Greetings!
The World Premiere of PILLOWTALK continues its performances tonight at The Tank, located at 312 W. 36th Street, between 8th and 9th Avs. Come join the conversation and let’s celebrate #loveisradical!
“‘Radical’ may not the first descriptor that most people would instinctively assign to the word “love,” but it is precisely that pairing, in its multiplicity of meanings, that lies at the heart of Pillowtalk, by Chilean-born Korean playwright Kyoung H. Park, whose company Kyoung’s Pacific Beat dedicates itself to promoting a culture of peace and serving as a conduit for marginalized voices. Pillowtalk, making its world premiere at the recently relocated and expanded The Tank as part of the Exponential festival, which showcases NY-based artists, delves deeply, fearlessly, and often hilariously into the marital life of crusading Asian-American journalist Buck (JP Moraga) and his African-American ex-athlete husband, Sam (Basit Shittu). Park, who also directs, provides the audience with a dramatic look at the specific relationship between two incisively drawn individuals while reminding us that the personal is even more political for some couples…Sam tells Buck at one point that he can’t blame himself for losing at a rigged game, but when a play such as Pillowtalk is as energizing and entertaining as it is smart and empathetic, you can blame yourself if you miss it.” —CultureCatch
“Park’s sensitive dialogues and his sense of timing allow for Buck and Sam to go from engaging in explosive debates, to, literally, swooning, as the play allows for dance interludes to speak what the characters can’t bring themselves to express in words. Park makes peacemaking theatre, which he explains as being art made not in direct opposition to war, but a response to the violence legitimized by systems of oppression made acceptable by our culture. It’s through culture where Park believes artists can make a difference. The issues in PILLOWTALK certainly fit the description, and the conversations that should be sparked by the play will only confirm this.”–Jose Solis, Chief Theater Editor,StageBuddy
“Queerness is a structuring and educated mode of desiring that allows us to see and feel beyond the quagmire of the present.” Kyoung, as he is grounded to do, saw (or perhaps feared) our present moment before we arrived at it. And in seeing our dangerous present committed himself to create projects that challenge us to find the dramaturgical beyond.”–Jess Applebaum, PILLOWTALK Dramaturg, Culturebot
“Sam and Buck can’t help but interpret their relationship and the newfound right to marry through the kaleidoscopic gauntlet of LGBT rights, Marxist ideology, and racial justice movements. The fact that Sam and Buck are black and Asian, respectively, further nuances their multi-layered dance of identities, privilege, and power. Buck’s desire to reclaim his masculinity from the feminized Asian male eunuch stereotype conflicts directly with Sam’s refusal to bottom due to his desire to avoid being re-traumatized by past racialized sexual experiences. Park fundamentally questions the white gay neoliberal notion that gay marriage would be a panacea for the gay community’s sociological deficits. Marriage did not solve the fractures in the queer community, it magnified them.”–Jason Tseng, in response to our first Long-Table Conversation, documented with our media partner, Culturebot.
Join us for our second Long Table: Queer and TransMagic in the Workplace this Thurs, Jan. 18th, following our 8pm performance. Trans scholars, artists and activists address the economic vulnerabilities of queer and trans people of color. Do diversity and inclusion agendas make us any safer in the workplace? How do we werk our magic against the patriarchy and white supremacy? Queer and TransMagic in the Workplace is facilitated by Shannon Matesky with Guest Speakers Azure Osborne-Lee, Zavé Martohardjono, and Pauline Park.
Conceived by Louis Weaver, a long table is a special form of discussion open to the audience in which audience members and invited speakers rotate between moving up to the table when they wish to join the conversation and returning to their seats when they wish to listen.
Purchasing a ticket to ANY PILLOWTALK performance grants you FREE ACCESS to all of our long tables. Purchase your tickets here and come join us!
Peace,
Kyoung Park
