A promotional flyer for a play titled "Black Friends" features a blue bottom section with event details and a top section displaying profile photos and descriptions of several people.

Classical Theatre Of Harlem

General Admission

<p data-end="497" data-start="250" fr-original-style="font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" id="isPasted" style="font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; line-height: 1.5; box-sizing: inherit;">Future Classics returns Monday, September 28 at 7:00 p.m. at the Harlem School of the Arts with a free reading of BLACK FRIENDS, a new comedy by playwright and veteran Broadway casting director Erica Jensen.<p data-end="497" data-start="250" fr-original-style="font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" style="font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; line-height: 1.5; box-sizing: inherit;"> <p data-end="497" data-start="250" fr-original-style="font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" style="font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; line-height: 1.5; box-sizing: inherit;">It&#39;s 2022, and everyone suddenly has a Black friend - except Jessica. Raised by white parents, surrounded by white people, and painfully aware that she is the only Black person in her own life, Jessica decides to fix her identity crisis. She rents a Black friend. But - can belonging be bought?&nbsp;<p data-end="497" data-start="250" fr-original-style="font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" style="font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; line-height: 1.5; box-sizing: inherit;"> <p data-end="497" data-start="250" fr-original-style="font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" style="font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; line-height: 1.5; box-sizing: inherit;">The cast of BLACK FRIENDS features Sharina Martin (The Piano Lesson, Broadway), Charlie Thurston (Liberation, Roundabout, Broadway), Claire Karpen (Into the Woods, Roundabout), Craig Divino (And The We Were No More, LaMaMa), Naomi Lorrain (Eureka Day, MTC, Broadway), Ty Jones (CTH Artistic Director), Monica Wyche (Five Days at Memorial, Apple TV+) and Emily Kleypas (recent grad Columbia School of the Arts). Dramaturg Stephanie Rolland (Our Town Broadway Associate Director) will direct the reading.<p data-end="497" data-start="250" fr-original-style="font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" style="font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; line-height: 1.5; box-sizing: inherit;"> <p data-end="497" data-start="250" fr-original-style="font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" style="font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; line-height: 1.5; box-sizing: inherit;">Tickets are free with a reservation. BIOS Erica Jensen&nbsp;(playwright) is a casting director at and co-owner of Calleri Jensen Davis. Her 20-year-plus career with partners James Calleri and Paul Davis spans film, television, regional, off Broadway and Broadway theater. Casting credits include Broadway Purpose (Tony Winner, and Artios Nominee); Topdog/Underdog (Tony Winner and Artios Nominee);For Colored Girls&hellip;, Thoughts of A Colored Man, and The Piano Lesson (w/Samuel Jackson) Past B&rsquo;way credits: Fool For Love, Hughie, A Raisin In The Sun, Of Mice and Men, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch. TV credits include Queens, Love Life, Dickinson, Lipstick Jungle, and The Path. Regional Theater: Yale Rep, Cleveland Playhouse, Actors Theater of Louisville, Classic Stage Company, Rattlestick Theater, City Theater, McCarter Theatre, People&rsquo;s Light and Theatre, Hartford Stage, LaJolla Playhouse, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, and The Flea Theater. Erica is also a playwright. Her play Black Friends was selected for Fault Line Theatre&rsquo;s Irons In the Fire in 2025. She is a marathon runner, co-owner of She-Collective, and on the board of The Make Good Project. And she is a proud mom of a teenager. Stephanie Rolland (dramaturg, director) is a director, dramaturg, curator and Lilly Award winning creative producer. Directing: The Phantom Queen (Grassworks); Assistant Director - creation stories and all the important importance (LCT3); Associate Director - Spunk by Zora Neale Hurston (Yale Rep); Dead to Us by Malikah Stafford (LSFTI); Teaching Artist in Residence - Film Over Gun Violence Program (CMCArts St. Croix, USVI); SCC Redux by Pascale Armand (reading - New Black Fest); Associate Director - Our Town (Broadway); Assistant Director - Eden (Yale Repertory Theatre); Visiting Director - NYU Tisch&rsquo;s &ldquo;Collaboration Reloaded&rdquo; led by Oskar Eustis and Suzan-Lori Parks; Assistant Director - 2024/2025 Spunk workshops (Yale Repertory Theatre); Associate Director - Hamlet (Public Theater). Select Curating and Producing: Theater Curator and creator/director/producer of the &ldquo;Beyond the Red Door&rdquo; theatrical &nbsp;event series - August Wilson African American Cultural Center; Producing Fellow - Urban Bush Women Choreographic Center Initiative, Producing Faculty - Why Not Theatre; &nbsp;2018-2020 WP Theater Producing Fellow; Artistic&nbsp;<p data-end="497" data-start="250" fr-original-style="font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" style="font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; line-height: 1.5; box-sizing: inherit;"> The Classical Theatre of Harlem&nbsp; is an American theatre company that tells stories through the lens of the African diaspora. The Classical Theatre of Harlem (CTH) combines original adaptations, music, and dance to present great classics of world literature and contemporary works that will stand the test of time. Since its founding in 1999, CTH has presented works ranging from traditional classical playwrights (Sophocles, Euripides and William Shakespeare) to established 20th-century playwrights (August Wilson, Langston Hughes and Jean Genet) to new plays by emerging playwrights. CTH also proudly provides theater-based training and live theater experiences to Harlem youth and their families through its arts education programs. The organization&rsquo;s theater development programming includes Future Classics, Playwrights&rsquo; Playground, and Revisited Classics, all of which give exposure to emerging creators. CTH&rsquo;s Board of Directors includes acclaimed artists and cultural leaders shaping the future of theater, film, television, and the arts, including TIME100 honoree Ethan Hawke and Tony Award-winning actress Kara Young, who made Broadway history as the first Black performer to win back-to-back Tony Awards for Best Featured Actress in a Play for&nbsp;Purlie Victorious&nbsp;(2024) and&nbsp;Purpose&nbsp;(2025). The company serves over 35,000 live audience members per year. Its online offerings have drawn over 500,000 viewers. To learn more, visit <a fr-original-style="" href="https://www.cthnyc.org/?utm_source=chatgpt.com" style="text-decoration-color: currentcolor; -webkit-user-select: auto; box-sizing: inherit;" target="_blank">The Classical Theatre of Harlem</a>.

