New Manifest's Inaugural Show
*Regional Premiere
The Realness by Idris Goodwin
8pm January 17-26, 2019
at the Mastrogeorge Theatre in Austin, Texas.

The Realness is a 1996 hip-hop love story. Idris Goodwin takes on tough questions of authenticity and class collision with humor, heart, and killer rhymes in a coming-of-age tale set to the beat of hip-hop history.

About New Manifest Theatre Company
New Manifest's mission is dedicated to storytelling from a diversity of specific voices, styles, and perspectives in contemporary theatre. Our vision is to foster a diverse collaborative ensemble company, valuing every facet of the theatre, providing educational programs that focus on the artistic ideals we hold, striving to produce plays that evoke empathy, passion and questions that allow meaningful discussion to thrive. Core Values are Diversity, Artistic Excellence, Operational Excellence, Education + Outreach, Collaboration + Community. newmanifest.org

New Manifest's Creative Team
Simone Alexander (Producing Artistic Director)
Nehemiah Alexander (Technical Director)
Elisa Regulski (Director of Marketing)
Kevin Pellicone (Social Media Manager)

Why The Realness?
The Realness by Idris Goodwin is a perfect collaboration of 90's hip hop culture and a classic coming-of-age story. Goodwin has created such a specific world for there character to grow and strive in. Goodwin is a writer whose intention and style leap off the page and we look forward to bringing to reality in this production.

The Playwright
Idris Goodwin is a playwright, poet/performer, and essayist. His play How We Got On, developed at the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, premiered in Actors Theatre's 2012 Humana Festival, and is being produced at theatres across the country. It is the first in his "break beat play" series which includes The REALNESS and Hype Man, winner of the 2017 Blue Ink Playwriting Award. His play And In This Corner: Cassius Clay received the 2017 Distinguished Play Award from The American Association of Theater and Education. Other plays include Blackademics, This Is Modern Art, co-written with Kevin Coval, Bars and Measures, and The Raid. Goodwin is one of seven playwrights featured in the widely presented HANDS UP!, an anthology commissioned by The New Black Fest and published by Samuel French. His one-act Black Flag was produced Off Broadway in Summer Shorts Festival at 59E59 Theatre. The Way The Mountain Moved, commissioned as part of Oregon Shakespeare’s groundbreaking American Revolutions Series, will world premiere in 2018. He's received support from the NEA and Ford Foundation, and awarded Oregon Shakespeare's American History Cycle Commission, The Blue Ink Playwriting Award, and InterAct Theater's 20/20 Prize. He has work commissioned by or in development with The Public Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, Steppenwolf Theatre, The Kennedy Center, Seattle Children's Theatre, Berkeley Rep's Ground Floor Program, La Jolla Playhouse, The Lark Playwriting Center, The Playwrights's Center, and New Harmony Project. These Are The Breaks (Write Bloody, 2011), his debut collection of essays and poetry, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Goodwin's poetry has been featured on HBO, The Discovery Channel, Sesame Street and National Public Radio. Goodwin is an assistant professor in The Department of Theatre and Dance at Colorado College. Find him at www.idrisgoodwin.com

The Designers
Director- Simone Alexander
Stage Manager- Allie van Niman
Scenic Designer- Nehemiah Alexander
Sound Designer- Malyssa Quiles
Lighting Designer- Jacqueline Sindelar

Why Your Support Matters
A donation to New Manifest helps us to produce new works, pay for theatre space, and pay our actors, designers, and crew members.
AND continue to offer accessible performances for our community!



New Manifest Theatre Company is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions for the charitable purposes of New Manifest Theatre Company must be made payable to “Fractured Atlas” only and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.