CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — Dobama Theatre has announced a lineup of alternative programming, including filmed performances and a virtual theatre festival in lieu of live productions for the 2020-21 season.
“The 20/21 season will be a year of intermission, transition, and transformation. We are thrilled to reveal our plans for a year of exciting alternative artistic programming, investment in new play development, and engagement with our shared community,” said the theatre’s artistic director Nathan Motta in a press release. “We also look forward to sharing bold anti-racism and anti-bias action plans in the coming months as we hold ourselves accountable to the vital work of dismantling harmful antiquated theatre practices and creating a welcoming, equitable, and safe artmaking organization. Dobama Theatre will emerge from this moment stronger, focused, more equitable, and with renewed purpose.”
Headlining the schedule is the Immersive Theatre Festival, set for October 15-25, featuring interactive theatrical experiences including a performance of “Torso Book Club” by Northeast Ohio’s Shadow of the Run immersive theatre company.
The offerings also include “The Soliloquy Project,” a series of short films featuring memorable monologues from previous Dobama productions and notable contemporary playwrights; a filmed version of “How to Be a Respectable Junkie,” a play that premiered on the Dobama stage back in 2017; “Quarantine Q&As” on Zoom with artists involved in the theatre’s 2021 season; and online masterclasses with Motta and other Dobama artists.
Dobama Theatre, which calls itself Cleveland’s off-Broadway theatre, announced three plays in various stages of development, too. “What We Look Like” is B.J. Tindal’s dramedy about a Black family that moves to a suburban white neighborhood. “The Land of Oz” is a musical based on the second book in L. Frank Baum’s Oz series and will be Dobama’s holiday show once the theater is able to reopen at full capacity at its Cleveland Heights home.
The theater is also teasing a new commission from “a renowned American playwright, adapted from an extraordinary new book by a local author” that it will announce once the ink is dry on the deal.
Memberships, which gives patrons access to all of the programming, are available for $168. More information can be found at dobama.org/2021-season.
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