Theater for the New City

For Flow

by Kesav Murthy Wable

A new play, “For Flow” by Kesav Wable, opens November 6th at Theater for the New City’s “Community Space Theater” and will run through November 23rd. The play is inspired by Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” and tells the story of two rappers waiting for a record producer. Director, Jonathan Solari will bring the piece to life under the aegis of “25 to Life Productions, LLC.”

Synopsis
Dee and Kane are two MC’s from the borough of the Bronx searching for a way to climb out of the hard-knock lives they’ve been forced to lead. We join them on a street corner where they await the arrival of ‘Flow’, a record producer Dee claims to have met earlier that week in a club. Although each young man greets this opportunity with his own unique disposition, both are aware of how important this meeting is to their lives. While they grapple with strategies, appearances and each other’s egos in preparation for the big meeting, their relationship begins to discover the existential dilemmas presented by the art of rapping and the social dilemmas presented by hip-hop as a cultural movement.

During the course of the play two supporting characters pass by the street corner where Dee and Kane stand waiting. Roxanne, a DJ who is searching for a pawn shop, and Broonzy, an elderly male blues guitarist in search of a lost family both become acquainted with the two MCs hoping to achieve their own objectives. The relationship that develops between Roxanne and the MCs serves to examine the potency of a woman in hip-hop, both socially and musically. The relationship between Broonzy and the boys attempts to place rap in the larger context of African-American music with its tradition of finding freedom and protest through song despite oppressive socio-economic conditions.

Most importantly, there is the music. Each character in ‘Flow’ is a musician and during the course of the play, when egos clash and stories are told, freestyle battles, live DJ sets, and blues riffs color the soulful journey that these characters share.

Kesav Murthy Wable (actor, writer) was the 2006-07 Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC) inaugural South Asian Playwriting Fellow at the Lark Theatre and Play Development Center in New York City. He received this honor for his play, “For Flow” based on Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot”. A sample of “For Flow” was staged as a directed reading at the Lark Studio Theatre in October, 2007. He is currently working on his new play entitled, “Chakras”. On November 6, 2008, “25 to Life Productions, LLC” will stage “For Flow” at Theater for the New City’s Community Space Theater for a three week run.

In 2005 he completed the script “Ashoka’s Wheel” which was selected for a directed reading as part of the Chicago-based company Rasaka Theatre’s reading series. The reading was staged on March 1st, 2006 to a full-house that thoroughly appreciated the merits of the piece (see www.ashokaswheel.com). In July of 2006, “Ashoka’s Wheel” was featured as a finalist in the Chicago Dramatists’ “Many Voices Project”.

As an actor, he appeared as ‘Darius’ in Yong Soo Pak’s film Antigone 5000. He has performed in numerous stage productions including ‘Stephen’ in Israel Horovitz's Line at the 13th Street Repertory Theater, Hossein in Khaddish in East Jerusalem at the Theater for the New City and Murellus in Julius Caesar at the National Black Theater—all staged in New York City. In 2004, Kesav collaborated with eyeBLINK ENTERTAINMENT to stage an adaptation of Indian folk tales, 'Beneath the Banyan Tree', that he co-wrote with Qurrat Kadwani. Kesav recently earned his J.D. form Brooklyn Law School, ’08.

For Flow won Mr. Wable the honor of receiving the 2006-07 inaugural Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC) South Asian Playwriting Fellowship at the Lark Theatre and Play Development Center in New York City. In the past, the Chicago Dramatists group has recognized Mr. Wable for his piece, “Ashoka’s Wheel”, which it featured as a finalist in the “Many Voices Project” in a staging by the Rasaka Theatre Company.

Tickets go on sale in September, 2008; $20 for adults, $18 for students. Visit www.25tolifeproductions.com for more information, add “Dee Grand” on facebook.com, or contact Kesav Wable at Kesav@25tolifeproductions.com.

For more information, please visit http://www.25tolifeproductions.com

COMMUNITY SPACE THEATER

Thursday - Sunday, November 6 - 23

Thursday - Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 3pm

All Seats $18 +$2 online booking fee