Barabbas: The Annoyance of Enlightment
Donation protected
Theater for the New City
presents
the world premiere of BARABBAS
A new play by Will T.F. Carter
Directed by Eduardo Machado
Limited Off Broadway Engagement
Begins June 20th - July 14th
Thursday - Saturdays at 8pm
and Sundays at 3pm
155 First Avenue
New York, NY 10003
Peruvian citizens have just elected a President bent on ridding the political and legal system of corruption. A righteous whistleblower, Jesús (Anwar Wolf), and a rash lawyer, Bara (Mateo d’Amato), find themselves sharing a cell under the surveillance of two cruel guards. Together Jesús and Bara navigate the landscape of their crimes – what transpires is both sinister and illuminating.
This is to invite you to donate, generously, for the production of this new play
Your donation will support the project in the following ways:
- Fees and expenses for talent.
- Directorial fees and expenses.
- Production and Design:
(Sound, Lights, Set, Costumes, Fight Choreography,
Stage Management, Production Management.)
- Expenses related to rehearsal and performance space
- Promotion and Advertising
- Technical Staff
Why does this play matter?
The work, Barabbas, speaks not just to the state of South American politics, but to the present global ethos. Much like the culture of corruption cultivated here in the U.S., Peruvian politics are similarly marred by scandal. Barabbas draws these parallels, and others more biblical, to examine the boundaries of modern morality.
This play featuring an all Latino cast of emerging artists who strive to make a bold statement in face of mounting global hostilities. Our company believes, art that speaks truth to power is now more important than ever. Our playwright has a neutral yet passionate view of Latin American politics, making a bold and successfully articulate case for the need for new political heroes. Carter has found an objective center to the Latin American male psyche that is an example for both men and women.
How it all started........
Will and Mateo were two buddies working their way through school...
Mateo became a professional actor and his best friend Will learned Spanish, became a translator, moved to Peru and got thrown in jail.
Oh wait a second, only for one night... anyway...
In December 2018, Will said, "pssst... Mateo... look what I did while I was inspired in prison. I wrote a play and imagined you as the title character."
" Hmmm... " thought Mateo "Oh, good... I love a play..."
Now Mateo knows lots of writers and gets to read many new plays. Only a few are inspiring enough to appeal to him and even fewer warrant a second glance. "But there was something about this play," thought Mateo that deserved more consideration...... So without checking with Will, Mateo wrote to Crystal Field, Executive Artistic Director at Theatre for the New City (TNC), and said, "Hey Crystal, I found a new play. It's so important it should be done now. Not next season, not next year, but now... Can you fit it in?"
She kindly agreed to present the play and gave space at TNC to present BARABBAS...
And now we need you....
Theater for the New City (Crystal Field, Executive Artistic Director), the Pulitzer Prize winning community cultural center that produces over 30 premieres of new American plays each year, is pleased to announce the world premiere of Will T.F. Carter’s new play Barabbas, directed by Eduardo Machado. Barabbas will begin previews Thursday June 20th at 8 PM, with Opening Night set for June 27th at Theater for the New City (155 First Avenue, between 9th and 10th Streets). This limited engagement continues through July 14th.
The cast features Gypsi Aponte, Mateo d’Amato, Nikki Valdez, and Anwar Wolf. The creative team for Barabbas includes Mark Marcante (scenic design), Alex Bartenieff (lighting design), Kat Anick-Jenkins (costume design), and David Margolin Lawson (sound design). Daniel Benhamu will serve as Fight Choreographer.
Will T.F. Carter - Playwright
Will T.F. Carter is a writer and translator from Portland, Maine. He’s a graduate of the Eugene Lang creative writing program in New York City and his work has appeared in the Ezra Journal of Translation, The Laurel Review, and Eleven-and-a-half. The short film, Zapatos, which he co-wrote and produced, was an official selection for the HBO Latino Film Festival and the San Francisco Latino Film Festival. Barabbas is his first work for the stage.
