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In 2000, the Greenway Court Theatre first opened its doors with the premiere of “Sonnets for an Old Century,” a series of monologs set in the afterlife. How fitting that – twenty years later – the Greenway Court Theatre presents a collection of eight monologs bringing many of the “Sonnets” thoughts and perspectives to the very different world of 2020. IF I SHOULD WAKE has been divided into two parts, each with four monologs exploring some contemporary – and also timeless – issues in a fresh and creative way.
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PART 1 opens with “The Waiting Room,” a tale featuring Sammy June as Billie, an Instagram celebrity who has been stuck in her childhood bedroom for months courtesy of COVID – and who must now re-read and re-think her teenage diary entries.
In the second monolog, Madeleine Humphries as SJ in “Body Quakes,” a piece by Arianna Basco. Love, loss of identity, and independence clash as a woman realizes that she must reclaim her body when her former lover returns.
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“The Reclamation of my Black Ass Imagination: An Awakening” features Larry Powell as just Somebody, with movement provided by Jamal Wade. Has someone stolen his imagination? And can he imagine it back?
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The final piece in PART 1 is “Francis,” penned by Boni B. Alvarez and featuring Jon Victor Corpus as Francis. Surfing the web can be quite an experience – but perhaps the electronic sea has a life of its own.
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PART 2 opens with “They Say My Name” by Inda Craig-Galvan. Featuring Carla Valentine as Jackie, this hapless lady has been clinging desperately to a pole over an abyss for 49 days – but perhaps this is the day that everything changes. Should she let go?
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“Cassandra” by Alex Alpharaoh features Shanelle Darlene as Cassandra, a college freshman who gets to share her divorced father’s thoughts and dreams through a poignant letter in which she suddenly realizes the sacrifices which he made to make sure that he stayed in her life.
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Diana Burbano is both author and actor in “Quicksand,” her wanderings through downtown Los Angeles as her own traumatic history unfolds.
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Finally, Yehuda Hyman’s “The Let Go” features Trieu Tran as He. As his body dies and turns to a vaporous haze, he meets a stranger who is also fading away – but will this stop them from a final new kind of dance?
IF I SHOULD WAKE offers a peek at some young talents as they consider life, death, and everything before, in between, and after. Presented online, the eight monologs aptly reflect 2020, a time of plague, uncertainty, and isolation – but also of creativity.
IF I SHOULD WAKE is screened in two parts. Part 1 originally streamed at 7 p.m. (PST) from 11/20/20 and continued on demand through 11/27/20, with a reprise from 12/4/20 to 12/10/20. Part 2 began streaming at 7 p.m. (PST) on 11/27/20 and continues on demand through 12/10/20. Both Part 1 and Part 2 are free online, and each is 45 minutes long.
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