The Shattered Glass Project brings All New Cells to Theatre Off Jackson during Pride Month
Zenaida Rose Smith as Lux stands behind Kasper Cergol as Nils. Photography by Kirk Hostetter
For immediate release | May 15, 2023
The Shattered Glass Project (TSGP) presents the West Coast premiere of All New Cells, written by Aliza Goldstein and directed by Alison Kozar, June 2-18, 2023 at Theatre Off Jackson. All New Cells is a powerful story of disconnection and a search for identity contrasting how we live IRL (in real life) and how we present to the online world. More information and tickets are available at https://www.shatteredglassproject.org/all-new-cells-june2023. Additional information for the press is available at www.shatteredglassproject.org/press-room-all-new-cells
TSGP is excited to offer this production during Pride Month as a co-production with Theatre Off Jackson (located in Seattle’s Chinatown/International District.) All New Cells centers on Nils, a young trans man. When Nils's ex-girlfriend dies suddenly, he is dragged back into a toxic online roleplay scene he swore he'd never return to. He'd been doing okay sticking to his seven-year plan for getting over their breakup - but now, everyone either blames him or expects him to have answers, and he's getting nasty anonymous messages that might be coming from beyond the grave. A nuanced examination of identity, trauma, assault, grief, and mental health through an online world. Content Note: All New Cells contains references to suicide, child sexual abuse and self harm, which are discussed but not depicted; themes include transphobia and online bullying.
Why this show and why now? The Shattered Glass Project is dedicated to bringing stories to the stage that are unique and which have been selected for telling by theatre artists whose voices have been suppressed. Trans and GNC folks and women are being suppressed like hell right now, all across the United States and the world. Every day, across the US, it is becoming less safe and less legal to simply BE. We as an organization and as members of the theatre community are not going to let this story go untold.
All New Cells is a powerful story of disconnection and a search for identity contrasting how we live IRL (in real life) and how we present to the online world. The importance of role-play gaming and the construction of new personalities in new bodies is woven through the fabric of Nils’ story and personal development, as is the theme of creating power for and over yourself in a world where people often feel powerless. All New Cells touches on the way in which the digital ghosts of our past come back to haunt us. Ultimately, as Nils’ story shows, not only can we find agency for ourselves in a digital world and carry that agency into the life we live in the real world, we can also create victory for ourselves through acknowledging and incorporating the trauma we have experienced rather than excising it from our experience. We have the power to define and redefine ourselves.
Director Alison Kozar also notes that in All New Cells we are exploring queer characters in a queer affinity space and there are aspects of these characters that have emerged or are emerging and are still in flux, as queerness so often is. They say that when they were growing up, “[the] internet connected me to people like me, and people who liked me for me… It was a place where I didn't have to be me, but at the same time, I could share my secret thoughts and feelings without myself getting in the way.”
Playwright Aliza Goldstein says in their playwright’s notes that “All New Cells (is) a play inspired by the roleplay forums of my youth, the people who I met there, and the people who I was there….(A) beautiful, desolate, anonymous hellscape-cum-wonderland where you and me were free to be a hundred thousand kaleidoscopic versions of ourselves…. I hope you’ll recognize the characters who inhabit it. They live, I think, in every community, and in fandoms especially. If you feel seen by this play, I’m glad: I want to see you.”
Featuring Kasper Cergol (he/him) as Nils; Zenaida Rose Smith (they/them) as Lux; Jasmine Lomax (she/her) as Aeon; and Kay Taylor Yelinek (they/them) as Moody, All New Cells will preview June 1 and run June 2-18, 2023 at Theatre Off Jackson, located at 409 7th Ave. S, Seattle WA 98104. Performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets are available on a sliding scale Pick Your Price model, with tiered pricing ranging from $10-$50. A limited number of free community access tickets are available for every performance. Tickets are available at https://www.shatteredglassproject.org/all-new-cells-june2023
top row: Zenaida Rose Smith as Lux; middle row: Kasper Cergol as Nils and Jasmine Lomax as Aeon; bottom row: Kay Taylor Yelinek as Moody. Photography by Kirk Hostetter
TSGP is a theatre company with a mission to amplify the voices of theatre artists who have been marginalized on the basis of their gender or sex by offering unique opportunities to create and grow professionally. Programming includes an online developmental reading series bringing emerging directors together with new scripts; and the Director and Playwright Incubator/Mentor Program, a professional development program building community and relationships between gender-marginalized theatre artists. Company history and details are available at www.shatteredglassproject.org.
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More information, including complete dramaturgical statements, promotional photos, and details about our cast and creative team, is available in our press room: www.shatteredglassproject.org/press-room-all-new-cells
l to r: Kay Taylor Yelinek as Moody is scolded by Jasmine Lomax as Aeon. Photography by Kirk Hostetter.