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Lower Depth Theatre’s Cycle of Poverty Reading Festival
February 4, 2023 • 1:30 pm - February 5, 2023 • 1:30 pm
$10 – $50
Lower Depth Theatre and A Noise Within’s Noise Now series present the Cycle of Poverty Reading Festival. Presented over two days, this festival is the culmination of Lower Depth Theatre’s new Commission Fellowship Program and gives their 2022 cohort the opportunity to showcase the four new full-length plays they have developed under the program. Each of the plays explore the social and racial issues within the cycle of poverty through BIPOC perspectives. Playwright fellows include: Vasanti Saxena, Sage Martin, DeLane McDuffie, and Marlow Wyatt.
Lower Depth Theatre’s Commission Fellowship Program supports the development of new plays by BIPOC and/or women-identifying playwrights by providing development and financial support to emerging playwrights.
| February 4 at 1:30 pm – FOOTSTEPS and BREAD & CIRCUS | |
| February 5 at 1:30 pm –FOLLOW THE LADY and MINE |
BREAD & CIRCUS BY MARLOW WYATT
After aging out of foster care on her 21st birthday Charity finds herself sleeping in her run-down car. With no money or resources, she has landed at a homeless encampment near downtown Los Angeles where she meets Hope, a wise and mysterious 70-something-year-old former civil rights activist who takes Charity under her wing. Set in the world of the circus led by a charming yet magnanimous Carnival Barker an audience of salacious NIMBY’s looking for entertainment peer into the lives of Hope and Charity as they fight against bureaucracy, indecency, capitalism, and an unjust justice system that often plagues those experiencing homelessness in America. Unbeknownst to them, Charity and Hope are the show, they are the entertainment.
FOLLOW THE LADY BY DELANE MCDUFFIE
In 1940s America, a seasoned grifter and her young partner-in-crime devise a get-rich con — creating an imaginary paradise for the poor and disenfranchised to escape society’s ills and hardships. While taking their scam on the road, she meets an enigmatic man who introduces her to his shrouded world, Enaake, a real utopia, offering her a chance to change her life. Now, she must choose whether to keep milking communities of their money and hope, or help guide her people to a better tomorrow. America or Enaake?
Post-Show Talkbacks: After the second reading of each performance, join us for a talkback with the actors, playwrights, and Kermit Frazier as moderator.
Pricing: Tickets for this Reading Festival are Pay What You Choose with price options at $10, $15, $25, and $50. Higher-priced ticket options help support Lower Depth Theatre and A Noise Within’s Noise Now program.