2023 Criminal Queerness Festival (w/ Danielle Levsky, Andrew Kushnir, and Wotjek Rodak)

In this episode, Deep Dive is partnering with National Queer Theater to bring you a conversation with the three playwrights whose projects are being showcased at this year's Criminal Queerness Festival at the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts in New York City beginning Wednesday, June 21st, and running through Friday, June 23rd.  

Acclaimed by the New York Times, the Advocate, and Thrillist – the Criminal Queerness Festival, founded in 2018 by the co-founder and artistic director of National Queer Theater Adam Odsess-Rubin and Egyptian playwright Adam Ashraf Al-sayeeg, has become an annual internationally focused theater festival aimed at lifting up queer and trans stories from around the world – with an emphasis on places and regions that might pose challenges for queer people and queer artists, for a number of reasons. 

This year’s focus is on Ukraine and Ukrainian playwrights and stories. 

Joining me today are the writers of this year’s highlighted works. 

Danielle Levsky has written and is starring in her play War and Play: A Clown Odyssey of Survival, which follows two clowns - Vira and Nadiya - as they navigate the horrors of Russia’s war on Ukraine. This will feature at the festival on opening night, June 21st.

Wotjek Rodak is the writer of the play The Chimera. A staged reading of this play, inspired by the memoir of Herculine Barbin, describes the reality of today’s Poland through metaphor - telling the story of an intersex person living in 19th century France. This will feature at the festival on Thursday night, June 22nd.

And, Andrew Kushnir is the writer of the play The Division – which tells the story of the gay grandson of a famous Ukrainian watchmaker, who, in the face of Russia’s ongoing invasion, and in pursuit of answering big questions, confronts a contentious family history. This will feature at the festival on Friday night, June 23rd.

Recommended:
Spotlight on LGBTQIA+ Pride at Lincoln Center for Performing Arts
National Queer Theater
Criminal Queerness Festival

Mentioned:
Critic Turned Clown
We Support LGBT Ukraine Fund

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