Photos: Michelle Tabnick \A.R.T. \New York Theatre
Adjusted Realists in association with Weber State University presents the New York Premiere of RED DAYS from Friday, May 31 – Sunday, June 9, 2024 at Jeffery & Paula Gural Theatre A.R.T. / New York Theatre, 502 W. 53rd Street, NYC. With the exception of two 2pm matinees on Sunday, June 2 and Sunday, June 9, 2024, all performances start at 8pm.
Tickets are $35 and are available online HERE.
Set near Salt Lake City, RED DAYS, the searing new play from Utah writer Rachel Bublitz, may sound like another entry in a long line of dystopian visions, but the climate forecast here isn’t vague or distant. Instead, it’s already happening.
In a story determined to find hope and perseverance in a precarious status quo, RED DAYS follows high school athlete Dianna and her overbearing coach, who is also her mother, as they attempt life-as-usual. There are gritty practices, first loves, and summer internships, but as conditions worsen and designer masks can do only so much, Dianna must face the reality of her adolescence in Utah: the air is already killing her, and she and her generation must do everything possible to reverse the current trends.
Inspired by the already toxic air and chronic health conditions hovering over Utah, RED DAYS tells a local climate story that deserves global attention. New York audiences need only recall Canadian wildfires to remember that red can be both a warning and the color of our precious, threatened air.
By Rachel Bublitz
Directed by Jeremiah Maestas and Steve Kaliski
Starring Jennifer Adams*, Taylor Garlick, Grace Hernandez, Rachel McPhee*
Intimacy and Choreography Matt Mastromatteo
Scenic Design Porter Lance
Lighting Design Jessica Greenberg
Costume Design Citlali Urquiza
Sound Design and Compositions Matt Sherwin
Assistant Director Lily Hilden
Production Stage Manager Lyndsey Barratt
This collaboration between Adjusted Realists and Utah’s Weber State University will play a limited engagement at the Gural Theatre at A.R.T./New York Theatres May 31 – June 9.
About the Artists
Rachel Bublitz is an internationally produced playwright known for telling stories about women and creating new work for young performers. Her play Funny, Like An Abortion is receiving a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere by Mile Square Theatre, Cleveland Public Theatre, and The VORTEX. She won the Will Glickman Award for her play Ripped (world premiere by Z Space). Other plays include: Burst (world premiere by Alleyway Theatre) and The Night Witches (commissioned and world premiere by Egyptian YouTheatre), both published with Dramatic Publishing. When Rachel isn’t writing she’s watching her kids dominate at water polo. RachelBublitz.com
Jennifer Adams is a film and stage actress. Favorite theatre credits include Jennie Malone in Neil Simon’s Chapter Two, Meg in Crimes of the Heart, and Jean in the regional premiere of POTUS with Charlotte Conservatory Theater. Jennifer trained with the Film Actors Studio of Charlotte and has been featured in commercials and independent films throughout the southeast. She has led award-winning short films including Hen & Ham, which earned her a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the Los Angeles Indie Shorts Fest.
Taylor Garlick just finished their third year at WSU’s BA program for musical theatre. During their time at Weber State University they have performed in Something’s Afoot, In Pieces, The Importance of Being Earnest, Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Matchstick Girl, The Quick and the Dead, Silent Sky, and The Prom. They are a Jimmy Awards semi-finalist. They have also performed with Riff Raff Theatre Co. and Ogden Musical Theatre during their time with WSU in Ogden, Utah.
Grace Maria Hernandez (she/they) is a professional storyteller and artist currently based in Utah, earning their BA in Musical Theatre at Weber State University. Favorite roles include Shelby (Alyssa U/S) in The Prom, Medusa in I, Medusa, and Abigail Williams in The Crucible. She is so excited to be making her New York debut with the Adjusted Realists.
Rachel McPhee is an actor, producer and screenwriter. She received her BA at the University of Wisconsin and her Post Graduate Degree in Professional Acting from the Drama Studio London. Favorite acting credits include: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Momsters, Boardwalk Empire, Vieux Carre at the Pearl Theater, The Footage at the Flea, and The Refugees with Adjusted Realists. Most recently she produced and appeared in Dead Shot Mary, a solo show based on the phenomenal true story of Mary Shanley, one of the first women to be made first grade detective in the NYPD during the 1930s. www.rachelmcphee.com
Stephen Kaliski is a co-founder of Adjusted Realists and worked for 11 years in New York as an educator, director, and playwright. With Adjusted Realists, highlights include The Refugees, Gluten! (both writer/director) and The Briefly Dead (writer). He also assisted on the Broadway productions of Evita and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He has taught at Brooklyn College, Fordham, BMCC, LIU Post, and Davidson College, and he is now the Executive Director of Davidson Community Players in Charlotte, NC.
Jeremiah Maestas recently served as Assistant Director for a new play reading at Williamstown Theater Festival, and a proud Production Assistant at SHUCKED on Broadway. Some favorite credits: Macbeth (Lincoln Center Theater); The Refugees (ART / NY); Asylum Song (HERE ARTS), The Beyoncé (ART / NY), Chickens in the Yard (JACK Brooklyn), Gluten! (59E59); Pterodactyls (Teatro Circulo); Earthquake Sun (San Diego Rep.); Long Day’s Journey Into Night (The Warner CT); The Elephant Man, Suddenly Last Summer, Compleat Female Stage Beauty, The Shape of Things (TheatreWorks NMCT); Love! Valour! Compassion! (Diversionary); Jesus Hopped the “A” Train (LPT); In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play (Whitman BC). Associate Director for The Hard Problem (Lincoln Center Theater). Adjunct Theater Faculty, Quinnipiac University. Proud Actors’ Equity Member, and arts advocate. MFA, Brooklyn College / BA, University of San Diego. www.jeremiahmaestas.com
About Adjusted Realists
Adjusted Realists tell theatrical stories about slightly unhinged worlds. Their first production was the acclaimed revival of Nicky Silver’s Pterodactyls at Teatro Circulo NYC. Recent productions include The Refugees at ART NY Gural Theatre, the world premiere of Gluten! at 59E59 Theaters, Chickens in the Yard, The Briefly Dead, Asylum Song and The Beyonce. They have received multiple recognitions from the New York Innovative Theatre Awards (NYIT). The collective was founded in 2014.
For more information, visit https://www.adjustedrealists.com.
