PROPAGANDA
Written and created by Detext
Directed by Gabriel G Torres
Propaganda is a short slapstick comedy by Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Written entirely with excerpts from candidates’ prolific fundraising emails and subtly adapted for the stage by DETEXT, Propaganda marks the theatrical debut of these incredibly gifted authors. Under the direction of Gabriel Torres, Propaganda is scheduled to debut online on November 2 and hopes to broaden the recognition and appreciation these modern day bards deserve.
ABOUT THE SHOW
Over the past months we had the privilege of receiving around 5,000 unsolicited emails from Donald Trump and Joe Biden asking for money to fund their respective campaigns. While most people probably ignored and deleted such emails, we read every single one of them and we noticed their extraordinary literary quality. After weeks of intense work, we’ve adapted this material for a stage and are pleased to invite you to the online premiere of “PROPAGANDA, A ONE-ACT PLAY BY JOE BIDEN AND DONALD TRUMP.” Don’t think fundraising emails can be funny? Well, maybe there’s none of them in 2024, there’s a possibility this is the last election in quite some time...
ABOUT DETEXT
DETEXT’s work has been exhibited in museums and galleries internationally, including MoMA PS1’s Greater New York (2010), Centro Arte 2 de Mayo in Madrid (2015), Museo de Arte Contemporaneo MACBA in Barcelona (2016) and
Musée de design et d’arts appliqués contemporains MUDAC (2017), among others. DETEXT’s performances have been presented at the Museum of Arts and Design MAD (2016), EMERGENYC/Abrons Art Center in New York (2018), at the Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporaneo MUAC in Mexico City (2019). Upcoming shows: Cooper Hewitt/the Smithsonian’s Designing Peace.
DETEXT was a 2016 LMCC grantee and a fellow of the Art & Law Program at Fordham University (2013), the New Museum’s R & D Choreography Program (2014) and most recently the Theater of Change Forum at Columbia University (2019). They have been artists in residence at Mass MOCA, SOMA in Mexico City and La Nueva Fábrica (Guatemala). DETEXT’s work is represented in private and public collections internationally, including ANOTHER SPACE/the The Daniel and Estrellita Brodsky Foundation in New York, the Oscar Seikaly Collection in Miami and AMA Colección Juan Yarur in Santiago de Chile.
ABOUT THE TEAM
Gabriel Torres is a multidisciplinary artist from Colombia and New York. Current Project: “Haus of Dust” - Loisaida Inc, "Mañanaland” The Tank NYC - Ass. Dir and Community Coordinator Recent Projects: “Distant Bodies” - 2020 - The LGBT Center & Cyber Tank - NYC . “Still - Performance for Inner Peace” 2019 - Chashama - NYC Recent Theater Directing Credits: Village Stories, KrisP Productions, Hong Kong (Virtual), Leo and his friends by Amalia Oliva Rojas, Theater Accident, Reading, NYC (Virtual), Caught in The Act by Anna Parisi, Biennal Immigrant Artist Festival, NYC (Virtual) The Bearded Woman by Jei Osorio, The Tank, 2018, La Pola by Oscar Cabreira, Serials, The Flea Theater, 2018, (Assistant Dir) LES Festival For the Arts, Theater for The New City, 2018. (Artistic Director Assistant) Teaching Artist: Cue Drama, Hong Kong, 2018 Jamaica Center for The Arts - 2018. Film Directing & Documentary: OSS #DK Testimony Series, Documentary Series, 2020, Distant Bodies, The LGBT Center & The Tank NYC, 2020. Blue Clouds, 2020. In The Darkness We May Find Each Other, 2019. All Girls Got a Dream, 2018. It’s A Match, 2018.
Gabriel has directed readings and short plays with companies such as Theater Accident, Theater for The New City, The Tank NYC, Casa Ensemble Colombia, Hong Kong Arts Center, KrisP Productions Hong Kong, and many others. He has also been published by BLANK Magazine, Mr Ma’Am Literary Magazine, Eleven and a Half and the Operating Room. Gabriel has a one Year Certification from The Neighborhood Playhouse Theatre. He also holds a BA in Liberal Sciences, and he is a candidate for a Media Studies MA at The New School, with concentrations in innovative storytelling, creative community development and a graduate certificate in Media Management. Gabriel was also part of the Riggio's Honors Democracy and Writing Program, Creative Capital Professional Workshop for Artists 2019. and part of the EMERGENYC Hemisphere Institute Program 2020.
Daniel Murphy is very happy to be a part of this production. A Carolina native he recently moved to New York in February (incredible timing), after graduating from Point Park University in 2019. Non-virtual credits include Uncle Vanya, Coram Boy and Vinegar Tom (PPU), Sherlock Holmes (Kinetic Theatre) and the 2019 Young Playwrights Festival (City Theatre). Please for the love of god, VOTE.
Justin Schulsohn is a recent graduate of the University of Southern California having received a B.A. degree in acting. Recent credits include Trouble in Mind (Henry), The Secret Garden (Dreamers), Avenue Q (Brian), The Paul Street Boys (Gereb), Stuffed (Bill) and Trial by Jury (Council to the Plaintiff). A native New Yorker and Laguardia High School alum, he passionately cares about the politics of the day having seen the way elected officials have hurt/helped those around him. In the spirit of Propaganda, vote and make your voice heard this upcoming election!
Kristen Kelso is an actor, translator, director, and writer from Savannah, GA, based in Brooklyn. Her performance work focuses on memory and trauma, bilingual studies, familial archives and translation. She has performed at Kitchen Dog Theater, Amphibian Stage Productions, Cara Mía Theater, Shakespeare Dallas and Dallas Theater Center, among others. She holds an MA in Translation Studies (Spanish) from UT Dallas and most recently, an MA in Performance Studies from NYU.
Michael Morley is a native New Yorker, and is proud to say N.Y.C. is not a ghost town! Recent B.F.A graduate from Point Park University. Some credits include: World Premiere cast of Pump Up the Volume! (Mark/Hard Harry), Much Ado About Nothing (Borachio), SheNYC Theatre Festival’s Intentions (Man.) In addition to performing, Michael also directs and choreographs his own work. Big ol’ thank you to Gabriel for bringing him into this project.
Mone't Rosa Fuentes is an actress; a member of Minefield Theatre Group, a poet, a dancer; a company member of Herbert H. Dance Company, volunteer Artist Teacher, a member of the Brooklyn Birth Justice Defenders, a Birth Doula and a devoted Mother. She graduated from Lehman College with her BFA in Multimedia Performing Arts in 2016. She thanks her family and friends for their support in maintaining her artistry.
Ross Kaplan is a graduate of New World School of the Arts with his B.F.A. in Theatre. He has worked professionally at Broward Stage Door Theatre as Leonard/Chico Marx in Minnie's Boys, and with various theatre companies such as GableStage and Zoetic Stage. At Zoetic, he was selected as their Young Artist on their world premiere, Carbonell Award-winning production of Christopher Demos-Brown's Wrongful Death & Other Circus Acts, in which he also played the Gorilla Judge. He has appeared in The Quintessence of Joy as part of the Jan McArt Play Reading Series, The Night Before with TheatreLab for their 2020 New Play Festival, and Simpson’s Pride at Miami New Drama. Other credits include Jonah in Bad Jews, The Man From State/O Li Roon in In The Red and Brown Water, and Richard of Gloucester in Henry VI Part 3. As a playwright, he has had his plays read at New World's 2018 Playwrights Festival, Fantasy Theatre Factory's Stages of the Sun Series, as well as being commissioned to perform his original One Person Show Another Blues Brother for their ONE@SRT. Vote, please.