The Flea Will Present World Premiere of Bathhouse.pptx

The Flea will present the world-premiere production Bathhouse.pptx by Jesús I. Valles (they/them), directed by Obie Award-winner Chay Yew (he/him). The play will run at the Flea Theater March 19-April 22. Bathhouse.pptx has been developed in partnership with Valles as co-producer on all elements of their production, in keeping with the Flea’s new operating model.

Bathhouse.pptx was selected as the 2023 recipient of the Yale Drama Series Prize judged by Jeremy O. Harris and is the first recipient of the Flea’s production commission, an open call program that provides finishing funds and a full production to an experimental new work by a Black, brown, and/or queer artist.

In the play, Presenter is a gay Latiné student whose PowerPoint presentation on the history of cleanliness and bathing quickly starts to burst at the seams with appearances from the ghosts of a bathhouse at the end of the world.

Valles will be the first Tow Foundation Playwright-in-Residence at the Flea. During this appointment, in addition to premiering Bathhouse.pptx, they will play an integral role in the ongoing expansion of the Flea’s artistic programs and initiatives by attending board meetings, representing the Flea across the city and regionally, and serving on the Flea’s new artistic advisory committee.