Showcasing 'theatre that changes our world,’ the series kicks off at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, November 27 with a powerful performance of the short play, CELL, to be followed by a timely conversation.
People go to live theatre to be entertained — to laugh, to cry — to escape life’s everyday realities. But, theatre also has the capacity to open our hearts and to shake us to our core.
— Cheryl Wiesenfeld, producer
The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ÊÓƵÎÞÏÞÖƹۿ´ will present CELL on Tuesday, November 27, 2018 at 8:00 p.m., as part of its Global Theatre Performance Series: Theatre That Changes Our World. Curated by award-winning Broadway and off-Broadway producer Cheryl Wiesenfeld, this performance series will present theatrical readings of plays with real-world cultural themes ripped from the headlines of current news media. Following each production, there will be a topical conversation between the audience, artists, and experts.
CELL is a powerful one-act play written by Cassandra Medley that “deftly explores the dirty antidemocratic secret of institutionalized racism” (The New York Times). When a jaded guard arranges jobs for her sister and niece, Gwen, at an immigrant detention center, the family erupts into a battle over home and homeland security. As time ticks down for Gwen to save a detained child, CELL paints a searing picture of the secrets we keep to survive.
After the November 27 performance of CELL, the Global Theatre Performance Series will next present the work Gun Country at the Quick on April 16, 2019. As curator, Wiesenfeld shared, “People go to live theatre to be entertained – to laugh, to cry — to escape life’s everyday realities. But, theatre also has the capacity to open our hearts and to shake us to our core. As audience members, theatre can educate us and change our viewpoints. In showcasing these two plays, I aim to show how theatre can push us in the direction of social change. Theatre can alter us in unimaginable ways and in the process, theatre can change the world.”
Cheryl Wiesenfeld has worked as an editor, writer, photographer, and producer. Since 1998, she has produced 20 Broadway and off-Broadway theatre shows, with two more currently in the works. She has won four Tony Awards for her productions, and numerous other accolades including Drama League, Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, and N.Y. Drama Critics awards.
The Quick is pleased to receive support from the Department of Economic and Community Development, Connecticut Office of the Arts, which will enable to the Quick to invite Cheryl Wiesenfeld to engage with educational activities both on- and off-campus with students from Bridgeport, Fairfield, and the ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ÊÓƵÎÞÏÞÖƹۿ´ community. Educational activities will include classroom talks about the subject of the plays as well as a talk-back discussion following the performance.
CELL is sponsored by WSHU and the Westport Inn with support from the Department of Economic and Community Development, Connecticut Office of the Arts, which also receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
