Imagine There's No Virus — The Huntington's Radio Plays Look To The Future In 'Dream Boston'

Jacquinn Sinclair

If you close your eyes and listen, local spots like the Boston Public Library, MIT’s Great Dome and the North Bridge in Concord come to life in the lushly layered soundscapes of the Huntington Theatre Company’s new audio micro-plays, "Dream Boston." Four of the area's leading playwrights answer the Huntington’s call to “imagine their favorite locations, landmarks and friends in a future Boston, when we can once again meet and thrive in our city.” There are footsteps, cannons, cheering and other elements of Valentin Frank's rich sound design that help set the scenes.

Kate Snodgrass and Brenda Withers tackle loss from different angles, and Melinda Lopez looks to the past only to push us to think more about the future. 

The reading room in the Boston Public Library. (Courtesy Huntington Theatre Company)

With 'I Am A Man,' Castle Of Our Skins Rewrites The Narrative Of Black Masculinity

Fed up with low wages and poor working conditions, more than a thousand black sanitation workers flooded the streets of Memphis on Feb. 12, 1968. The men, pushed to the breaking point by the death of their colleagues, Echol Cole and Robert Walker, who were “crushed by a malfunctioning truck,” went on strike. They protested with bold signage that decried "I AM A MAN."

That declaration demanding dignity and equality is at the center of Castle of Our Skins’ (COOS) latest project, “I AM A MAN 2019,” premiering June 2. Through music, film, history and more, “I AM A MAN 2019” examines that historical moment through the lens of contemporary concerns of black masculinity and humanity. Read more