Eduardo Machado - Director
Eduardo Machado has directed many plays among them Artfuckers by Michael Domitrovich at Theater for the New City and Daryl Roth Theater, Sixty Minutes in Negroland written & performed by Margo Jefferson at the Culture Project, Beautiful Senoritas at The Inner City Cultural Center in Los Angeles and In the Land of Giants by Roger Durling and All Eyes and Ears by Rogelio Martinez for INTAR on Theatre Row; he also directed Mr. Martinez’s They Still Mambo In Havana at the Flea Theatre. He has directed his own work at Theater for the New City among them, Rosario and The Gypsies, Paula, Crocodile Eyes, and Related Retreats. Mr. Machado wrote and directed the film Exiles in New York, which played at the AFI Film Festival, South by South West, Santa Barbara Film Festival and Latin American International Film Festival in Havana Cuba. He is the author of over 40 plays including The Floating Island Plays, Once Removed, Stevie Wants to Play the Blues, A Burning Beach, Crocodile Eyes, Havana Is Waiting, and The Cook. They have been produced at many major regional theaters, as well as in Europe and Off-Broadway, including among others The Actors Theater of Louisville, The Mark Taper Forum, Seattle Repertory Theatre, the Goodman Theatre, Hartford Stage, The Long Wharf Theater, The Williamstown Theater Festival, The Cherry Lane Theater, INTAR, Theater for the New City, America Place Theater. His plays have been produced in Europe and South America. Mr. Machado was the head of playwriting at Columbia University and at the Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. His plays are published by Theatre Communications Group and Samuel French. Tastes Like Cuba: An Exile’s Hunger for Home, a food memoir by Eduardo Machado and Michael Domitrovich, was released by Gotham Press in 2007. Upcoming: the world premiere of Celia and Fidel from February 28 - April 12, 2020 at Arena Stage in Washington D.C. T.V. Credits include: Hung, Executive Story Editor: HBO; Magic City, Executive Story Editor: Starz; Havana Quartet: Starz; Troicana, pilot: Amazon; and more.
Gypsi Aponte - Guard #1
Gypsi Aponte decided to move to NYC after a career in the United States Air Force to pursue a career in the fashion industry. However, after picking up a camera to document his work and capture models in his clothing, Aponte moved on to photography and then to filmmaking where he found his current love of being in front of the camera.
Sergio Caetano - Guard #2
Sergio Caetano, TNC debut. Credits: Much Ado Para Nada (Shakespeare in Detroit), You Across From Me, Soul of the World, Grown-Ass Louis, Dracula (u/s),(Actors Theatre of Louisville), ¡Dale! (Luna Stage New Moon Festival). Most recently acted in a workshop of J. Julian Christopher’s, Julio Down by the Schoolyard; directed by Lou Moreno. Training: Actors Theatre of Louisville Apprenticeship and BFA from Montclair State University. Unit-52 Member at INTAR Theatre.
Thanks to his cast, director, production team, and Ingrid French Management.
Mateo d'Amato - Bara
Producer Mateo d’Amato, professional actor, co-starring in television shows such as: Jessica Jones on Netflix, lead actor in three independent feature films, and various Off and Off-Off Broadway plays; recipient of two downtown New York City theatre awards for best actor, as well as recognition as best ensemble actor at the London Eye International Film Festival. His performances in Eduardo Machado’s Mariquitas at Theater for the New City led to his interest in becoming a first time producer for Barabbas, teaming up with director Machado.
Anwar Wolf - Jesús
Anwar Wolf was born in Manhattan, New York to parents from the Dominican Republic. He is fluent is in English and Spanish. You can see him on TV shows like High Maintenance season 2 on HBO where he plays Eric, two independent films -- one which won an audience award -- and TV commercials. Anwar has been training in New York for the past few years at HB Studios, The Sedgwick Russell Acting studio and most recently has been with his acting coach Anthony Abeson.
Nikki Valdez - Lawyer
Nikki Valdez is originally from Texas where she received her BFA from the University of Texas in Austin. She has been working and training in New York for the past few years and is very excited to be making her Off-Broadway debut in Barrabas.
Barabbas will be presented at Theater for the New City (155 First Avenue, between 9th and 10th Streets) from June 20th through July 14th. Performances will be Thursday through Saturday evenings at 8pm, with matinees Sundays at 3pm.
Tickets are $18, and may be purchased by calling [phone redacted] or online at www.theaterforthenewcity.net.
CLICK HERE FOR BOX OFFICE
Will T.F. Carter is a writer and translator from Portland, Maine. He’s a graduate of the Eugene Lang creative writing program in New York City and his work has appeared in the Ezra Journal of Translation, The Laurel Review, and Eleven-and-a-half. The short film, Zapatos, which he co-wrote and produced, was an official selection for the HBO Latino Film Festival and the San Francisco Latino Film Festival. Barabbas is his first work for the stage.
