Union Square Incident premiered on November 14, 2016 as part of The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway (Mark Armstrong, Executive Director; Tina Fallon, Founding Producer) at the American Airlines Theatre. It was directed by Elena Araoz with the following cast: Ashlie Atkinson, Jason Biggs, Michael Cerveris, Russell G. Jones, Olivia Washington and Julie White.

Warren Leight’s plays include Side Man (Tony Award), No Foreigners Beyond This Point (Drama Desk nomination), Glimmer, Glimmer and Shine (ATCA nomination).  In TV he’s been the Showrunner and Executive Producer of Law and Order: SVU (Imagen, NAACP, and Prism Awards), In Treatment (Peabody Award), Lights Out, and the Edgar-winning Law and Order: Criminal Intent.

Union Square Incident is copyright © 2016 by Warren Leight. All inquiries regarding rights should be addressed to John Buzzetti, WME, 11 Madison Avenue, New York NY 10010, 212-586-5100. Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that performances of Union Square Incident are subject to a royalty. It is fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America, and of all countries covered by the International Copyright union (including the Dominion of Canada and the rest of the British Commonwealth), and of all countries covered by the Pan-American Copyright Convention and the Universal Copyright Convention, and of all countries with which the United States has reciprocal copyright relations. All rights, including professional, amateur, motion picture, recitation, lecturing, public reading, radio broadcasting, podcasting, television, video or sound taping, all other forms of mechanical or electronic reproductions, such as information storage and retrieval systems and photocopying, and the rights of translation into foreign languages, are strictly reserved. Particular emphasis is laid upon the question of readings, permission for which much be secured from the author’s agent in writing.

Photos © Howard Sherman

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Lights up on a bare room with a few benches and one door upstage left or right.  We will learn it’s a holding pen of some sort. On one bench, a black man, RUSSELL, is seated.  His pockets have been emptied and turned inside out. He has no belt or shoelaces. He’s stressed out. In a corner, rocking back and forth, ASHLIE, a Brooklyn activist, is clearly in a deep state of distress. She doesn’t even notice now as the door opens. And MICHAEL, a middle-aged, Upper West Side white male, enters. Pockets turned inside out. No belt. He tries to bargain with JASON, the bro-guard, at the door.  

Michael  If I could just have my phone, for a second.  My wife is, she’s not well.  She’s been anxious ever since the…  I need to let her know where I am.

Jason  As soon as everything’s cleared up, you can make a call.

Michael  She’ll be worried. I need to let her know where I am..

Jason  I’m sure she’ll be fine. Okay, pops. Just relax. (to Ashlie) Hey you, my twitchy friend.

Jason goes to Ashlie, who is startled by his touch.  He motions her toward the door.  She’s broken.

Jason  Guess what?

Ashlie  I give up.

Jason That’s all we wanted to hear. And now, let’s see that smile of yours, from your Avi. (He mimics her Avi smile) You are free to go.

Ashlie  Really. That’s it?

Jason  (for everyone’s benefit) I told you, if you have nothing to worry about, you have nothing to worry about.

Jason walks Ashlie out.  The door closes in Michael’s face.  He looks around.

Michael  Where am I?

Russell  I don’t know. I don’t think it’s the Tombs. Some place new they must have set up.

Michael  New place?

Russell  I thought we went over a bridge. And it feels kind of… off the grid. I imagine they want these places out of public view.

Michael  C’mon, it’s a little soon for all that to be happening. Don’t you think.

Russell  They knew they were going to win. They must have had it in the works.

Michael  You know, no offense, you sound a little…  paranoid.

Russell  Okay, so what do you think is going on? We’re like, being punked for a Prank TV show.

Michael  I don’t think we’re under arrest.

Russell  Not officially. They’re supposed to tell you if you’re under arrest. They tell you anything?

Michael  I was marching. Up from Union Square. They said everyone move to the sidewalk. I tried to move, but it was crowded, before I could get there, these two guys grabbed me –

Russell  Were they in uniform?

Michael  No. Suits.

Russell  Could be FBI? Or some bullshit Task Force.

Michael  They put me in a van. Then here. They took my wallet. My cell phone.

Russell  Did you shut it down first?

Michael  No.  I mean, he asked for my cell — he said it was protocol.

Russell  You got to shut it down. And have a strong password — they’re probably putting your photos through facial recognition.

Michael  It’s mostly just pictures of my kids.

Russell  Also going through your emails, your social media, your texts. And every place you’ve been is geo-tagged. Unless you’ve been using a Tor browser, or a two-factor authentication on –

Michael  My wife and I share an AOL account. I don’t think we ever set that –

Russell  AOL? Nah… I don’t think you did.

