Theatre Arts at SUNY New Paltz: “Town Hall” opens Oct. 25, with shows through Nov. 3
The SUNY New Paltz Department of Theatre Arts will present “Town Hall,” a conversation within a play that explores who we are and who we might be, as the first installment of the 2024-25 Mainstage Production series.
Performances will be given from Oct. 25-31 and Nov. 1-3 at Parker Theatre. The production is directed by niqo torrez ’22 (Theatre Arts), a New Paltz alum, director, and dramaturg. Talkbacks with cast and crew will take place following the Sunday, Oct. 27 and Friday, Nov. 1 performances.
Tickets for “Town Hall” are available now at this link.
Please note: This play contains adult content and is recommended for 18+ audiences.
About “Town Hall”
Written by Caridad Svich, “Town Hall” tackles a slew of relevant, urgent questions about our relationship to our environment, to other humans, and to democracy. It focuses on a group of people living in the near future, in a world different from but very similar to ours. The Department of Theatre Arts’ interpretation of the play revolves around themes of student activism and community, and explores global challenges including climate change, poverty, and inequality.
“In ‘Town Hall,’ everyone in the piece is in between,” said Svich in a 2017 interview with the Theatre Times. “In the act of collectivity, and making a new society. How are we ‘us’ in a room? In a theatre? How do a group of strangers come together and make a play and go through tons of conflict resolution in the space of three hours of rehearsal? How does the art object hold us, take care of us, and maybe allow us to see each other again, as who we are and who we might be?”
“Town Hall” was developed at The Lark, Sheen Center and Ensemble Studio Theatre in NYC and National Theatre Institute in Connecticut. It is produced by special arrangement with the playwright and Elaine Devlin Literary, Inc.
About the Playwright
Caridad Svich is a 2024 Guggenheim Foundation Fellow whose plays and translations have been produced across the U.S. and abroad. Her work centers on environmental and human rights, examines the poetics and politics of resistance, and often radically reconfigures the classics. Svich is the founder of NoPassport theatre alliance and press, co-artistic director at the Lucille Lortel Theater, drama editor at Asymptote literary journal, and an editor at Contemporary Theatre Review. She teaches at Rutgers University, New York University School of Professional Studies, and the Einhorn School of Performing Arts at Primary Stages Theatre.
About the Director
niqo torrez is a mixed queer movement-driven director and dramaturg, currently based in Brooklyn, NY. Their work grapples with what it means to be human, often through physical language. They are most interested in telling stories of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. Recent credits include “The Woodlands,” “And a Child Shall Lead,” “Clara & Carmilla,” “The Spitfire Grill,” “Sprites,” “Bloom Bloom Pow,” “The House of Bernarda Alba,” and “The Mystery of the Green Teeth Ghost.” Niqo made their directorial debut here at SUNY New Paltz in 2022 with “Pages from a Love Manifesto,” a play they conceived at McKenna Theatre, which was inspired by various ideas presented in bell hooks’ book “All About Love.” They currently serve as an adjunct lecturer in the Department of Theatre Arts.