Set in Brooklyn 2017, PILLOWTALK brings to life one night in the lives of Sam and Buck, a recently married interracial couple. Through a formal exploration of theatrical naturalism and the codified gender norms of ballet’s pas de deux, PILLOWTALK queers the intersections of race, gender, and class to challenge our assumptions of love and marriage. Confronting the backlash against marriage equality and #BlackLivesMatter, PILLOWTALK explores how liberation and oppression co-exist in our most intimate spaces, transforming social and cultural traditions into radical performances of change.

PILLOWTALK is performed by JP Moraga (Street Children with Vertigo Theater at The New Ohio, NYTimes Critic’s Pick) and Basit Shittu (Next Faggot Nation at HERE), two queer men of color, in a play written and directed by Kyoung H. Park (Artistic Director of Kyoung’s Pacific Beat) with choreography by Katy Pyle (Artistic Director of Ballez), live music by Helen Yee (Miss Julia at LaMaMa), sound design by Lawrence Schober (Primary with Sanguine Theatre Company; Asking for Trouble at EST), set and lighting design by Marie Yokoyama (Three Trees with Pan Asian Rep; We in Silence Hear a Whisper with Red Fern Theatre), costume design by Andrew Jordan (Christopher Williams’ Il Giardino d’Amore at Danspace Project) , and dramaturgy by Jess Applebaum (One Year Lease).

Kyoung H. Park’s PILLOWTALK centers on Buck (JP Moraga) and Sam (Basit Shittu), interracial newlyweds who are trying to find their space in a society where their existence is still a political matter. One night after work they find themselves negotiating how their sexual desires, personal needs, and emotions are framed around the notion that they live like outsiders, always trying to look in. Park’s sensitive dialogues and his sense of timing allow for Buck and Sam to go from engaging in explosive debates, to, literally, swooning, as the play allows for dance interludes to speak what the characters can’t bring themselves to express in words. Park makes peacemaking theatre, which he explains as being art made not in direct opposition to war, but a response to the violence legitimized by systems of oppression made acceptable by our culture. It’s through culture where Park believes artists can make a difference. The issues in PILLOWTALK certainly fit the description, and the conversations that should be sparked by the play will only confirm this. We spoke to the playwright about the themes in PILLOWTALK, his interest in addressing intersectionality, and creating dramatic archetypes fo …Read more