tread
Written by Joey Massa
Directed by Lucie Fleming
Artist Hometown: Morristown, NJ / New York, NY
From the playwright: I started writing this play as a final assignment for a class I took in the Fall of 2016. Our first pages were due about a week after the election. This piece grew out of that moment in time. I didn’t write this piece. These characters wrote themselves. They wrote themselves out of the paralysis and fear and anger that weighted the air in the aftermath of the election. The play centers the experiences of queer women in a world and an era that seeks to silence them. Anita and Jess are fighting, constantly, trying to grab hold of anything that will tell them how to exist in a world that was not created for their love. This play is about that struggle, the connection that comes out of it, the anger and frustration that come out of it, and the love that somehow, alone, manages to salvage their relationship.
I hope this play provides catharsis for audience members. I know the topics are not easy, but I believe oftentimes coming face-to-face with certain issues can help us heal from them, and I strongly believe that experiencing and processing with others can help us to heal. I want this play to provide a space for us to experience Anita and Jess’s struggles with them and with each other and, hopefully, in the process, reflect deeply on the nature of our own relationships to the current political climate.
About the Artists:
Lucie Fleming is thrilled to be directing Joey Massa’s new play, Tread, in this year’s Providence Fringe Festival. Lucie hails from New York City, and is a recent graduate from Brown’s class of 2017, having studied English and Classics. She is honored to be sharing this story and working with collaborators who are as passionate about honest storytelling as she is. She hopes that audiences will be excited and moved by Tread for the way that the play brings light to intersections of the political and personal in our daily lives. Lucie looks forward to the reflections and conversations that presenting this show will bring.
Written by Joey Massa
Directed by Lucie Fleming
Artist Hometown: Morristown, NJ / New York, NY
From the playwright: I started writing this play as a final assignment for a class I took in the Fall of 2016. Our first pages were due about a week after the election. This piece grew out of that moment in time. I didn’t write this piece. These characters wrote themselves. They wrote themselves out of the paralysis and fear and anger that weighted the air in the aftermath of the election. The play centers the experiences of queer women in a world and an era that seeks to silence them. Anita and Jess are fighting, constantly, trying to grab hold of anything that will tell them how to exist in a world that was not created for their love. This play is about that struggle, the connection that comes out of it, the anger and frustration that come out of it, and the love that somehow, alone, manages to salvage their relationship.
I hope this play provides catharsis for audience members. I know the topics are not easy, but I believe oftentimes coming face-to-face with certain issues can help us heal from them, and I strongly believe that experiencing and processing with others can help us to heal. I want this play to provide a space for us to experience Anita and Jess’s struggles with them and with each other and, hopefully, in the process, reflect deeply on the nature of our own relationships to the current political climate.
About the Artists:
Lucie Fleming is thrilled to be directing Joey Massa’s new play, Tread, in this year’s Providence Fringe Festival. Lucie hails from New York City, and is a recent graduate from Brown’s class of 2017, having studied English and Classics. She is honored to be sharing this story and working with collaborators who are as passionate about honest storytelling as she is. She hopes that audiences will be excited and moved by Tread for the way that the play brings light to intersections of the political and personal in our daily lives. Lucie looks forward to the reflections and conversations that presenting this show will bring.
SHOWTIMES
Friday, July 28 — 8:00 PM — Courtyard
Saturday, July 29 — 6:30 PM — Courtyard
WaterFire Arts Center
475 Valley St.
Providence, RI 02908
Friday, July 28 — 8:00 PM — Courtyard
Saturday, July 29 — 6:30 PM — Courtyard
WaterFire Arts Center
475 Valley St.
Providence, RI 02908
