Test Flight Week #4: Anna of Mariupol & Gray Space
February 16, 2023 - February 18, 2023
7:30pm, Thu/Fri/Sat, James Levin Theatre.
EVERY TICKET is “Choose What You Pay” and will be offered online, over the phone, and at the Box Office.
*Ticket purchases will include both shows, and note that Anna Of Mariupol is approximately 15 minutes and will be presented first.
Double Bill
Anna of Mariupol – Act 1 (A short rock opera)
Studio A LLC
Written and produced by David C. Tabar
Directed by Christina Dupre'
An innocent, young Anna finds family and friends caught up in sudden military conflict and seeks comfort from a higher order.
Gray Space
Written by Melissa T. Crum & Ananias Dixon
Directed by Chennelle Bryant-Harris
Two strangers meet in an abstract environment. Through the shapeshifting of identity and setting, the pair explore how to have difficult conversations in real time.
Click here for COVID-19 Safety Protocols. (New! Thursday Covid-Conscious performances)
The James Levin Theatre is ADA-compliant featuring a patron elevator and an all-gender, wheelchair-accessible restroom
Anna of Mariupol
ENSEMBLE MEMBERS:
Cody Bruce, Nicole DeAnna, Elizabeth Gonzalez, Joshua Gonzalez, Charlie Shehadeh
THE CREATIVE PRODUCTION TEAM INCLUDES:
Sound Engineer: Jon Tabar
Content Warning: Contains depictions of violence surrounding the Russia/Ukraine war.
About the Playwright
Dave once played keyboard in Westlake’s rock band “The Color” while playing trumpet throughout his school years. Today he is best known for music that he composes, produces, and releases on Blackpool Records®. Rock: All That She Wants To Be, You Are First, She’s So Lovely, Livin’ Free. Classical: Air For Trumpet, Stella’s Waltz, Anna of Mariupol – Prelude. Jazz/Blues/Gospel: Dreamer, Ain’t No Mystery, Falling For You, Be With Me Jesus. Dave’s principal recording team are musicians known as Stellarworld®. The 2018 film and music production “Angel in a Foxhole” was co-written and co-produced by Dave through his Studio A Films LLC as a collaboration with Dean Love Films of New York City. Dave also served as Music Director for the production, writing, and scoring the film’s soundtrack with his son Will Tabar. His most recent composition is music for Act 1 of the new rock opera Anna of Mariupol, recently tracked at Lava Room Recording in Cleveland and mixed at Soundworks Studios in Leeds, UK.
Gray Space
ENSEMBLE MEMBERS:
Cyril Amanfo & Colleen McCaughey
THE CREATIVE PRODUCTION TEAM INCLUDES:
Sound Designer: James Kosmatka
Content Warning: This production includes strong language, depictions of racism, and the mention of sexual assault.
About the Playwrights
Melissa Crum is a Cleveland-based director, writer, performer, educator, and meaning maker. Melissa currently holds the Artistic and Education Associate position at Cleveland Public Theatre. A recipient of the 2016/2017 Nord Family Foundation Playwright Fellowship through Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT), she and co-writer & composer Caitlin Lewins developed Everything is Okay (and other helpful lies), a dark musical comedy. Everything is Okay (and other helpful lies) received a reading at the New York Musical Festival (NYMF) in the summer of 2019. Through this work, Crum and Lewins were finalists for the 2019 Mitten Lab. Melissa completed the 2013/2014 Joan Yellen Horvitz Director Fellowship at Cleveland Public Theatre, where she directed The Drowning Girls.
Ananias is blessed to be the 2021 Cleveland Public Premiere Fellow. He is a theater teacher and coach at the Cleveland School of The Arts, Cleveland Play House, and Playhouse Square and has also been a member of George Street Playhouse’s educational touring theatre. Theater credits include The Good Heart, The Claxson Family, How to End Poverty in 90 min, Rastus and Hattie (Cleveland Public Theater); Skeleton Crew, Sunset Baby, The Effect, An Octoroon (Dobama Theatre); Detroit 67, Julius X (Karamu House); Black Angels Over Tuskegee (Actors Temple); John Henry (Cleveland Play House); The Toilet (New federal theatre). TV/film Includes Law and Order: SVU, Blue Bloods, Person of Interest, Boardwalk Empire, Upstairs, NYC 22, Antwone Fisher, Home, and Criminal Activity. Ananias was also part of Cleveland Play House’s New Ground Theatre Festival as the AD for The Nolan Williams Project as well as AD for The Royale under the direction of Robert Barry Fleming.
About Test Flight
Test Flight is a multi-week series that showcases new work on its way to full production. Test Flight provides both local and national artists with the keys to the theatre and the opportunity to co-produce original works-in-progress. The series encourages risk-taking and an entrepreneurial spirit towards creating new work while offering artists a structured support system. New Play Development.
