ALBANY, NY — Harbinger Theatre brings you their 17th production and 16th Capital Region Premiere with “Between Riverside and Crazy” by Stephen Adly Guirgis, directed by Patrick White. Guirgis, a graduate from UAlbany, is the first playwright they’ve produced twice after their hugely successful “The Motherf***ker with the Hat” at ACT in Summer ‘23. Performances will be held at Albany Civic Theater from July 18th to the 27th.
“I chose the play because I loved the fight for respect, fairness and justice against an unyielding society and system regardless of the morally compromised character of the protagonist,” White said. “It’s messy, it’s filthy and it’s righteous!”
City Hall is demanding more than his signature, the landlord wants him out, the liquor store is closed — and the Church won’t leave him alone. For ex-cop and recent widower, Walter “Pops” Washington, and his recently paroled son Junior, the struggle to hold on to one of the last great rent stabilized apartments on Riverside Drive collides with old wounds, sketchy new houseguests, and a final ultimatum in this Pulitzer Prize-winning dark comedy. For Pops and Junior, it seems the old days are dead and gone — after a lifetime living Between Riverside and Crazy.
“‘Between Riverside and Crazy,’ is both a captivating collection of character studies and an incisive indictment of the systems that act upon them. It’s a stunning intellectual achievement that’s also a total gas, a rare breed of theater deserving of protection at all costs,” Naveen Kumar, from Variety, said. “If there is only so much, we can know about another person, it’s just as well that some parts remain a mystery. It’s the assumptions we make, and what they say about us, that are worth continuing to question.”
Hasson Harris Wilcher will play the role of “Pops,” J.R. Richards will play “Junior,” Elizabeth Wellspeak will play “Detective O’Connor,” Jared Lewis-Holliday will play “Oswaldo,” Jenny Forson will play “Lulu,” J. Hunter will play “Caro,” and Sadrina Renee will play “Church Lady.” Harbinger Theatre welcomes these new actors to the Harbinger Family!
A FREE preview will be held on July 17th. Shows will be held from July 18th to the 27th, Friday and Saturday shows starting at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday shows starting at 3:00 p.m. Talkback Fridays will be held on July 18th and the 25th, after the show. There will be a Barbecue Party Saturday, July 19th at 6:00 p.m. before the show. Albany Civic Theatre is located at 235 Second Ave. in Albany, NY. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased here: https://harbingertheatre.ludus.com/
Do you wish you could pre-pay for all Harbinger Theatre shows for the whole year? The company will now offer a Flex Subscription, which means this is your opportunity to get four tickets for $50! The Flex Subscription can be used interchangeably, as you have the choice to use them all for a party to experience a single show or indulge in four plays you’ve never witnessed before!
$50 Flex Subscriptions are available by emailing harbingertheatrealbany@gmail.com or making a Venmo payment to @HarbingerTheatre.
Between Riverside and Crazy
By Stephen Adly Guirgis
Directed by Patrick White
Stage Managed by Naishaly Velez Galen
Lighting Design by Stephen Sanborn
Costume Design by Siobhan Shea
Sound Design by Brian Starnes and Shaya Reyes
Harbinger at Albany Civic Theater
235 Second Ave
Albany, NY 12209
7/18-7/27
Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30pm, Sundays at 3pm
$15 https://harbingertheatre.ludus.com/
