Days of Re-Creation: A Virtual Play

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC | Bennington College has joined with Bennington Performing Arts Center, Oldcastle Theatre and the Bennington Community Theatre to participate in a rolling premiere of 7 original made-for-zoom plays: The Days of Re-Creation: A Virtual Play is loosely based on the seven days of creation from the Book of Genesis. Originally developed by Live & In Color, a collective of BIPOC playwrights, Devanand Janki, Artistic Director. The playwrights include: By Masi Asare, AriDy Nox, Erlina Ortiz, SEVAN, Nandita Shenoy, BD Wong, and Lauren Yee.

This is a FREE event. Please register to get the link to the YouTube video for the Sept. 25 premiere. The artists ask that donations be made to the following Vermont organizations: Peace and Justice Center, and/or Rights and Democracy. 

Throughout the month of September, theaters from around the country will premiere their own versions of these seven 10-minute plays. BPAC’s production will premiere for our audiences in Bennington and across the country in a free YouTube stream and will be available for viewing until 7:00 pm on Sept. 28, 2020. The plays were written specifically for reading/performance and recording on Zoom. The cast and crew are a combination of local talent and talent from across the U.S.

Kirk Jackson (faculty) organized Bennington College’s participation, which includes alumni Kaiya Kirk ’20 and Ron Anahaw ’19 in To the Stars, with Love, by Nandita Shenoy and directed by guest faculty Shawtane Bowen. Former guest faculty Chris Edwards directs Three Karens by BD Wong, which features faculty member Jenny Rohn. Former guest faculty Oliver Wadsworth appears in S.C.R.I. by AriDy Nox and directed by Nathan Stith, Artistic Director at Oldcastle Theatre. Jackson also recruited freelance director Paul Nicholas to direct The Strong Friend and Company by Masi Asare.

The directors for the Bennington Performing Arts Center production are Jennifer Jasper (Bennington Performing Arts Center), Nathan Stith (Oldcastle Theatre Company), Marisa Faller (Bennington Community Theater), Christopher V. Edwards (Actors’ Shakespeare Project), Shawtane Bowen (Bennington College) and J. Paul Nicholas (freelance Director) with Kirk Jackson (Bennington College) and Oliver Wadsworth as part of the production team.

We are living in a time of incredible upheaval. Our daily lives are unrecognizable from a year ago. As a country we are undergoing a deep reexamination of the institutions that surround us. Each day it feels like we are recreating ourselves as individuals and rebuilding in new and better ways what has been corroded or purposefully torn down. 2020 will be seen as a pivotal year in the history of mankind. While it is a year full of fear, exhaustion, conflict, and death, it also has the potential to be a year of revolution, rebirth, and re-creation.