- This event has passed.
Towne Street Theatre’s In Response 2025
Towne Street Theatre’s
In Response 2025
Click here for tickets!
“As we face abuses to human rights, personal freedoms and threats to our democracy during these unprecedented times, TST’s In Response festival is more timely and more important than ever before. In Response takes the news of our times straight from our streets and our screens and builds awareness and activism so that people feel empowered to make change. That is the power of the performing arts in 2025.” — Veronica McClelland, TST CEO
Here’s the line-up!
PLAYS AND SPOKEN WORD PERFORMANCES
A Gentile Mensch
A short play by: Anita Yellin Simons
Directed by: Raf Mauro
It takes courage to speak truth to power. And sometimes, you win.
A New America
A monologue by: Reginald Edmund
Directed by: Michael A. Shepperd
A reflection on what is happening in the world today.
Featuring: Parnell Damone Marcano
For The Love Of D’Artagnan
A short play by: Roland Rusinek
Directed by: Veronica Thompson & Karis Clark
A speculative fiction piece with queer themes and suppression of the press in a post-Trumpian America.
Featuring: Joey Swift, Erik Dylan Matibag
Frederick Douglass – Unexpected, 1884
A monologue by: Stephen Blackburn
Directed by: Kimba Henderson
A reflection on the historical stresses that the leaders of the civil rights and women’s rights movements faced early in their fights.
Featuring: Adrian Babatunde, De Ann Marie Odom
Hold the Line
Spoken Word by: Sharon Langley
Directed by: RJ Wayne
A poem that speaks about the history of resistance in the face of voter suppression and intimidation.
Featuring: Kamaria Williams
Kingdom of Heaven
A short play by: Rich Rubin
Directed by: Veronica Thompson
A priest and his immigrant parishioner confront the new American reality.
Featuring: Brock Jones, Jacqueline Castañeda, Paula Helena
nothings
Spoken word by: E. Talley II
Directed by: RJ Wayne
A call to action and a request to remember that what once seemed only a dream became true, and without question, can live again.
Featuring: Mel Hampton
Rumblings
A short play by: Kimba Henderson
Directed by: Kimba Henderson
Tackles the question of how we treat traitors to our country.
Featuring: Brock Jones, Charlie Towle, Eric Geller
The Right To Life!
A short play by: Shanelle Darlene
Director: Phone Tha & RJ Wayne
A story about the game that is America—one of violence, oppression and struggles – sugar-coated with plastic and TV show lights.
Featuring: Joshua Loren Kroll, Kamaria Williams, Noreen Quadir, Paula Helena
SONG
We Are The People
A song by: John Tierney
Directed by: Michael A. Shepperd
Featuring: Amorie Barton, Charlie Towle, Deja Monique Cruz, Joshua Loren Kroll, Kamaria Williams, Nina Kasuya, Parnell Damone Marcano, Paul Sohm
FILMS
Blood Bank
A short film by: S. Pearl Sharp
A poem that speaks to how women’s labor, local resources and bodies are used without permission or compensation for the profit of corporations, governments, and criminals.
The Plea
A short film by: RCB
A reflection to make us aware of a simple truth – we are all one.
Stand
A short film by: Marlene McCurtis & Susie Tanner
Written by incarcerated men at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in Lancaster, CA through the Theatre Workers Project. Formerly incarcerated men perform in this story that examines the personal struggle to stand up for justice and hope – even in the most challenging situations.
Look What You Made Me Do
A short film by: Destiny Nelson
A music video that follows a young Black woman who is killed by police, and then rises from the dead to seek revenge.
Anatomy of a King
A short film by: Jaimyon Parker
What does it take to be a strong Black man today? Five poets lend their powerful pens to give you the recipe.
She Prayed For Me
A short film by: Sonia Jackson
A heartfelt music video that celebrates the timeless power of ancestral and community prayers to uplift and sustain us.
A display of fine artwork
by: Laura Brody, Susan Lee, and Cathy Weiss