October 23 -
November 13, 2022
Since it began in 1977, EST’s Marathon of One-Act Plays has presented fully produced plays by established and emerging writers alongside each other on our stage. Our 38th Marathon of One-Act Plays will celebrate work from artists who identify as Black, Indigenous & People of Color (BIPOC). Two EST Member Artists, director Colette Robert and playwright Mike Lew, are serving as Co-Artistic Directors, and have curated a lineup of 11 new short plays written by BIPOC playwrights.
Tr@k Grls (pt1)
written by Bleu Beckford-Burrell*, directed by Elizabeth Van Dyke*
featuring Sydney Lolita Cusic & Monique Robinson
Raeni Bailey and Anita Gordon have four things in common right now, living in Far Rockaway, Queens, the High School Track team and being Black Girls. A homage play to the Lady Seahorses of Far Rockaway High School.
Brass Knuckles
written by Yussef El Guindi, directed by Sivan Battat
featuring Sarah Nina Hayon
As Maysoon puts on her hijab she tries to steel herself against the possible verbal, even physical assaults she might have to endure during the course of the day for wearing a hijab.
Prepared
written by Keiko Green, directed by Jess McLeod
featuring Will Dagger, Fernando Gonzalez, & Kendyl Ito
Global warming, tidal waves, and tornadoes have destroyed all of humankind as we know it…well, all except Troop 4337. Set in the not-so-distant future, the only survivors of the apocalypse are a troop of boy scouts led by an eccentric Scoutmaster. They soldier on, fighting off the all-consuming cosmic loneliness, as they attempt to make peace with a vengeful Mother Nature.
Breath of Life: a choreoplay of Black Love
written by Goldie E. Patrick, directed by Jonathan McCrory
featuring Ashley Bufkin, David J. Cork, Biko Eisen-Martin, & Margaret Odette
When Toni and Drew, both Black community activists, are hit with the double pandemic of COVID-19 and Police Brutality, the decision of whether to protest in their community or stay home becomes more than a political choice. Separated from each other for the first time in months, each has their own confrontation of the fears they've been holding onto about their new life.
blooms
written by a.k. payne, directed by Chika Ike
featuring Alisha Espinosa, & Kai Heath
Ten minutes before their shift at the grocery store, Leticia tries to prove to Kim that love exists; Kim wishes she could rearrange the world.
Co-Artistic Directors: Mike Lew* & Colette Robert* | Production Stage Manager: Ingrid Pierson | Asst. Stage Manager: Jamiel Burkhart | Scenic Design: Riw Rakkulchon | Lighting Design: Christopher Wong | Costume Design: Isabella Fernandez Rasdal | Props Design: Oscar Escobedo | Sound Design: Caroline Eng
Series B Playwrights
Bleu Beckford-Burrell*
Bleu Beckford-Burrell is a first-generation Jamaican-American actor/playwright. Born and raised in New York City, she works for non-profit organizations where she teaches acting and writing to teens. Some of her plays include P.S. 365, Lyons Pride, La Race. Her plays have been developed at MacDowell, Page73, The Playwrights Realm, Playwrights Horizon, Space on Ryder Farm, Keen Company, South Coast Rep et cet. M.F.A. Rutgers University BleuBeckford.com
Keiko Green
Keiko Green is a playwright, screenwriter, and performer based in Los Angeles and Seattle. She is a recent graduate of UC San Diego’s MFA Playwriting program. Her plays have been developed and/or produced by the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, the Kennedy Center, National New Play Network, the Old Globe, ACT Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, and Playwrights Realm, among others. She currently works as a staff writer on a new series for Hulu and 20th TV.
Photo Credit: Margaret Johnson Sassafras
Yussef El Guindi
Yussef El Guindi's recent productions: Hotter Than Egypt at Marin Theatre Company and ACT theater in Seattle. Bloomsbury/Methuen Drama recently published The Selected Works of Yussef El Guindi. He is the recipient of many honors, including the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award, American Blues Theater’s Blue Ink Playwriting Award, L.A. Weekly's Excellence in Playwriting Award, and the Middle East America Distinguished Playwright Award.
Goldie E. Patrick
For over 20 years Goldie E. Patrick has been working, living, and building artistic collaborations with a unique skill in radically imagining and interrogating Black liberation through her skills as a playwright, cultural worker and director. Goldie has roots in her hometown of Detroit, Washington DC and New York City. Goldie holds a BFA from Howard University and is a current candidate for her MFA in playwriting from Columbia University.
a.k. payne
a.k. payne (she/they) is a playwright, artist-theorist and theatermaker with roots in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her plays love on and engage the interdependencies of Black pasts, presents and futures to find/remember language that might move us towards our collective liberation(s). They hold a B.A. in English and African-American Studies from Yale University and are currently pursuing an MFA in playwriting from Yale School of Drama.
*Denotes EST Member Artist