220610_MCC_soft_Header_v02

by DONJA R. LOVE
directed by WHITNEY WHITE

WE’RE SAD TO ANNOUNCE THAT ALL PERFORMANCES ARE CANCELLED THRU SUN, JULY 17

 

Flowers are in full bloom—in Mr. Isaiah’s classroom, in the halls of the correctional boarding school where he teaches, and in the depths of his students’ imaginations. After one boy dies, Mr. Isaiah is committed to saving the students he teaches from a world that tries to crush their softness.

 

soft is supported by The R&S Shulman Fund at MCC Theater, and by public funds from The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the city council.

 

SHOW GUIDE
Our Public Engagement and Education team has prepared a set of resources and materials that further expand on the themes illuminated in soft. Included are our SHOW GUIDE which provides background and context related to juveniles in the criminal justice system and a list of  local and national MENTAL HEALTH service providers.

COVID-19 POLICY

We are requiring that everyone who visits and works in the Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space provide proof of full vaccination and remain masked at all times while in our theater space.

READ FULL POLICY


ACCESSIBILITY

THE ROBERT W. WILSON MCC THEATER SPACE is fully ADA-accessible, including:

  • Self-opening lobby doors with the push of a button to enter and exit
  • Elevator access to each floor
  • Ramp with handrail leading to the Newman Mills Theater
  • 3 Wheelchair-accessible restrooms available in the main lobby restrooms; and
  • 2 accessible single stalls on the Mezzanine Floor.

Please Note: The Susan & Ronald Frankel Theater is on the ground level.

The option to purchase a wheelchair seat with a companion seat is available for every performance date of every production for each theater. If further accommodations are needed please email audienceservices@mcctheater.org or call our box office at 646-506-9393.

Susan & Ronald Frankel Theater at
THE ROBERT W. WILSON
MCC THEATER SPACE
511 W 52 ST
NY, NY 10019

ALL SUBSCRIBERS, MEMBERS, AND PATRONS MUST BE LOGGED IN TO ACCESS THEIR TIX & DISCOUNTS

RUN TIME: 100 MINS / NO INTERMISSION

BOX OFFICE HOURS
TUES – SUN: 2 HRS BEFORE CURTAIN – SHOW START
MON: 12PM – 6PM

Got Questions?
(646) 506-9393 or
boxoffice@mcctheater.org

Trouble logging in?

CREATIVE TEAM

DONJA R. LOVE

PLAYWRIGHT

Donja R. Love (he/him) is Black, Queer, HIV-Positive, and thriving. A Philly native, he’s the recipient of the Antonyo’s inaugural Langston Hughes Award, the Helen Merrill Award, the Laurents/Hatcher Award and the Princess Grace Playwriting Award. Other honors include the Philadelphia Adult Grand Slam Poetry Champion. He’s the co-founder of The Each-Other Project, an organization that helps build community and provide visibility, through art and advocacy, for LGBTQ People of Color. He’s also the creator of Write It Out – a playwrights’ program for writers living with HIV. Plays include soft (MCC), one in two (The New Group), Fireflies (Atlantic Theater Company), Sugar in Our Wounds (Manhattan Theatre Club, Lucille Lortel and Outer Critics Circle Nominations), and What Will Happen to All That Beauty?. He’s a graduate of the Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program at The Juilliard School. IG/Twitter: @donjarlove

Headshot Credit: Brandon Nick

WHITNEY WHITE

DIRECTOR

Whitney White is an Obie Award and Lily Award-winning director, writer, and musician originally from Chicago. She is a believer of alternative forms of performance, multi-disciplinary work, and collaborative processes. Whitney is currently staffed on the Boots Riley series I’M A VIRGO for Amazon.

Recent directing: The Amen Corner (Shakespeare Theatre Company), Our Dear Dead Drug Lord (WP Theatre and Second Stage, NYT Critic’s Pick), Aleshea Harris’ What to Send Up When it Goes Down (The Movement Theatre Company, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, American Repertory Theatre, The Public Theater, NYT Critic’s Pick), An Iliad (Long Wharf). Digital projects include: What is Left Burns by James Ijames (Steppenwolf), Finish the Fight by Ming Peiffer (The New York Times), Animals by Stacy Osei-Kuffour (Williamstown and Audible).

Her five-part cycle deconstructing Shakespeare’s women and female ambition is currently in development with American Repertory Theater (Boston, MA).

MFA Brown University. BA Northwestern University.

CAST

LEON ADDISON BROWN

MR. CARTWRIGHT

Leon Addison Brown (Mr. Cartwright) Broadway: The Trip To Bountiful, Prelude to a Kiss, On the Waterfront, Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me. Misery.  Off-Broadway: Master Harold…and the boys, ( Drama League and Audelco nominee)The Painted Rocks Of Revolver Creek, The Train Driver, The Box, The Orphans Home Cycle Drama Desk Award, Two Trains Running. Regional: The Long Wharf ( CCC award) Hartford Stage Co., The Westport Country Playhouse(CCC award) Williamstown and Berkshire Theatre Fest., Yale Rep. Arena Stage, Baltimore Center Stage. Film/TV: Repair, Chicago Med. Evil, New Amsterdam , Forty Winks, Paris is in Harlem, Ben is Back, The Surrogate, We Crash, Music of the Heart, The Whirly Girl, The Edge, Evil, The Breaks, L&O, SVU. The Knick, A walk among the Tombstones. Training The UNC School of the Arts.

