Pirira

As the African nation of Malawi erupts in riots around them, American aid workers Jack and Ericka take shelter in the storeroom of a struggling NGO. Half a world away, Malawian student Gilbert and his gay co-worker Chad begin their day in the back room of a Manhattan florist. By day’s end they discover their lives are inextricably linked across continents, language and time. 

By J.Stephen Brantley  Directed by Ari Laura Kreith  With Adrian Baidoo, J.Stephen Brantley, Todd Flaherty, and Flor De Liz Perez.

Just published in the international journal  TheatreForum and available online via Indie Theater Now.

Pirira was honored with the 2014 New York Innovative Theater Award for Outstanding Premiere Production of a Play.

Pirira achieves the rare task of weaving two intercontinental plot lines between two sets of strangers...into a singular narrative that touches on race, religion and homophobia, while posing a number of questions about self-discovery and philanthropy.
-- Curtis M. Wong, Huffintgon Post

5 STARS!  A Tight 70-minute production with equal weight devoted to the humor and the serious...The actors are individually                           excellent and work together as a unified whole. 
-- Michael Jackson, The Examiner

Pirira is extremely accurate and probably one of the most important pieces I've seen.  I wish audiences everywhere could see this.
--Philippe van den Bossche, former Executive Director of Raising Malawi