For the first time in three years Space55 returns to live theater with a new work by Ashley Naftule, the ariZoni Award-winning playwright of Radio Free Europa and The Hidden Sea. Directed by BJ Garrett, Orange Skies is a hilarious dark comedy about conspiracy theories, mass hysteria, corporate greed, transphobia, and immortal cowgirls. It’s a play about the collapse of civilization and what comes next.
Inspired by Dr. Strangelove, The Twilight Zone, and Mac Wellman's Sincerity Forever, Orange Skies will bring audiences everything they come to expect from an original Space55 production: compelling performances, unusual original narratives, explosions, blood, extremely adult language, torn clothing, loud pop music, wild animal attacks, fisticuffs, and weird vibes.
The town of Rosewater is afraid. Not of the raging forest fire that keeps getting closer to them, or the inexplicable increase in animal attacks, or the sinkholes opening on Main Street, or the nearby army base firing off mortars like they’re under attack. They’re worried about what’s in their tap water, and God help whoever they think is to blame for it. Set in the modern era, the world of Orange Skies is populated by a cast of characters that includes drug dealers, librarians, birdwatchers, mail order brides, soldiers, and a close personal friend of Elvis Presley.
Starring Ashley Belle Vasquez, Bray Lawrence, Amy Carpenter, C.D. Macaulay, Logan Watters, Matt Clarke, Marcella Grassa, and Antoinette Martin-Hanson, Orange Skies plays at Metro Arts (1700 N. 7th Ave, Phoenix) from March 31 to April 9. Friday and Saturday shows at 7:30pm, Sundays at 2pm. There will be a special matinee performance on Saturday, April 1, at 2pm and a Pay What You Want performance on Thursday, April 8 at 7:30pm. Tickets are $20 and available at the door or online via Space55.org.
Ashley Naftule is an ariZoni-winning playwright and the Associate Artistic Director at Space55. They’ve written and produced five plays: Ear, The First Annual Bookburners Convention, The Canterbury Tarot, Radio Free Europa, and The Hidden Sea.
BJ Garrett is an ariZoni-nominated director whose prior credits include Fennec the Fox, A Bloody Mary Christmas, and Edward Albee's The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?. He is a partner at local film collective Synthetic Human Pictures and the Artistic Director of Space 55.
For more than 15 years Space 55 has been a fixture in Phoenix’s performing arts and theater scenes, staging plays by acclaimed writers like Greg Kotis, Ann Washburn, and Kim Porter; hosting late night stand-up comedy shows, storytelling events, and puppet shows; and scandalizing audiences with our notorious 7 Minutes In Heaven variety show. Space55 has more in-person programming planned in the future and hopes to soon return to its regular full-time schedule of mainstage productions.
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