#NewsFlash | Queens Theatre presents plays inspired by Flushing Meadows Corona Park
BY QEDC It's In Queens
Flushing Meadows Corona Park is in the middle of Queens and at the center of this drama.
Queens Theatre kicks off Park Plays tonight. Organized with Theatre 167, this nine-show festival presents 10 shorts inspired by the borough’s biggest public space.
An ensemble takes care of the acting, and topics include romance, alien invasion, dragon boats, and dreams. Here’s more information on the plays.
- G.O.A.T. is about three women who bring tailgating to a new level in order to help their favorite athlete win the ultimate prize (by Ngozi Anyanwu, directed by Mary Hodges).
- Care is about the romance of friendship (by Jess Barbagallo, directed by Emma Miller).
- The Tennis Climb tells the story of a potential alien invasion that brings a mother and her daughter together (by Frank Paiva, directed by Evan Cummings).
- Race Day follows three sisters who discover their path to victory at the annual Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival (by Don Nguyen, directed by Mary Hodges).
- What We Once Were depicts a trio of museum curators who recall memories of the city (by Lauren Yee, directed by Marilee Talkington).
- Afternoon Prayers, which is inspired by a moment in Marina Budhos’ Queens-based novel Watched, shows the intersecting dreams of three passersby in the park (by Jenny Lyn Bader, directed by Michele O’Brien).
- Ruthie at the Fair is a coming-of-age piece about Ruthie at the 1939 World’s Fair (by MJ Kaufman, directed by Marilee Talkington).
- Amazons of Tomorrow is a comedy about Eleanor Roosevelt and the 1939 World’s Fair (by Rex McGregor, directed by Evan Cummings).
- Time Away shows how a grandmother and a little girl – both runaways – find common ground (by Richard Hinojosa, directed by Emma Miller).
- Ballgirl explores how a youngster who retrieves and supplies tennis balls at the 2016 U.S. Open can grow up to rule the world (by Gracie Gardner, directed by Emma Miller).
Six of the plays were commissioned. The other four were selected through an open submission process.
Set to run through until Aug. 6, shows are Friday at 8 pm; Saturday at 2 pm and 8 pm; Sunday at 3 pm; and Thursday, Aug. 3, at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $18, but students and seniors pay $15.
There are audio description performances on Saturday, Aug. 5, at 2 pm and 8 pm.
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Images: Queens Theatre/Dominick Totino