Ground Floor Theatre Updates 2021-22 Season

Ground Floor Theatre (GFT) announced the return to live theatre with an updated season schedule, along with two titles for the 2022 season, and the second quarter GFT In Residence Artist.

After moving “rain falls special on me” and “Anna in the Tropics” from the 2020 season, GFT has now set dates for both. “rain falls special on me,” directed by Patti Neff-Tiven will play August 2021 with the addition of the Tony-Award® winning musical “Memphis” directed by Matrex Kilgore for December 2021.

"I'm so excited to finally bring rain falls special on me to GFT audiences! This is the longest I have ever been involved with a show in any capacity and been able to watch it blossom and change not just because of the metamorphosis involved with an original work, but also the outside forces that caused us to look at it in vastly different ways,” said director and GFT Co-Artistic Director Patti Neff-Tiven on returning to live performance. “I'm thrilled that we will be able to give rain the full production it deserves, as it speaks so much to our present moment and the issues and struggles houseless folks are experiencing right now."

Directed by Carl Gonzalez, “Anna in the Tropics” will now move to the 2022 Season with new season addition of Colman Domingo’s “Dot,” directed by Lisa B. Thompson.

“I'm thrilled about making my directorial debut at the Ground Floor Theatre with Colman Domingo's Dot,” Thompson said. “It means so much to me to be taking the helm of a show that is so near and dear to my heart. I can't wait until Austin sees this remarkable story about the importance of family, love, acceptance and the power of memory.”

The GFT In Residence new quarterly artist is Siri Gurudev, a multi-disciplinary artist from Bogotá, Columbia. Siri is a trans, pansexual, nonbinary, writer, performance artist, kundalini yoga instructor, and wound-healer. Their work orbits around the questioning and destabilization of gender binarism, visualization of racialized gender violence, and the quest of how (being a mestizx from the “third world”) they can connect with their ancestry while finding traces of queerness in the archive. Siri’s GFT In Residence supported art “En el nombre del padre” will stream live in June. Changes and updates to the 2021 and 2022 Season for Ground Floor Theatre are noted below: 

rain falls special on me — August 19 – September 4, 2021
Memphis — December 2 – 19, 2021
Anna in the Tropics — February 17 – March 5, 2022
Dot — May 12 – 28, 2022

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rain falls special on me | August 19 – September 4, 2021

by Lane Michael Stanley | Directed by Patti Neff-Tiven

https://www.groundfloortheatre.org/2021season

When it rains in Austin, Texas, the best place to stay dry through the night is behind the theater. Weather and circumstance bring together Mikey, Snake, Miss Candace, Motor, Mac, and Julie – all of whom are on the street for different reasons, here now to navigate their relationships, dreams, and often, survival. 

Memphis | December 2 – 19, 2021

Book and Lyrics by Joe DiPietro; Music and Lyrics by David Bryan | Directed by Matrex Kilgore

https://www.groundfloortheatre.org/2021season

Broadway’s smash hit musical Memphis, winner of four Tony Awards® including Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book, and Best Orchestrations. Memphis is the story of Huey Calhoun (loosely based on real-life 1950s disc jockey Dewey Phillips) and his mission to bring blues and soul music to a white southern audience. In a time of segregation, Huey optimistically believes that music can transcend race, and with him on his journey is aspiring singer Felicia Farrell. The two fall in love, but must contend with social barriers, a prejudiced mother, and an overprotective brother. With a soulful score and vibrant dance numbers, Memphis is a crowd-pleasing adventure of music and love in the 1950s South. 

Anna in the Tropics | February 17 – March 5, 2022

by Nilo Cruz | Directed by Carl Gonzalez

https://www.groundfloortheatre.org/2022season

Winner of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Drama! Anna in the Tropics is a poignant and poetic play set in 1929 Florida in a Cuban American cigar factory, where cigars are still rolled by hand, and “lectors” are employed to educate and entertain the workers. The arrival of a new lector is a cause for celebration, but when he begins to read aloud from Anna Karenina, he unwittingly becomes a catalyst in the lives of his avid listeners – for whom Tolstoy, the tropics, and the American dream prove a volatile combination.

Dot | May 12 – 28, 2022

by Colman Domingo | Directed by Lisa B. Thompson

https://www.groundfloortheatre.org/2022season

The holidays are always a wild family affair at the Shealy house. But this year, Dotty and her three grown children gather with more than exchanging presents on their minds. As Dotty struggles to hold on to her memory, her children must fight to balance care for their mother and care for themselves. This twisted and hilarious new play grapples unflinchingly with aging parents, midlife crises, and the heart of a West Philly neighborhood. 

GFT IN RESIDENCE PERFOrMANCE

 “EN EL NOMBRE DEL PADRE” | June 2021

groundfloortheatre.org/residence

En el nombre del padre (In the Name of the Father) is a performance blessing in four acts. It uses poetry, movement, and storytelling to reflect on ancestral and personal wounds caused by colonization and patriarchal family dynamics. In this bilingual piece, siri gurudev asked the currently Austin-based latinx artists, intellectuals, and writers: Adriana Linares (Guatemala), Nathalia Hernández Ochoa (El Salvador), and César Iván A Ibarra (México), and the Bogotá-based Paola Correa (Colombia) to join them on a non-linear journey between grief and hope, sadness and joy, despair and collective healing.

CURRENTLY PLAYING

Trans Lives/Trans Voices – Closing Date May 20!

Original Music: Rocky Lane | Scenic Design: Gary Thornsberry | Lighting Design: Sydney Smith | Technical Direction: Hank Kerston | Graphic Design: Julia Zipporah

FREE; RSVP at https://www.groundfloortheatre.org/translives

Trans and non-binary people telling their own stories from their perspective. New stories premiere every Thursday night at 7pm with a live intro and talkback. Video’s will remain on GFT’s YouTube Channel. Subscribers of GFT’s YouTube Channel will be notified each week of new stories.

Upcoming Stories: May 6: World Famous *BOB*; May 13: Sam Rulon; and May 20: Lisa Scheps.

Past Stories: Adrian Lancaster, Ozma Darling, KB, Tessandra Lancaster, Sam Davis, Jessica Soukup, Faolán, Shane Whalley, Jyllian Mitchell, Remington Johnson, Queen Austin, kt shorb & siri gurudev, and Emmett Schelling.