08:46 - A Time to Listen
Sunday November 1 @ 4:00pm
public reading of monologues

Join us as New World Theatre presents a reading of selected submissions from our 08:46 Monologue Project. This event will include a reading by project contributor and curator, LeLand Gantt, and hosted by NWT’s founder and managing director, Donald Tongue.

We have been overwhelmed by the strong voices and stories we have received, and while we are still accepting submissions until the end of the year, we wanted to take this moment to share some of the incredible works we have received so far.

LELAND GANTT (playwright/project curator) is a writer and performer of RHAPSODY IN BLACK, an autobiographical solo show developed at The Actors Studio with Estelle Parsons as Directorial Consultant. LeLand self-produced RHAPSODY at the United Solo Festival in 2014, earning a “Best Storyteller” award for himself and a “Best Director” award for Estelle. Since then, LeLand has been touring RHAPSODY both nationally and internationally using it’s “Prismatic reflections on blackness” to ignite and expand conversations about race and identity. A veteran of the stage, Mr. Gantt highlights playing both Iago and Othello, creating the roles of Benny the Jet in Keith Glovers’s IN WALKS ED, and Tempest Landry in Walter Mosley’s THE FALL OF HEAVEN (both world premiers at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park) and most recently, playing Pontius Pilot in Stephen Adly Guirgus’ LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT at La Mama, ETC. Other regional credits include: TWO TRAINS RUNNING and RADIO GOLF (Syracuse Stage); GEM OF THE OCEAN (Arena Stage), JITNEY and SEVEN GUITARS (Pittsburgh Public Theater), and IN WALKS ED (Longwharf Theater). Off-Broadway/Broadway: RHAPSODY IN BLACK (The WorkShop Theater), SLIPPERY WHEN WET (La Mama), ANOTHER MAN’S POISON (Peter Jay Sharpe Theater), Marion McClinton’s POLICE BOYS (Playwright’s Horizons); Oyamo's KILLA DILLA and LET ME LIVE (Drama Desk and Audelco award nominee - Featured Actor), and the revival of MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM starring Whoopi Goldberg (u/s Rock Dutton). Film and Television credits include: Miracle at St. Anna, Requiem for a Dream, Malcolm X, Presumed Innocent, The Good Fight, Law and Order, Law and Order SVU, JAG and HBO's The Affair.

Retired University at Buffalo professor GARY EARL ROSS is a novelist, playwright, and former public radio commentator. His play Matter of Intent won the Edgar Award from Mystery Writers of America. His books include the Gideon Rimes mysteries Nickel City Blues and Nickel City Crossfire.

DR. MARY E. WEEMS is a poet, playwright, performer, author and artistic-scholar. Weems' plays and monologues are primarily about the Black experience and her main purpose is to speak truth to power and to use her work as political acts against racism and sexism and for empathy and justice. In 2015, Mary Weems received the Cleveland Arts Prize, Emerging Artist Award for her full-length play MEAT prompted by Anthony Sowell's murder of eleven Black women in her hometown. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, she lives in Cleveland Heights, with her husband James Amie and several beloved houseplants.

KAYODÈ SOYEMI is a Nigerian-American actor, writer and multi-faceted artist from Atlanta, Ga. Currently a graduate student at Yale School of Drama, he has worked regionally with several award winning theaters including Dallas Theater Center, Alliance Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Actors Express, and Aurora Theatre. His writing often deals with Afro-surreality and Afro-futurism. He's a dedicated actorvist and new works artist, who hopes to be a mirror to your soul.

LIZ MORGAN is an actor and writer known for her original poem “Why I was Late Today…” (Huffington Post) and her performance collaboration with Ntozake Shange on the legend’s choreopoem, Lost in Language and Sound. Recipient of the 2017 Torchbearer for Black Theatre Award. MFA: Brown University. LizMorganOnline.com

MICHAEL HAGINS is an African-American Playwright, Director, Fight Director, Actor, and Producer. Michael was born in Brooklyn, New York, but raised in a small town in Florida for his childhood. He has used the racism and prejudice he dealt with at an early age to fuel his writing, which he has done so since the age of 9.

RACHEL LYNETT’s plays have been featured at Mirrorbox Theatre, Laboratory Theatre of Florida, Barrington Stage Company, Theatre Lab, Theatre Prometheus, Florida Studio Theatre, Laughing Pig Theatre Company, Capital Repertory Theatre, Teatro Espejo, the Kennedy Center Page to Stage festival, Theatresquared, Equity Library Theatre, Chicago, Talk Back Theatre, American Stage Theatre Company, and Orlando Shakespeare Theatre. Recently, Last Night and HE DID IT made the 2020 Kilroy’s List.  Rachel Lynett is also the Artistic Director of Rachel Lynett Theatre Company.

JAMES J. JOHNSON is an actor and writer based in Washington, DC. As an actor, he has appeared in many productions from Virginia to New York for over 20 years, including with Arena Stage, Ford’s Theatre and the NY Hip-Hop Theatre Festival. He recently received a Solo Work Commission from 1st Stage in Tyson’s Corner, Virginia.

Passionate playwright, author and assistant professor, MELDA BEATY resides in Chicago, Illinois with her three gifted and beautiful daughters. Melda’s plays have been nationally produced. She is also a freelance contributor to Black Masks magazine. Melda earned her B.A. in Broadcast Communications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her M.A. in English at Illinois State University. meldacreates.com

MICHAEL RISHAWN is an actor and playwright with numerous credits on stage (regional & off-Broadway), film, commercial, and television. In addition his first feature, Mama's Boy, was a 2015 Sundance Screenwriters Lab Finalist. MFA, UCSD. BFA, The Hartt School.

DIANA MUCCI is an Afro-Latina author, playwright, poet, producer, wife and mother. A former English teacher and fashion entrepreneur, Diana has performed as an actress and has written, published and/or produced critically acclaimed short stories, children's books, poems, plays, TV commercials, and indie films. A passionate and comedic storyteller, Diana will perform a reading from her soon to be-published memoir, Growing up with Big Hair, inspired by her multi-ethnic family living in Chicago’s Southside. backofyards.com

LOUIS DEVAUGHN NELSON has worked for twenty years as a performer, choreographer, producer and director for film, theater, dance and more. His work has been shown in USA, Europe, Australia, and South Korea. Nelson was named Best New Choreographer by Philadelphia City Paper and has been recognized internationally for his video work that delves into cultural and movement research. More Info: facebook.com/HokumArts

JONATHON "Jack-Jack" BENJAMIN is a veteran of the US Air Force. After medically retiring from service, he studied Theatre and Graduated from the George Washington University in Washington DC. In 2018, his first play, American Airman, was honored and produced at the Kennedy Center's American College Theatre Festival in Indiana, PA. Now, he is a professional playwright and actively seeks opportunities to get his worked produced on stage.

CHRISTOPHER BUCHANAN is a New York City based playwright and performer. His play Ad Nauseam was produced by The New Ambassadors Theatre Company in July, 2019. Angels Watching From Afar received a reading in The PlayGround Experiment’s First Reads Festival in June, 2019. Recent acting credits: Ad Nauseam (2019) and Mr. Long (2017).

CHRISTIAN ST. CROIX is an award-winning playwright currently residing in San Diego, California. His works include Princes, Frisco and Zack. The San Diego Union-Tribune called his play, Monsters of the American Cinema, “touching and funny”, “honest” and “engaging."