2017-18 Season
Erika Cuenca
Virginia Wall Gruenert
Byhalia, Mississippi
Byhalia, Mississippi
April/May 2018
April 20 - May 5 2018
A Pittsburgh Premiere
by Evan Linder
Directed by Ingrid Sonnichsen
With: Erika Cuenca*, Brandon Meeks*, Lamar K Cheston*
Hope Anthony and Virginia Wall Gruenert*
How, when, and why do you choose to forgive someone?
Jim (Brandon Meeks) and Laurel Parker (Erika Cuenca) are about to become new parents.
They are broke. They are loud. They are “proud white trash.”
When Laurel gives birth to their long overdue child, she and Jim are faced with the biggest challenge of their lives. Byhalia, Mississippi explores a couple in the midst of turmoil and a town with a racially-charged past that finds its way into the present.
“...and these five magnetic actors handle the challenge brilliantly. Go see it.”
Pittsburgh City Paper
"Erika Cuenca is magnificent as the young woman struggling to keep all the pieces of her life together in one pile. It’s a beautiful performance…
Virginia Wall Gruenert is a powerful presence on the stage. Her Celeste is brash, loud and controlling…
Brandon Meeks is delightful as the affable slacker who believes his whole future is shattered...
Lamar K Cheston and Hope Anthony have smaller parts but each of them gets a chance to shine, and they shine brilliantly."
‘Burgh Vivant
January 2018
A one-woman show about working as a stripper in Pittsburgh.
Choreographer Moriah Ella Mason explores how we perform eroticism and consume intimacy, both in the club and at home. Through theater and dance, she unpacks the world of sex work: the emotional and economic forces, the movement vocabulary, the masks, and the moments of authentic connection.
Mason is joined by collaborating sound artists J.F. Winkles & Eric Weidenhof, video artist Liz Barentine, and the voices and expertise of other sex workers
"...a dark and surprisingly humorous journey into the seedy underbelly of this special brand of American entertainment." more...
'Burgh Vivant
Pittsburgh City Paper - The Year in Dance
Eight Outstanding Local Performances
Moriah Ella Mason in Sex Werque (Carnegie Stage, Candidly based on Mason’s real-life experiences as a stripper, Sex Werque explored attitudes and misconceptions about the sex industry, and her and fellow strippers’ feelings about the profession. Mason was resplendent in the groundbreaking one-woman dance-theater show.
Sex Werque
We are welcoming the long-awaited return of writer/actor Anne Stockton and director Austin Pendleton (The Speed Queen), in collaboration once again.
Nikki is being interviewed by a detective in the high level financial firm where she works about the disappearance of two very valuable rings earlier that morning.
A witty look at the ways in which we are swept away by the scenarios we imagine for our lives.
“I Won’t be in… is a fantastic chapter in off the WALL’s stalwart legacy in presenting feminist-minded pieces…the play ultimately portrays a robust, flawed, and complexly damaged woman who is not defined by her gender or her psychosis. Both Stockton and off the WALL challenged the conventions of female representation in the show.”
Pittsburgh in the Round
This Fortnight
is Female
Three plays by and about women, acted by women. Developed and staged by off the WALL in Carnegie
Bringing three one-woman plays (Mother Lode, I Won’t Be In On Monday,
he Pink Unicorn) to New York City for a total of 24 performances in two weeks’ time was challenging, exhausting, joyful, educational, and an unqualified success. What did we learn?
Collaborating with agencies like Show Score and Parity Productions was invaluable in promoting, and filling seats. Show-Score is like a Rotten Tomatoes for theater. They make it easy to discover Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway shows geared to your taste. They collect and organize critic reviews for all shows, and give their members a fun way to review shows themselves.
Here’s how off the WALL ranked:
THE PINK UNICORN 89
MEMBERS SAY: Great acting, Relevant, Great writing, Absorbing, Thought-provoking
MOTHER LODE 82 (with two rankings of 100!)
MEMBERS SAY: Great acting, Absorbing, Resonant, Entertaining, Funny
IWBIOM 75
MEMBERS SAY: Great acting, Clever, Absorbing, Entertaining, Quirky
February 2018
Parity Productions advocates for gender parity in theater. Their Qualifying Productions Program provides support for shows that meet a 50% hiring standard (i.e., created and designed by teams composed of at least 50% female or transgender artists).
All three of our NYC shows were named Qualifying Productions, and promoted as such free of charge.
Thank you, Parity Productions!