Brooklyn Gypsies:
One Catches Light Festival

January 28 - 30, 2016

Brooklyn Gypsies, led by Modesto “Flako” Jimenez, brings into being this first-annual festival celebrating the new work of NYC-based solo performers. For three nights, three solo artists in the Gypsies family will share a bill -- Colie McClellan with Arethusa Speaks, Bay Bryan with Growing Into My Beard and Nick E Finn with Last Hipster in Brooklyn. Honesty, music, new love and Brooklyn from three voices catch the light each night.

Last Hipster in Brooklyn
Written/Performed by Nick E Finn
Thurs., Jan. 28 at 8:30 pm
Fri., Jan. 29 at 7 pm
Sat., Jan. 30 at 10 pm
Directed by Modesto Flako Jimenez
Visual Designer: Kevin Torres
Sound designer: Lateef Dameer
Stage Manager: Olander Big O. Wilson

What is a hipster? The Last Hipster in Brooklyn is a one-man-show that captures a specific place and time in American history. By weaving a story that blends theater, spoken-word and hip-hop, self-professed hipster Nick E. Finn takes on multiple perspectives and characters – both Brooklyn natives and transplants – to tell the story of 2016 Brooklyn. As both a satire of the Hipster Subculture and a sincere ode to Brooklyn, Nick falls in love with BK but then is forced to confront his own role in the borough's gentrification and its rapidly changing identity. Will Nick be able to reconcile his love for the "Old Brooklyn" with his affiliation with the "New Brooklyn?" And will he be able to answer, once and for all – what is a hipster? Comedy, adventure, romance, and poetry come alive in this slice of our time.

Arethusa Speaks
Written/performed by Colie McClellan
Thurs., Jan. 28 at 7 pm
Fri., Jan. 29 at 10 pm
Sat., Jan. 30 at 8:30 pm
Mark Kennedy : Director/Designer

How do you know if you know a woman who's survived abuse? The answer comes in Arethusa Speaks, a solo show with a social justice mission focusing on survivors of intimate partner violence. After critically acclaimed runs in the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC, the FringeArts Festival in Philadelphia, PA, and two runs at The Tank NYC, this spoken word-style docudrama exposes the devastation laid by intimate partner violence through the voices of modern women and their mythological sisters. Developed by performer and writer Colie McClellan, the script is based on interviews that she conducted over several months with women who are survivors of such violence. McClellan weaves her own poetry in and out of these testimonials, incorporating Greek myth and Southern folklore based on stories from McClellan's home town in coastal South Carolina. With a series of minimal set pieces, props, lights, and sound, crafted by director and designer Mark Kennedy, each woman’s voice is given shape, metaphor, and theatrical presence.

Growing into my Beard
Written/Performed by Bay Bryan
Thurs., Jan. 28 at 10 pm
Fri., Jan. 29 at 8:30 pm
Sat., Jan. 30 at 7 pm
Directed/Produced by Artem Yatsunov

An autobiographical celebration of love and coming out, singer-songwriter Bay Bryan’s comedy fuses live music and personal narrative into a dreamy blend of storytelling and performance art, with just a dash of drag. Growing into my Beard is an embracing tale for anyone who has ever felt - even a little bit - queer at heart. Last seen at The Philly Fringe Festival, Horse Trade Theater’s Queerly Festival and at the 2015 Minnesota Fringe, this coming-out and coming-of-age story is centered on a ginger kid from Colorado figuring who he is, growing into his own and falling in love – real love – for the first time. A hilarious and partially-improvised evening written/composed/starring & lived by Bay Bryan, Growing into my Beard is a story of acceptance, the triumph of love, and a celebration of all things queer.

FESTIVAL SCHEDULE:

Thursday, January 28:
7pm- Arethusa Speaks
8:30pm- Last Hipster in Brooklyn
10pm- Growing into my Beard

Friday, January 29:
7pm- Last Hipster in Brooklyn
8:30pm- Growing into my Beard
10pm- Arethusa Speaks

Saturday, January 30:
7pm- Growing into my Beard
8:30pm- Arethusa Speaks
10pm- Last Hipster in Brooklyn
Party with free food til midnight

FESTIVAL TECH + PRODUCTION TEAM
Modesto Flako Jimenez- Curator
Kevin Torres- Video Designer/Boards
Dan Kent- Technical Director
Karina Paez- Stage Manager
Olander Wilson- Assist.Stage Manager
Kaitlyn Meade- House Manager

BROOKLYN GYPSIES is an eclectic artist collective who are both native and immigrant to new york city. We present annual showcases of new work in theater, dance, poetry and film that sparks dialogue on critical issues of immigration, economics, and survival. mixing professional and new artist and giving them a platform to explore complex issues in an engaging Environment. Offering a playground to celebrate and share what is unique about Bushwick's converging arts communities.