Downtown Urban Theater Festival

The Third Annual Downtown Urban Theater Festival (DUTF) is a two-week celebration of urban expression by a cross-section of playwrights and performing artists. This annual event showcases theatrical works that echo the true spirit of urban life and speak to a whole generation of men and women whose lives defy categorizing along conventional lines.

ORENTHAL
by Maarten van Hinte
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
8:00 pm
ORENTHAL portrays the rise and fall of an All-American superstar versus Shakespeare’s Othello. It’s a monologue with cuts and scratches back and forth between Shakespeare, mainstream USA and the streets that feed America’s dreams and nightmares. This powerful, dramatic play is written by Dutch playwright Maarten van Hinte and directed by award-winning playwright and director Reg E. Gaines.

SKINIMIN 12 & A LATINA PREPARES
Thursday, May 13, 2004
8:00 pm
SKINIMIN 12
by Jennifer Cendana Armas
Twelve seconds between a woman’s last look (or two…or three…) in the mirror and heading out the door. A free thought performance of routine, where you’re never sure if what you’re seeing is in front of you . . . (Double Header with A LATINA PREPARES)

A LATINA PREPARES
by Desi Moreno-Penson
Thursday, May 13, 2004
8:00 pm
While in an audition for yet another demeaning stereotypical role, a Latina actress finally fed up with all the stereotypes from Carmen to Jennifer, takes revenge upon her auditioners . . . by being a damn, good actress. (Double Header with SKINIMIN 12)

STRAIGHT OUT
by Regie Cabico
Friday, May 14, 2004
8:00 pm
Through spoken word and music, this play follows a queer Filipino boy’s journey from a southern Maryland town to New York City while he faces the obstacles of Catholicism, media and Mother. Regie Cabico has written several hit shows and has been featured on HBO, MTV and PBS.

HYPNO ASTRO N MATTER
by Kin Tommy Chan
Saturday, May 15, 2004
8:00 pm
Trapped in your everyday life? There is a light, just open your eyes and try to see what lies just beyond the darkness. Listen to the music and let the dance be the guide through Hypno’s Astro world. Kin Tommy Chan is a performance artist and dancer who has worked with Cirque Du Soleil and been featured on MTV Eastern Europe.

TORCHED
by Jeffrey Colt
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
8:00 pm
TORCHED is the dramatic musical story of a man who finds the love of his life on the day he thought his life was over. Guided by a piano-playing, lounge-singing sage, he will stop at nothing to make this love work. But sometimes it can take more than love to make all your dreams come true. Sometimes even the perfect flame will leave nothing but ashes…

A GLASS OF WATER & WORKING THINGS OUT
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
8:00 pm
A GLASS OF WATER
by Bob Ost
Two gay men on the way to Bergdorf’s, stop at an outdoor atrium to rest on a miserably hot day. The table they rest at has a tall, cold glass of water which stimulates a heated discussion about risk-taking, their relationship and their fear of AIDS. (Double Header with WORKING THINGS OUT)

WORKING THINGS OUT
by Mwalim
It has been said that some people enter your life for a lesson, a season or a lifetime? What is meant to be here? This Native American playwright paints a humorous urban tale of a relationship . . . as it grows. (Double Header with A GLASS OF WATER)

LOS DUENDES
(The Restless Spirits)
by Mario Bosquez
Thursday, May 20, 2004
8:00 pm
It is a hot summer night in a South Texas town. Several generations of a Mexican-American family gather at their late grandmother’s house to divide her belongings among them. The woman, a Mexican faithhealer (curandera), has left behind a legacy of family secrets and disturbing folktales that lurk in the shadows of the small home where she practiced her healing arts. Will the house give up its secrets? Three family members find out when their hidden plans collide during the “Mexican witching hour.” Written by novelist and CBS anchor Mario Bosquez, the play was named a finalist in the Paul Green Playwrights Competition and a semifinalist in the Southwest Festival for New Plays.

THE NORTHERN KINGDOM
by Nancy Fales Garrett
Friday, May 21, 2004
8:00 pm
In this new play, critically acclaimed playwright Nancy Fales Garrett
tells of three American families whose lives – and deaths – in Iraq and
Vermont are intertwined to create an opportunity for Grace. The Northern Kingdom features an all-star cast including Emmy award-winning actress Dorothy Lyman.

6 HITS & URBAN CREED
Saturday, May 22, 2004
8:00 pm
6 HITS
by Claudia Alick
Short works including “BOXING ENNUI”, described as “a surreal hip-hop nightmare about what gets us off, and what offs us, is deeply disturbing, but in a novel way that cuts through to truths about loneliness, lust, and our McLuhanish disconnections with disembodied others” and the controversial “SICK RHYMES” hailed as “intensely moving” and “powerful.” (Double Header with URBAN CREED)

URBAN CREED
by Mayda del Valle
The dynamic Chicago-native Boricua Mayda del Valle reveals stories of family, identity and love in this one-women testimony. She recently starred in the Tony Award-winning Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Jam on Broadway. (Double Header with 6 HITS)