Vickie Ramirez, playwright, and Richard C. Aven, director, of “Smoke”

Smoke, by Vickie Ramirez, directed by Richard C. Aven, presented by Mixed Phoenix Theatre Group

Since its inception five years ago, Mixed Phoenix Theatre Group has been making a name for itself as a company exploring the American identity through theatre, championing new plays from up-and-coming playwrights.

In the company’s first solo, fully-produced play (outside of Muzungu, their collaboration with my company, Co-Op Theatre East), MPTG has brought Vickie Ramirez‘s Smoke to the Studio Theater at Pershing Square Signature Center, directed by the company’s associate artistic director, Richard C. Aven.

As you’ll hear in the interview, the plot of Smoke doesn’t distill down easily into a sound-byte, but suffice it to say that the play is an exploration of who belongs where, and how, and why, told through a tale of family and community tensions (along with a bit of mysticism) on a Haundenosaunee Reservation in upstate New York. And as with any good play, there are no easy answers; only big, complicated questions to wrestle with.

Listen in as Vickie & Richard discuss creating an inclusive cultural piece, identity, and “mystical native stuff.”

Mixed Phoenix Theatre Group presents

Smoke

by Vickie Ramirez
directed by Richard C. Aven

April 5 – 21, 2013

The Studio Theatre
The Pershing Square Signature Center
480 West 42nd Street
New York, NY

tickets available via TicketCentral

Soni Moreno as Skywoman, in a still from "Smoke," by Vickie Ramirez, directed by Richard C. Aven, photo by Richard C. Aven Tanis Parenteau as Connie & Raul Castillo as Brewster in a still from "Smoke," by Vickie Ramirez, directed by Richard C. Aven, photo by Freddie Maloney Raul Castillo as Brewster, Alex Jacob Wilson as Flint, Matt Langer as Art Jr., and Brandon Oakes as Gary in a still from "Smoke," by Vickie Ramirez, directed by Richard C. Aven, photo by Freddie Maloney Tanis Parenteau as Connie & Raul Castillo as Brewster in a still from "Smoke," by Vickie Ramirez, directed by Richard C. Aven, photo by Freddie Maloney

first photo by Richard C. Aven; all others by Freddie Maloney

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