Michael  Anyway, they can’t go through the email… not without a warrant.

Russell  I wish I had a pen right now. I keep a little list. I call it “funny shit white people say.”

The door opens again. JULIE walks in. A very angry, put-together middle-aged white woman. She has no purse; if wearing pants, her pockets are turned inside out. No jewelry. Except for a Hillary button. She’s going at it, with Jason, who’s annoying the fuck out of her.

Julie  You can’t actually do this, you know. You can’t detain people without –

Jason  Ma’am, instead of being all upset, just try to relax –

Julie  Relax. Relax and enjoy it? You can’t do this!! I am a lawyer. I know my rights.

Jason  No one is violating anyone’s rights. You’re not being detained.

Julie  So I’m free to leave?

Jason  Just as soon as everything is cleared up. Are we good.

Julie  NO, bro, we’re not good. And if you can’t talk to me, without patronizing me, I’d rather you not talk to me at all.

Jason  Suit yourself. Have a nice day.

He closes the door on her. She looks around.

Julie  That little pissant son of a bitch. “You’re not being detained.” He just lied straight to my face.

Russell  If nothing else, they have turned that into an art form.

Russell gets up, as Michael helps Julie to a bench.

Julie  This really is completely illegal.

Michael  You’re a lawyer?

Julie  What are you?

Michael  An aging liberal.

Russell  With an AOL account.

Julie  Ha! You two were marching?

Russell  I saw them taking this girl down. In her twenties. I started to video it –

Julie  Which is perfectly legal.

Russell  For now. And… I end up here. I don’t know what happened to the girl.

Julie  These motherfuckers…  “Don’t worry, he doesn’t mean those things he’s saying. It’s just to get elected. There’ll be checks and balances. It can’t happen here. It won’t happen here.”

Michael  Guys, take it easy, nothing is happening here, with all due respect –

Julie  Don’t fucking say that.  Anytime any man anywhere says all due respect, it means he has absolutely no respect for you, or for that matter, any woman.

Michael  You’re sounding a little hys — (catches himself)

Julie  Hysterical. Go ahead, say it. Go on.

Michael looks to Russell, hoping for what, male support?

Russell  Don’t look at me. I’m with her.

Julie  Do you know what this year has told me. I don’t matter. The only reason a woman ever matters is her vagina, and now that mine’s too old and He doesn’t want to grab it, it’s okay for me to be marginalized or discarded or vilified. Even by other women.

She breaks down.  Russell awkwardly comforts her.

Michael  I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to negate –

Russell  Give her a moment.

Julie  No… tell me. What weren’t you trying to negate?

Michael  Your feelings.  It’s just… we’re all feeling raw.  But, I have to believe things aren’t going to be as bad as everyone says. It’s easy to demonize the other side. To assume the worst. If we could try to understand where they are coming from –

Russell  Oh I know where they’re coming from. The KKK, the FBI, the KGB — this wasn’t an election, it was a coup d’etat.

Michael  No… it was an election. We lost. They won.

Julie  First of all, they didn’t win. Second of all, they rigged it.

Michael  Now who do you sound like? It’s not rigged. He tapped into something.

Russell  American Homegrown Racism, brewed to perfection.

Michael  Yeah, some of that. And some genuine anger, and frustration. And — let’s be fair. She had a lot of baggage.

Julie  Don’t you dare. Do not start with that false equivalence bullshit. He’s a draft dodgin’, tax dodging, climate-change-denying racist misogynist, who will deport your family and potentially destroy the world, or at least all civil liberties, but — hey, how about those emails.

Michael  It wasn’t just the emails. Or the KGB or misogyny or racism or even her not having a message. It was a perfect storm.

The door opens again. And now OLIVIA, a young black woman enters. She’s a mess, she’s been crying. She’s bruised, clothes a little ripped. 

Jason  Here we go. Nice and easy.

Olivia  I want to see him. Why can’t I see him.

Jason  Why don’t you just sit down. Let your friends here take care of you. (to the rest) Folks. This young lady’s had a bit of a hard day. Can you make some room for her.

Olivia all but collapses into Michael and Russell’s arms. They walk her down to the bench. Julie helps hold her there. She’s in some kind of shock.

Olivia  They must have shot him. He might be dead.

Michael  No one’s been shot. That’s not going on –

Russell and Julie glare at him.

Julie  Do any of us have any  idea what’s going on? (off  Michael) I don’t think so. So how about we ask her what happened to her, instead of telling her?

Michael  (chastened) What… happened?

Olivia  They were putting some people in these pens. You know, with the metal rails. And my boyfriend, he noticed two of them weren’t on right, so he worked them apart. We squeezed through, and ran. Down the block, and right into this group of, I don’t know, counter-protesters. I guess. They came like, out of nowhere.

