WE ARE THRILLED TO ANNOUNCE STREAMING OPTIONS
FOR WORLD PREMIERE OF XANDRA NUR CLARK’S POLYLOGUES
Tickets start at $20, click here to purchase tickets to the in-person production (thru Oct 9th)!
Click here to purchase tickets to the virtual production - tickets avail thru Oct 10th only!
Directed by Molly Clifford,
Polylogues Dives Into Real People’s Experiences With Nonmonogamy—And Love In All Its Forms
Click here to watch the trailer!
"a thoughtful, layered, smirk-free show... love is the tender element that flows through these often self-scrutinizing monologues"
- The New York Times
"thought-provoking, engaging and often funny"
- The Reviews Hub
"compelling theater... superb"
- The Hangover Report
Colt Coeur, a company celebrated for producing visceral new plays, is proud to present the world premiere of Xandra Nur Clark’s Polylogues, an intimate, interview-based dive into real people’s experiences with nonmonogamy—and love in all its forms. Closer to a medium than an actor, writer and performer Clark channels the voices and stories of anonymous subjects with unwavering compassion, humor, and virtuosity. Directed by Molly Clifford, the result is a vibrant portrait of human connection told through a variety of perspectives. Previews begin at HERE (145 Sixth Avenue, Manhattan) on September 17, 2021, with an opening set for September 20, for a limited run through October 9, 2021. Tickets are on sale now at https://here.org/shows/polylogues/.
We are also thrilled to be able to offer audiences all over the world access to the world premiere of Polylogues - click here to purchase tickets to special virtual performances of the show! (Tickets must be purchased by October 10th!)
CREATIVE TEAM:
set: Jean Kim // costumes: Hahnji Jang
lights: Cheyenne Sykes // sound: Michael Costagliola
projections: greer x // dialect coach: Joy Lanceta Coronel
Production stage manager: Hanako Rodriguez
production management & technical direction: Marina Montesanti
Produced by Colt Coeur, Ryan Duncan-Ayala & Liza Couser
Covid Safety Officer / associate producer: Katrina Skidmore
Press agent: John Wyszniewski / EVERYMAN Agency
POLYLOGUES plays Wednesdays-Saturdays at 7pm, and Sundays at 2pm, and Mondays at 8:30pm.
Select Saturdays also have 2pm matinee performances.
The performance runs 75 minutes.
(We will be collecting a waitlist for any sold-out performances starting 30 minutes before performance time at the box office. Waitlist tickets are $20, cash strongly preferred.)
MORE INFO:
From a polyamorous senior to a child worried about her open parents, from a resident of a commune to an evangelical swinger, Polylogues uses over 20 contemporary stories to examine what people want from a relationship. Culled from over 50 interviews that Clark conducted over two years, Polylogues allows audiences to ponder what we’re afraid of and the many ways we’re capable of loving beyond what we can imagine.
Clark adds, “As a journalist and theater maker, I’ve always been led by my curiosity. Following a break-up, I started interviewing people in nonmonogamous relationships. The thing I heard from people repeatedly is that nonmonogamy isn’t about sex, or isn’t just about sex. It’s about charting unique paths through intimacy and relationships—learning how to share, trust, listen, have agency, and stay open—with a ton of bravery. Asking these questions and hearing these people's stories completely changed my life.”
Polylogues, which was originally scheduled to premiere in April 2020, is one of the first canceled productions to reopen following the pandemic.
The production also marks a deepening of Colt Coeur’s mission. Founded in 2010, Adrienne Campbell-Holt has directed each of the company’s 12 world premieres. Beginning with Polylogues, each Colt Coeur season of new work will find Campbell-Holt directing no more than one new play for the company, while acting as creative producer for another, which is the case for Polylogues.
Twenty-one performances of Polylogues will take place September 17–October 9 at HERE, located at 145 Sixth Avenue, just below Spring Street, in Manhattan. The performance schedule is Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7pm and Sundays at 2pm with additional shows on September 20 at 7pm, September 27 at 8:30pm, and October 4 at 8:30pm. Critics are welcome as of September 18 for an opening on Monday, September 20. Tickets, which start at $20, are available online at https://here.org/shows/polylogues/ or by phone at 212-647-0202. Standard ticketing fees apply. The running time is 75 minutes.
Colt Coeur is requiring all patrons to show proof of vaccination and to be masked inside the building. Polylogues will be performed with no more than 75% audience capacity. HERE’s Comprehensive Site Safety and Reopening Plan can be found at reopening.here.org. The designated HERE Site Safety Monitor will be present at every performance and will be responsible for enforcing compliance with this Safety Plan.
The production is a part of SubletSeries@HERE: a curated rental program, which provides artists with subsidized space and equipment, as well as a technical liaison.
Media Contact: John Wyszniewski at Everyman Agency, john@everymanagency.com, 347-416-3881.
About the Artists
Colt Coeur, an artists' ensemble, collaboratively creates theater from the ground up. Founded in 2010, Colt Coeur has created and produced twelve world premieres: Seven Minutes in Heaven, together as a company with playwright Steven Levenson; Fish Eye, with playwright Lucas Kavner; Recall, by Eliza Clark; Everything is Ours, by Nikole Beckwith, and Dry Land, by Ruby Rae Spiegel, How to Live on Earth, by MJ Kaufman, and Cal in Camo, by William Francis Hoffman (co-production with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater), Empathitrax, by Ana Nogueira, Zürich, created through a Toulmin Commission grant with playwright Amelia Roper, Joan by Stephen Belber, Hatef**k by Rehana Lew Mirza (co-pro with WP Theater), and Eureka Day by Jonathan Spector (East Coast premiere). All twelve of these productions were directed by Founding Artistic Director Adrienne Campbell-Holt and were New York Times and/or Time Out New York critic’s picks. After playing to sold-out houses, many have gone on to publication and productions around the country and abroad.
Xandra Nur Clark (writer/performer, they/she) is a queer, Indian-American writer, performer, journalist, and community-builder. Their works include Polylogues (2020 Kilroys List, 2020 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grant, 2018-19 Workshop Productions at Dixon Place and The Tank); Everything You’re Told (2021 Chesley/Bumbalo Playwriting Award, 2019 Reading at La MaMa); Separated (2021 Semi-Finalist for the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference); Anthology: Crown Heights (2016 Production at Weeksville Heritage Center and Exhibition at Five Myles; 2016 Grants from Brooklyn Arts Council, Brooklyn Community Foundation, and Stanford Arts); and Returning Home: Voices from the Front (2013 General Oliver P. Smith Award for Local Reporting from the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation). Xandra is a 2018-19 Queer|Art Fellow, a Member Artist of Ensemble Studio Theatre, and a singer with folk choir Ukrainian Village Voices. Upcoming Residencies at MASS MoCA, Blue Mountain Center, and the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation. BA Theater, MA Journalism: Stanford University. www.xandraclark.com
Molly Clifford (Director, she/her) NYC Directing: RETREAT (EST/Youngblood, Two Headed Rep), Karaoke at The Golden Sun Convention Center, Miss Julie, Restaurant in D Major, TARTUFFE (Two Headed Rep), American Dreamers by Lia Romeo (West of 10th), Soldier (All For One), The Elephant in the Room (NY Fringe). Assisting: Classic Stage, Playwrights Realm, The Play Company, Vineyard Theatre, EST, Cherry Lane and Yale Rep. Alumna of the National Theater Institute and Connecticut College. Co-Artistic Director of Two Headed Rep. Upcoming: Dulcitius at 59E59. www.mollyclifforddirects.com
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Polylogues is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature; and supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.