Hi <span contenteditable="false" data-custom-variable="{{firstname}}" fr-original-class="fr-deletable styled-tag-chip" fr-original-style="" style="color: rgb(42, 42, 196); overflow-wrap: anywhere; -webkit-user-select: none; background-color: rgb(248, 248, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(191, 191, 255); border-radius: 4px; margin: 0px; padding: 1px 8px; font-size: 11px; display: inline-block; box-sizing: inherit;">First name, Thank you for registering to join The Classical Theatre of Harlem for a reading of BLACK FRIENDS, a new play by Erica Jensen and the next installment of CTH&rsquo;s Future Classics Reading Series. BLACK FRIENDS Monday, September 28 at 7:00 PM Harlem School of the Arts 645 St. Nicholas Avenue New York, NY 10030 Between 141st and 145th Streets Featuring Sharina Martin, Charlie Thurston, Claire Karpen, Craig Divino, Naomi Lorrain, Ty Jones, Monica Wyche, and Emily Kleypas, with dramaturgy by Stephanie Rolland. Presented by The Classical Theatre of Harlem and Stop The Wind Theatricals, in association with producer Corbin McConnell. We&rsquo;ll see you in Harlem!The Classical Theatre of Harlem

<p style="font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;text-decoration:none;margin:0px;line-height:1.5;box-sizing:inherit;max-width:100%">Future Classics returns Monday, September 28 at 7:00 p.m. at the Harlem School of the Arts with a free reading of BLACK FRIENDS, a new comedy by playwright and veteran Broadway casting director Erica Jensen.<p style="font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;text-decoration:none;margin:0px;line-height:1.5;box-sizing:inherit;max-width:100%"> <p style="font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;text-decoration:none;margin:0px;line-height:1.5;box-sizing:inherit;max-width:100%">It's 2022, and everyone suddenly has a Black friend - except Jessica. Raised by white parents, surrounded by white people, and painfully aware that she is the only Black person in her own life, Jessica decides to fix her identity crisis. She rents a Black friend. But - can belonging be bought? <p style="font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;text-decoration:none;margin:0px;line-height:1.5;box-sizing:inherit;max-width:100%"> <p style="font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;text-decoration:none;margin:0px;line-height:1.5;box-sizing:inherit;max-width:100%">The cast of BLACK FRIENDS features Sharina Martin (The Piano Lesson, Broadway), Charlie Thurston (Liberation, Roundabout, Broadway), Claire Karpen (Into the Woods, Roundabout), Craig Divino (And The We Were No More, LaMaMa), Naomi Lorrain (Eureka Day, MTC, Broadway), Ty Jones (CTH Artistic Director), Monica Wyche (Five Days at Memorial, Apple TV+) and Emily Kleypas (recent grad Columbia School of the Arts). Dramaturg Stephanie Rolland (Our Town Broadway Associate Director) will direct the reading.<p style="font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;text-decoration:none;margin:0px;line-height:1.5;box-sizing:inherit;max-width:100%"> <p style="font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;text-decoration:none;margin:0px;line-height:1.5;box-sizing:inherit;max-width:100%">Tickets are free with a reservation. BIOS Erica Jensen (playwright) is a casting director at and co-owner of Calleri Jensen Davis. Her 20-year-plus career with partners James Calleri and Paul Davis spans film, television, regional, off Broadway and Broadway theater. Casting credits include Broadway Purpose (Tony Winner, and Artios Nominee); Topdog/Underdog (Tony Winner and Artios Nominee);For Colored Girls…, Thoughts of A Colored Man, and The Piano Lesson (w/Samuel Jackson) Past B’way credits: Fool For Love, Hughie, A Raisin In The