Quince Productions to Explore Race, Sexuality and Gay Marriage in Spring Productions

Hilary Asare and Doug Cashell are two of the stars in Quince’s first production of 2015, The Submission.

Quince Productions, the local theater company that produces GayFest!, Philly’s only LGBT theater festival, has announced its spring show lineup. The itinerary features productions that explore everything from race and sexuality to same-sex marriage.

First up, the Philadelphia premiere of Jeff Talbott’s The Submission. The show concerns a white playwright who pens a play about growing up poor and African-American. When a theater festival decides to produce the work, he panics, because, well, he’s white and afraid no one will take the work seriously. In an attempt to save face, he hires a black actress to play his part. Despite objections from his boyfriend, the play goes ahead as planned. “Among the humor of the situation,” Quince writes, “the play considers some very important issues of racism, homophobia, cultural appropriation, and the differences/similarities in struggles for equality among various communities.”

Directed by Quince founder Rich Rubin, The Submission plays April 10th through April 25th. There will be a special LGBT + Friends preview on Thursday, April 9th at Walnut Street Theatre’s Studio 5, located 825 Walnut Street. For more information and tickets, go here.

On April 19th and 26th, Quince will re-stage its GayFest! 2014 hit Standing On Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays. It’s a collection of short plays by award-winning playwrights that shine light on a variety of same-sex marriage situations: two men planning their wedding vows, a lesbian couple forced to fly to a marriage equality state to tie the knot, a Jewish mother finding the perfect husband for her gay son and more.

The two-night only affair, also taking place at Walnut Street Theatre’s Studio 5, will serve as a fundraiser for GayFest! and two local LGBT-serving organizations: I’m From Driftwood on April 19th and Equality PA on April 26th. For more information and tickets, go here.

Get out there and support local LGBT theater, folks!