Eduardo Machado - Director Eduardo Machado has directed many plays among them Artfuckers by Michael Domitrovich at Theater for the New City and Daryl Roth Theater, Sixty Minutes in Negroland written & performed by Margo Jefferson at the Culture Project, Beautiful Senoritas at The Inner City Cultural Center in Los Angeles and In the Land of Giants by Roger Durling and All Eyes and Ears by Rogelio Martinez for INTAR on Theatre Row; he also directed Mr. Martinez’s They Still Mambo In Havana at the Flea Theatre. He has directed his own work at Theater for the New City among them, Rosario and The Gypsies, Paula, Crocodile Eyes, and Related Retreats. Mr. Machado wrote and directed the film Exiles in New York, which played at the AFI Film Festival, South by South West, Santa Barbara Film Festival and Latin American International Film Festival in Havana Cuba. He is the author of over 40 plays including The Floating Island Plays, Once Removed, Stevie Wants to Play the Blues, A Burning Beach, Crocodile Eyes, Havana Is Waiting, and The Cook. They have been produced at many major regional theaters, as well as in Europe and Off-Broadway, including among others The Actors Theater of Louisville, The Mark Taper Forum, Seattle Repertory Theatre, the Goodman Theatre, Hartford Stage, The Long Wharf Theater, The Williamstown Theater Festival, The Cherry Lane Theater, INTAR, Theater for the New City, America Place Theater. His plays have been produced in Europe and South America. Mr. Machado was the head of playwriting at Columbia University and at the Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. His plays are published by Theatre Communications Group and Samuel French. Tastes Like Cuba: An Exile’s Hunger for Home, a food memoir by Eduardo Machado and Michael Domitrovich, was released by Gotham Press in 2007. Upcoming: the world premiere of Celia and Fidel from February 28 - April 12, 2020 at Arena Stage in Washington D.C. T.V. Credits include: Hung, Executive Story Editor: HBO; Magic City, Executive Story Editor: Starz; Havana Quartet: Starz; Troicana, pilot: Amazon; and more.
Gypsi Aponte - Guard #1 Gypsi Aponte decided to move to NYC after a career in the United States Air Force to pursue a career in the fashion industry. However, after picking up a camera to document his work and capture models in his clothing, Aponte moved on to photography and then to filmmaking where he found his current love of being in front of the camera.
Sergio Caetano - Guard #2 Sergio Caetano, TNC debut. Credits: Much Ado Para Nada (Shakespeare in Detroit), You Across From Me, Soul of the World, Grown-Ass Louis, Dracula (u/s),(Actors Theatre of Louisville), ¡Dale! (Luna Stage New Moon Festival). Most recently acted in a workshop of J. Julian Christopher’s, Julio Down by the Schoolyard; directed by Lou Moreno. Training: Actors Theatre of Louisville Apprenticeship and BFA from Montclair State University. Unit-52 Member at INTAR Theatre.
Thanks to his cast, director, production team, and Ingrid French Management.
Mateo d'Amato - Bara Producer Mateo d’Amato, professional actor, co-starring in television shows such as: Jessica Jones on Netflix, lead actor in three independent feature films, and various Off and Off-Off Broadway plays; recipient of two downtown New York City theatre awards for best actor, as well as recognition as best ensemble actor at the London Eye International Film Festival. His performances in Eduardo Machado’s Mariquitas at Theater for the New City led to his interest in becoming a first time producer for Barabbas, teaming up with director Machado.
Anwar Wolf - JesúsAnwar Wolf was born in Manhattan, New York to parents from the Dominican Republic. He is fluent is in English and Spanish. You can see him on TV shows like High Maintenance season 2 on HBO where he plays Eric, two independent films -- one which won an audience award -- and TV commercials. Anwar has been training in New York for the past few years at HB Studios, The Sedgwick Russell Acting studio and most recently has been with his acting coach Anthony Abeson.
Nikki Valdez - Lawyer Nikki Valdez is originally from Texas where she received her BFA from the University of Texas in Austin. She has been working and training in New York for the past few years and is very excited to be making her Off-Broadway debut in Barrabas.
Barabbas will be presented at Theater for the New City (155 First Avenue, between 9th and 10th Streets) from June 20th through July 14th. Performances will be Thursday through Saturday evenings at 8pm, with matinees Sundays at 3pm.
Tickets are $18, and may be purchased by calling [phone redacted] or online at www.theaterforthenewcity.net.
CLICK HERE FOR BOX OFFICE
Organizer and beneficiary
Will Carter
Organizer
New York, NY
Matthew d'Amato
Beneficiary