Events: #SuiteReality by TS Hawkins opens in November

#SuiteReality, by TS Hawkins, is an award-winning choreopoem experience that touches upon Women's Rights, Black Lives Matter, and #SayHerName; a campaign that highlights womyn who have been killed by the fragility of masculinity and police brutality. Learn about the journey of #SuiteReality here!

#SuiteReality will showcase in The Bridge PHL Theatre Festival and Rabbit Punch! Click the dates below for tickets and information.

#SuiteReality @ BRIDGE PHL THEATRE FESTIVAL

Thursday, Nov 7 at 730PM // Friday, Nov 8 at 730PM // Saturday, Nov 9 at 730PM // Sunday, Nov 10 at 2PM

#SuiteReality @ RABBIT PUNCH ARTS FESTIVAL

Thursday, Nov 14 at 8PM // Friday, Nov 15 at 8PM

MEET THE CREATIVES

TS HAWKINS (Playwright) is an international author, performance poet, art activist, and playwright. Plays, short works, and books include Seeking Silence, Cartons of Ultrasounds, Too Late to Apologize, They’ll Neglect to Tell You, #RM2B, The Secret Life of Wonder: a prologue in G, AGAIN, #SuiteReality, “don’t wanna dance with ghosts...”, Sugar Lumps & Black Eye Blues, Confectionately Yours, Mahogany Nectar, Lil Blaek Book: all the long stories short, and The Hotel Haikus.

Hawkins’ one-act choreopoem, AGAIN, was acknowledged for having the Best Theater Moment of 2017. #SuiteReality received the 2017 Theatrical Reality Check Surya Bonaly Award, a publication in WORDPEACE; an international literary journal, and debuted in Chicago at the Goodman Theatre for the Black Lives, Black Words International Theatre Festival. Cartons of Ultrasounds had the pleasure of returning to New York for a limited off-Broadway run to rave reviews. Hawkins' residency credits include National Black Theatre SOUL Producing Resident, Swim Pony Performing Arts TrailOff Writer-in-Residence, 1812 Productions’ Jilline Ringle Solo Performance Residency, Out of Exile Artist-in-Residence, Irondale Ensemble’s To Protect, Serve, and Understand, Painted Bride Art Center’s Souls of Black Folk, and Alphabet Arts Puppets & Poets.

LOIS MOSES (Director) is a Philadelphia native holding a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of California, a law degree from Temple University and is a graduate of LaSalle University’s Master’s program in Clinical Psychology. Her publications include Not Just Another…Black/Woman, Missing Pages… (Women Behind the Glass Door), A Timely Trinity, Freedom Not Them Give, and a self-titled spoken word CD. Using her theater, music, and dance background, Moses creatively combines art forms to produce powerful performance art.

Moses conducts motivational workshops for women and men, geared toward addressing the necessity of healing and self-evaluation. Her award-winning short film And They Jumped Into the Water…Some has been touring at colleges and conferences with her Woman to Woman Conversation: Beyond Sound and Fury…Sacrifice as the True Poetic Voice; a poetry and multimedia presentation exploring the evolution of the sacrifice, courage, and voice of African American women in America. The world premiere of her acclaimed play, Say That He Had More Than a Dream…; a piece chronicling the last years of Martin Luther King’s life after his controversial “Beyond Vietnam” Speech at Riverside Church in 1967, debuted at First World Theatre in 2016, and in 2017 toured at the Match Theatre directed by Zuhairah McGill.

BETSY VIVAR (Woman 1) is delighted to be joining the cast of #SuiteReality. Originally from Camden, New Jersey, she is known for her roles as Ophelia in Hamlet and Fabienne in Twelfth Night. Betsy started acting in her first year of college at St. Bonaventure University and trained at The American Academy for the Dramatic Arts during their summer program. She is an accomplished musician who plays several instruments, the guitar being her main instrument. She looks forward to working on this wonderful piece.

KATRINA HALL (Woman 2) is a Philadelphia based actor, director, and playwright. Recent stage credits include Kandi (Period House), Gonzalo (The Tempest), Maria (Twelfth Night), Susan (Becky Shaw), Nurse (Romeo And Juliette), and Juror Number Four (Twelve Angry Jurors). Her original plays include The Cuckoo, Chow, and Visiting Day. Her play Dyscalculia is slated to be published in an upcoming anthology by McFarland & Company in the spring of 2020.

MARIA GENAO BELTRE (Woman 3) is excited to be performing with playwright TS Hawkins! Having appeared in two other works by Hawkins, The Secret Life of Wonder: a prologue in G and “don’t wanna dance with ghosts...”; Maria is thrilled to be along for this new journey in #SuiteReality. Maria has also taken part in productions such as Les Miserables, The Crucible and The Government Inspector. Alongside her passion for acting, Maria pursues modeling and has landed campaigns for brands like Carol's Daughter and published in Ellèments Magazine. She enjoys storytelling in all its form, from acting and modeling to music as well as watching Japanese animation from time to time. Maria is looking forward to and excited about all the stories to be told in the upcoming year.

CYNDA PURNELL (Freedom) is back from an acting hiatus and elated to be performing in another piece from TS Hawkins (AGAIN, 2017). Though she received her BA in Theater from Temple University, she has stepped into film and has appeared in a number of goPuff commercials. While performing is her first passion, she has also worked in front of house as well as dabbled in behind the scenes work on run crew and stage management. Outside of performing, she manages the box office for the improv troupe, Tongue and Groove, works as a ticket sales agent for Walnut Street Theatre and ushers at the Merriam Theatre. Last seen: Stripping the Yellow Wallpaper in FringeArts.  Upcoming: Kaleidoscope Cultural Arts Collective’s Khepera.