StatueFest On Stage

The New Shokan Kitchen Island Project (NSKIP) asked women and women-identifying writers to create monologues about women who deserve a statue. The results are extraordinary —a growing collection of new theatrical monologues centering women— and they’re coming to PRTT in the heart of Manhattan’s theater district on September 30 and October 1, 2021, at 7:00pm! Inspired by discourse concerning monuments and the dearth of existing statues reflecting the lives of women (and those who identify as women), the founders of NSKIP —Janis Astor del Valle, Cindy Cooper, Cheryl Davis, Deborah Savadge— sought a broad array of suggestions about statue-worthy women, especially women who are Black, Indigenous, People of Color. The call is clear and direct: Put a Woman On a Pedestal!

Dozens of women artists have already taken their place on stage in four prior editions of StatueFest On Stage this year. For its fifth all-women program at Puerto Rican Traveling Theater (304 W 47th Street, New York City, NY), we count with 15 Women Deserving of Statues and 15 Women Ready to Build Them.

StatueFest On Stage events are Free and open to the general public. Key to NYC vaccination mandate and face mask safety protocols will be observed for in-person events. Capacity is limited.

Thursday, SEPTEMBER 30
Luisa Capetillo by Magdalena Gómez
Maria Irene Fornes by Lorca Peress
Zora Neale Hurston by Cheryl L. Davis
Mabel Ping-Hua Lee by Lucy Wang
Dorothy Parker by Bev Thompson
Frances Perkins by Deborah Savadge
Emma Stebbins by Heather Jeanne Violanti
Mary Lou Williams by Martine Sainvil
—7:00 at PRTT in Manhattan, NYC (RSVP Required)

Friday, OCTOBER 1
Alice Austen by Fengar Gael
Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Cindy Cooper
Yuri Kochiyama by Christine Toy Johnson
Barbara McClintock by Judith Pratt
Pauli Murray by Michael angel Johnson
Antonia Pantoja by Janis Astor del Valle
Maria Tallchief by Laura Shamas
—7:00 at PRTT in Manhattan, NYC (RSVP Required)

Directed by Allison Astor-Vargas

StatueFest Production Team: Mel Nunes, Tessa Freeman, Paola C. Solís-Ramírez

“The StatueFest monologues, presented by leading actors, bring to life a wide spectrum of bold and imaginative women who should be represented in the public squares and parks,” writes NSKIP’s Cindy Cooper. “These stories of statue-worthy women have a lot to tell us about how our history is reconfigured and embedded in the landscape. By omission and erasure, existing monuments are complicit in valorizing one gender and one race (white), while marginalizing and eliminating women, people of color, individuals of varying ethnicities and intersectional identities, and those with a range of contributions and societal perspectives.”

To prompt active stories, the initiating artists offered these suggestions: “Put your character in a situation of action rather than reflection. You might place her in the midst of her most difficult decision or choice, or in the midst of her most harrowing moment. You might ask your character to answer one of these questions: (1) What was your most hard-fought victory? (2) What made you angry? (3) Why should you be memorialized with a statue?”

RSVP Now — Seating is limited!

Follow @pregonesprtt and @statuefest2021 on social media for more information #statuefestonstage #pregonesprtt

Read more about NSKIP and StatueFest at this link: StatueFest On Stage.

StatueFest is recipient of both the City Artist Corps Grant and the ASAP | Artist Space At Pregones Grant.