Mesa Encore Theatre is excited to announce the fourth show of their 85th Anniversary Season - We Tell the Story, The Inclusion Works One-Act Play Festival, which will run March 18-27, 2022, onstage at the Mesa Arts Center.
MET’s Inclusion Works Festival focuses on diversity and inclusion through the arts, with a lineup of four one-act plays which will rotate during the two-week festival. The festival plays tell vibrant and fascinating stories of immigrants, people of color and the LGBT community, and bring together a diverse cast of actors, playwrights, and theater artists. MET hopes to create an unforgettable experience with this year’s inaugural festival.
Part 1 of the festival features 3 short one-act plays - CURVEBALL (written by local Phoenix
playwright Larissa Brewington) which tells the story of Toni Stone, the first woman to play in the
Negro Leagues. At the age of 70, she sits down with a young reporter to take a look back at her
history making life; THE CUBAN SWIMMER (written by Milcha Sanchez-Scott) takes a comedic
look at the story of young swimmer Margarita Suarez. While competing in the Wrigley Invitational Women's Swim (from San Pedro, CA to Catalina Island) she is being followed by her enthusiastic Cuban family in a nearby boat; and wrapping up Part 1 is FREDERICK & IDA (also written by Brewington) which tells of the historic meeting of abolitionist Frederick Douglass and activist Ida B. Wells at the 1893 World’s Fair Haitian Pavilion. This one-time conversation between two iconic figures of the civil rights movement is not to be missed!
Part 2 of the festival features BOY (written by Anna Ziegler) and is inspired by a true story. BOY explores the tricky terrain of finding love amidst the confusion of sexual identity, and the inextricable bond between a doctor and patient. In the 1960s, a well-intentioned doctor convinces the parents of a
male infant to raise their son as a girl after a terrible accident. Two decades later, the repercussions of that choice continue to unfold.
“Curveball” is directed by DeAngelus Grisby, and stars Grisby and Angel Sicarios. “The Cuban
Swimmer” is directed by Alejandra Luna, and stars Sicarios, Christian Valenzuela, Omar Aguilar, Estrella Para, and Rebecca Ronstadt-Contreras. “Frederick & Ida” is directed by Elizabeth Brownlee, and stars Jontasia Taylor, Lamar Overton, Todd Corbeil, and Thommi A’mal. “Boy” is directed by Patrick Walsh, and stars Valenzuela, Hans Keller, Gracie Gamble, Kat Vanboesschoten, and Walsh.
We Tell The Story, The Inclusion Works One-Act Play Festival will play March 18-27,2022.
Part 1 performance dates include Friday March 18th @ 7:30 pm, Saturday March 19th @ 2:30
pm, Saturday March 26th @ 7:30 pm, and Sunday March 27th @ 2:30 pm.
Part 2 Performance dates include Saturday March 19th @ 7:30 pm, Sunday March 20th @ 2:30 pm, Friday March 25th @ 7:30pm, and Saturday March 26th @ 2:30 pm.
Individual performance tickets are $23.00 for adults and $19.00 for students and seniors. Special 2-day package tickets are $36 and include admission to both Part 1 and Part 2 of the festival. Group rate discounts are available.
All performances take place at The Mesa Arts Center’s Farnsworth Studio Theater located at 1 E. Main Street in Downtown Mesa. Tickets are available through the Mesa Arts Center Box Office at (480) 644-6500 or by visiting www.mesaencoretheatre.com. Box Office Hours are Tue. - Sat., 12 PM - 5 PM; Sun - Mon. – CLOSED. The box office opens 1 hour before each performance.
