the Loreto Theater.

The world-premiere production is directed and co-conceived by two-time Tony-nominee Lynne Taylor-Corbett. The official opening is Sunday, October 13 at 7:30PM.

It doesn’t fade over time. It metastasizes. A sexual assault can last a matter of minutes, but the subsequent disintegration can last a lifetime. This is true for the victim and the family surrounding her. A mother. A brother. Even a pet. Based on her personal experience, Tawni O’Dell’s theatrical memoir, “When It Happens to You,” is about a mother’s struggle to help restore a sense of safety and wholeness to her family after her daughter was the victim of a brutal attack. It’s a journey that continues to this day, nearly five years since she received that middle of the night phone call every parent dreads.

“The first time I held my daughter after she was born I made a silent promise to her I would always protect her,” says Tawni O’Dell. “Then came a night in our future when that promise was shattered. I couldn’t protect her from the man who stalked her through the streets of her beloved New York City, broke into her home, and assaulted her,” says Tawni O’Dell. “During the next few years, her life fell apart and so did my own as I tried to help her deal with the fallout from this awful crime. As a way to help make sense of what we were going through, I did what writers do: I wrote about it. I didn’t know if I would ever share our story with the world, but I’m proud to say my daughter has decided that we should… in the hopes that we might be able to help other victims and their families. Rape touches just about every one of us. More women are sexually assaulted in this country than are affected by heart disease and breast cancer combined. To say it is an epidemic, is not hyperbole.”

InWhen It Happens to You, O’Dell is joined on stage by actors E. Clayton Cornelious, Connor Lawrence, and Kelly Swint. “When It Happens to Youfeatures scenic design by Rob Bissinger and Anita LaScala, lighting design by Daisey Long, costume design by David Woolard.

Associate Producers of “When It Happens to You”are Joseph Parone, Sandra Maxwell Brooksand Kimberly JaJuan.

 

(front) Kelly Swint and Tawni O’Dell

TAWNI O’DELL

Tawni O’Dell is the “New York Times”bestselling author of six novels including “Back Roads”which was an Oprah Winfrey Book Club selection and was recently made into a film with a screenplay adapted by Tawni. She also wrote and co-produced the popular audio drama, “Rewrites.”Her novels have been published in over 40 countries. Tawni grew up in western Pennsylvania and is a graduate of Northwestern University. To learn more, visit tawniodell.com

(l-r) Connor Lawrence, Kelly Swint (seated), Tawni O’Dell (blazer), E. Clayton Cornelious
Photos / Jeremy Daniel.

LISTINGS INFORMATION:“When It Happens to Youplays a seven-week limited engagement, October 2 – November 10 off-Broadway at The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture (18 Bleecker Street, corner of Elizabeth Street, NYC) in the Loreto Theater.

The official opening is Sunday, October 13 at 7:30PM.

For information on the Performance Schedule and Tickets, visit sheencenter.org/shows/happensor The Sheen Center box office, or call 212-925-2812. Regular and Premium tickets are available.

A scene from “Unheard Voices.”

Unheard Voices

 “It is so important that we tell our own story. Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it”

  • Judy Tate, ASP’s Producing Artistic Director

 

“History tends to record the words of the mighty; it’s often up to artists to imagine the thoughts and feelings of the powerless…  The American Slavery Project conjures the realities and the dreams of individual lives that had been lost to the ages.” —Laurel Graeber, New York Times

 The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture(sheen.org) at 18 Bleecker Street, corner of Elizabeth Street, New York City and The American Slavery Project(ASP)present “Unheard Voices”for two morning performances at 11AM and two evening performances at 7PM on October 15 and 16. “Unheard Voicesmarks the 400th anniversary of the arrival of enslaved Africans to the Jamestown Colony.

“Unheard Voices” is a monologue play from the creators of last season’s sold out “Haunted Files” of The American Slavery Project, with traditional West African singing and drumming based on individual burials at the African Burial Ground in Lower Manhattan.

Shane Taylor
Photos / Courtesy American Slavery Project

Conceived by Judy Tate, 17 playwrights were commissioned to study 17th and 18th century New York and the burial ground with 419 graves of anonymous men, women, and children who lived in and around the city in those days. There are no extant records of the free and enslaved men, women and children buried there. With “Unheard Voices,” writers have imagined the lives of some of the 30,000 African-descended people and given them voice.

“Some years ago I was meditating at the African Burial Ground. I had been down there when they discovered the graves in the mid-’90’s. I was sitting there, looking at the etchings in the stones, and the only things missing were the names. And I thought, wow, these people were buried without names. They need to be given voices. Who does that? Theater people do. We make people live,” says Judy Tate, American Slavery Project’s Producing Artistic Director. “This was a job for artists, for playwrights. So the American Slavery Project commissioned playwrights to study the burials, imagine the lives, and give voices to the men, women and children that history has made silent. It is so important that we tell our own story. Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

TALK BACK

Following performances of “Unheard Voices,” Judy Tate will moderate talkback discussions with audience members and the company. Supplemental educational materials are available for classroom use through American Slavery Project.

EXHIBITION

Selected pieces from the Gene Alexander Peters Collection of Rare and Historical African American Artifacts will be on display in the theater lobby, including documents of sale, runaway ads, shackles, and other physical artifacts from the era.

Tickets and reservations for “Unheard Voices” are available at SheenCenter.orgor OvationTix.com,in person at The Sheen Center box office, or by phone at 212-925-2812.

The two performances at 11AM are ideal for high school groups. Those

interested in bringing a student group to a performance, contact Elena Castello by email at elenacastello@sheencenter.orgor call 212-219-3132 x1383 between 9AM and 5PM, weekdays.

THE AMERICAN SLAVERY PROJECT

The American Slavery Project is a theatrical response to increasing revisionism in our nation’s discourse about slavery, the Civil War, and Jim Crow. ASP supports African-American playwrights who write about the era, creates conversation in the community, and provides educational workshops for students and adults. To learn more, visit americanslaveryproject.org

Watch a short video of “Unheard Voices” –

https://youtu.be/jSy1kPY5uH4

 THE SHEEN CENTER

The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture is a New York City arts center of the Archdiocese of New York located in NoHo that presents a vibrant mix of theater, film, music, art and talk events. To learn more, visit sheencenter.org

(Mabel Paiswrites on Social Issues, Spirituality, the Arts and Entertainment, and Health & Wellness.  She can be reached at mabelep1406@gmail.com)

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