BIKO EISEN-MARTIN

MR.ISAIAH

Biko is thrilled to be returning to MCC after playing Mr. Isaiah in soft (Lortel, Audelco Nominations). Other Off-Broadway credits include:  The Public, Rattlestick, EST, 59E59 and more. Biko recently played the Legendary John Carlos in World premier “The XIX” at The Old Globe. Other regional: Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Studio Theatre, The Folger, Crossroads, Arden, Syracuse Stage, Chautauqua, Campo Santo and more. FILM & TELEVISION: “East New York” (Paramount),  “Blue Bloods” (CBS), “Power Book II: Ghost” (Starz). “Modern Love” (Amazon) “Buck” (Sundance), “Dietland” (AMC).

DHARON JONES

ANTIONE

Dharon Jones Native of Brooklyn, NY, Jones began dancing at the National Dance Institute (NDI) as a child. He recently graduated from Ithaca College in 2021, after making his Broadway Debut as ‘Riff’ in the 2020 revival “West Side Story” which was unfortunately shut down due to Covid.  Jones has appeared on film projects including: “Saturday Church”, “Champions”NYU (short), and recently shooting his first lead in a feature film set to release in 2022.  TV credits include: “Blue Bloods” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.”  Thank you to my manager, Lisa Calli, my agent Leslie Zaslower, Telsey casting and the team at MCC!

ESSENCE LOTUS

DEE

Essence Lotus is a brooklyn born and raised artist with deep love and care for black trans and queer folk. each performance they do is filled with the intention of a ritual meant to venerate their honorable black american, panamanian, and diasporic ancestors and kin. essence wishes for you to hold yourself in softness, and that you may find others who can hold you just as softly. having graduated from kingsborough community college and tisch school of the arts, they remain a student of life.

TRAVIS RAEBURN

BASHIR

Travis Raeburn is a proud son, brother and artist. A Brooklyn baby raised in queens, he is a graduate of SUNY Purchase’s Acting Conservatory (BFA). While attending Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School (Drama), Travis was apart of the MCC youth company for 3 years under Jen Shirley where he honed his voice in spoken word and poetry. He is over the moon to return back home with MCC family and community. Some credits include Wu-Tang: An American Saga season 2, First Match, commercials for MasterCard USA, Xfinity, and Pop Tarts and “In The Southern Breeze” at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater last fall. Raeburn is forever in endless gratitude and debt to his mother and grandmother for their endless love and support. He would like to thank family, friends, and predecessors for allowing him to stand on their shoulders. Black lives have and always will matter. His website is travisraeburn.com and Instagram is travie_rae.

SHAKUR TOLLIVER

KEVIN

Shakur Tolliver is excited to be making his MCC debut. Shakur thanks you for
taking the time to bear witness. Theatre is nothing without you. Here are some
institutions and individuals Shakur has worked with and loves – Shotgun Players,
MCC, Blessed Unrest, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Chisa Hutchinson, Donja R.
Love, reg e. gaines, Whitney White. Shakur dedicates every show to Rodney,
grandma, Poppop, his mother, and everyone struggling to find their softness.
Shakurtolliver.com

DARIO VAZQUEZ

JAMAL

Dario Vazquez Bronx native, Dario is thrilled to be making his Off-Broadway debut with MCC.  Currently a BFA Acting Major at Ithaca College, he can soon be seen in Ray Romano’s feature film directorial debut, Mr. Russo.  Other credits include The Good Fight and That Damn Michael Che.

ED VENTURA

EDDIE

Ed Ventura is a Dominican-Puerto Rican actor/writer/finesser born in Providence, RI and raised in the Boogie Down Bronx. He was the 2020-2021 Van Lier New Voices Fellow with The Lark, was a 2018 SPACE on Ryder Farm Greenhouse Resident, and is a current member of Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Youngblood Collective. He’s had his work developed with LAByrinth’s 2019 Intensive EnsembleCurious Theatre Company, and more. His previous acting credits have consisted of The Siblings Play (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater), and The Parlour (Middle Voice). He’s currently working toward completing his BFA in Acting, and double minor in Playwriting/Screenwriting at SUNY Purchase. Ed is a proud alumni of the MCC Youth Company’s Acting Lab, Playwriting Lab, and Ambassadors program. He would also like to shoutout to all the women in his family that have made him the young man he is today.

scenic design ADAM RIGG
costume design QWEEN JEAN
lighting design CHA SEE
sound design GERMÁN MARTÍNEZ
fight director UNKLEDAVE’S FIGHT-HOUSE
original music MAURICIO ESCAMILLA
production stage manager RACHEL DENISE APRIL
production stage manager alternate JO FERNANDEZ

casting THE TELSEY OFFICE / DESTINY LILLY, CSA

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