Sun, Of Mice and Men, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch. TV credits include Queens, Love Life, Dickinson, Lipstick Jungle, and The Path. Regional Theater: Yale Rep, Cleveland Playhouse, Actors Theater of Louisville, Classic Stage Company, Rattlestick Theater, City Theater, McCarter Theatre, People’s Light and Theatre, Hartford Stage, LaJolla Playhouse, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, and The Flea Theater. Erica is also a playwright. Her play Black Friends was selected for Fault Line Theatre’s Irons In the Fire in 2025. She is a marathon runner, co-owner of She-Collective, and on the board of The Make Good Project. And she is a proud mom of a teenager. Stephanie Rolland (dramaturg, director) is a director, dramaturg, curator and Lilly Award winning creative producer. Directing: The Phantom Queen (Grassworks); Assistant Director - creation stories and all the important importance (LCT3); Associate Director - Spunk by Zora Neale Hurston (Yale Rep); Dead to Us by Malikah Stafford (LSFTI); Teaching Artist in Residence - Film Over Gun Violence Program (CMCArts St. Croix, USVI); SCC Redux by Pascale Armand (reading - New Black Fest); Associate Director - Our Town (Broadway); Assistant Director - Eden (Yale Repertory Theatre); Visiting Director - NYU Tisch’s “Collaboration Reloaded” led by Oskar Eustis and Suzan-Lori Parks; Assistant Director - 2024/2025 Spunk workshops (Yale Repertory Theatre); Associate Director - Hamlet (Public Theater). Select Curating and Producing: Theater Curator and creator/director/producer of the “Beyond the Red Door” theatrical  event series - August Wilson African American Cultural Center; Producing Fellow - Urban Bush Women Choreographic Center Initiative, Producing Faculty - Why Not Theatre;  2018-2020 WP Theater Producing Fellow; Artistic <p style="font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;text-decoration:none;margin:0px;line-height:1.5;box-sizing:inherit;max-width:100%"> The Classical Theatre of Harlem  is an American theatre company that tells stories through the lens of the African diaspora. The Classical Theatre of Harlem (CTH) combines original adaptations, music, and dance to present great classics of world literature and contemporary works that will stand the test of time. Since its founding in 1999, CTH has presented works ranging from traditional classical playwrights (Sophocles, Euripides and William Shakespeare) to established 20th-century playwrights (August Wilson, Langston Hughes and Jean Genet) to new plays by emerging playwrights. CTH also proudly provides theater-based training and live theater experiences to Harlem youth and their families through its arts education programs. The organization’s theater development programming includes Future Classics, Playwrights’ Playground, and Revisited Classics, all of which give exposure to emerging creators. CTH’s Board of Directors includes acclaimed artists and cultural leaders shaping the future of theater, film, television, and the arts, including TIME100 honoree Ethan Hawke and Tony Award-winning actress Kara Young, who made Broadway history as the first Black performer to win back-to-back Tony Awards for Best Featured Actress in a Play for Purlie Victorious (2024) and Purpose (2025). The company serves over 35,000 live audience members per year. Its online offerings have drawn over 500,000 viewers. To learn more, visit <a href="https://www.cthnyc.org/?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank">The Classical Theatre of Harlem</a>.

Classical Theatre Of Harlem

Future Classics reading of "Black Friends" by Erica Jensen | September 28

645 St Nicholas Ave

General Admission

Free

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