Ithaca College

The Nuyorican Poets Café and Immigrant Artists and Scholars in New York (IASNY) presented HA-HA-HALLOWEEN! on Sunday, November 1. The event was conceived, curated and directed by Saviana Stanescu, Associate Professor of Playwriting and Theatre Studies. Saviana asked a few playwright friends to take a photo of two objects/toys they have at home and write a 5-minute play with those objects/toys as characters.  

The event presented virtual staged readings of seven 5-minute plays, including:  

• HAL, the Halloween Spider, and OLGA, the Russian Doll by Saviana Stanescu

• The Real Witch by Ithaca College Alum Audrey Lang (Theatre Studies, Class of 2020)

• Hop on Halloween by Walter Byongsok Chon, Assistant Professor of Dramaturgy and Theatre Studies

• Joe and Jamal at the Mall by Maria Alexandria Beech

• The Old Lady Under the Bridge by Jessica Litwak

• Looking Up by Anne Hamilton

• Louie and Xia at the Theatre by Caridad Svich

Each playwright, in Halloween costume, introduced their play.  

The readings featured Ali Bourzgui, Robert Denzel Edwards, Lydia Kelly, Ronee Goldman, Sabina Lueras, and Ashton Muñiz as performers, Brian Hanshaw as production stage manager, and Rachel Baumann as Assistant Stage Manager. 

Broadway World Announcement of the Event: 

https://www.broadwayworld.com/off-off-broadway/article/The-Nuyorican-Poets-Caf-and-Immigrant-Artists-and-Scholars-in-New-York-Presents-HA-HA-HALLOWEEN-20201030?fbclid=IwAR1hR2kDGP2zg4iqBoUSNupiu2-2szqaMtPOH67vDt7W3FLMUcreqLnTnBQ

Youtube Link of the Readings: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5AUAJ_oZ-E

• 1:20: HAL, the Halloween Spider, and OLGA, the Russian Doll by Saviana Stanescu

• 10:05: The Real Witch by Audrey Lang

• 16:00: Joe and Jamal at the Mall by Maria Alexandria Beech

• 19:54: Looking Up by Anne Hamilton

• 26:42: The Old Lady Under the Bridge by Jessica Litwak

• 40:02: Hop on Halloween by Walter Byongsok Chon

• 44:34: Louie and Xia at the Theatre by Caridad Svich