Russell  (sotto) Or not.

Olivia  They saw us, started chanting all kinds of names. By then the Security People were behind us, but instead of stopping them, they let the mob beat on him, and pull on me. Grabbing at me, everywhere. Finally one of the Security says, that’s enough, fellas. And they stop. Part like the Red Sea. Security took my boyfriend away, he was bleeding bad from the head.

Julie  I’m so sorry.

Olivia  We weren’t even marching. Just came up out of the subway at Union Square and it was on. I tried to tell them that, but –

Russell  It doesn’t matter. Wrong race, wrong place, wrong time.

Michael  I can’t believe this  — it can’t be — this isn’t happening. Not in New York. New York is different. You heard the Governor, he said it would be a sanctuary.

Russell  And you think the new regime is just gonna be ok with that.

Michael  Yeah. I do. I know my city, I know my county.

Julie  So we’re all paranoid, and it’s just a little swing of the pendulum. And nobody’s rights are going to be taken away…

The door opens.  Jason comes in, with a big smile on his face.  He has a RED BAG for Julie.  A TIE for Michael.  Cell phones, belts for Michael and Russell. 

Jason  Okay. That didn’t take so long did it.

He hands Julie, Michael, and Russell some of their possessions back. 

Michael  We’re okay to go?

Jason  Like I said, if you have nothing to worry about, you have nothing to worry about. Sorry for the inconvenience. What we’re dealing with, there are a lot of moving parts. But cut to the chase, there’s no reason to detain you any longer.

Julie  You said we weren’t being detained.

Jason  (almost laughing) Are you sure I said that? Either way, it’s in the past. Right?

Russell  (looks at cell phone) My photos have been removed.

Jason  Oh have they. I’m sorry about that. It must have bounced around a bit.

Julie (checking bag) I had a cell phone, where is it.

Jason  If it turns up, we know where you live. Anyway, I know you all don’t want to be here any longer than you have to, so let’s not worry about the little losses, okay.

The four look at each other. 

Michael  Guys…

Russell  Fuck it, let’s go. (Russell looks to Olivia, who may be in shock. He goes to help her up.) C’mon, sweetheart, the door’s open.

Jason  Actually. Not so fast there. Right now, it’s open for you three.

Russell  You said we were all free to go.

Jason  Did I say all? I don’t think I said all. She’s had a rough day, we just want to make sure we know, and she knows what’s what before she goes home. Nothing bad’s going to happen.

Julie  But she will be going home.

Jason  Everyone’s a winner here. So many winners. Believe me. Eyes on the prize everyone. (to Michael) I know you want to call your wife, she must be worried sick.

Jason leads, Michael starts to follow.  Then Jason notices Russell and Julie are looking at each other.

Jason  Folks, operators are standing by. Make your move.

Russell  I believe I’ll sit awhile. Keep this young lady company.

Julie now turns, goes back to Olivia as well.

Julie  I’ll stay too. You said it’s just a little while. So, why not.

Jason  To be honest, there’s no way of knowing how long this is all going to last.

Julie  (sharp) No there isn’t, is there?

Jason, whose tone has been jocular throughout, suddenly turns full-bore threatening.

Jason  Are you people kidding me. You’ve done nothing but bitch and complain since you got here. Now I hold the door open for you, and you pull this crap. For this friggin whore.

Julie  You won. You people fucking won. Why are you still so angry?

Jason  What you said before, about being marginalized, discarded, you got that right.

Julie and Russell realize they’ve been recorded.  They glance around for cameras.

Jason  C’mon pops, you don’t need these losers.

Michael  Actually, I might as well wait too.

Jason Are you FUCKING kidding me, you stupid cuck. We’re not playing around here. This isn’t a feel good after-school special.

Michael  I think we get that.

Russell  But this young lady, she’s frightened, so for now, we’ll just stay with her.

Jason  This could take a lot longer than you realize.

Julie  No, we know. So… until it ends, we’re just going to be here for each other.

LIGHTS OUT.

 

Having long been intrigued by the 24 hour play concept, it was a stroke of fortune that when I affiliated with The New School a year ago, I was provided with office space that is shared with the official 24 Hour Plays. While we occupy the same small spot, we’re not affiliated. That said, it’s impossible for us to not know what the other is up to much of the time. In proximity, I saw possibility.

Beginning at 9 pm on November 13 and continuing until roughly the same time on the 14^th, I’ve been afforded access to every bit of The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway process, to report and photograph as I see fit. At this point, late morning on the 14^th, it’s quite clear that I had no idea what I was tackling, in terms of numbers, time, space, and so on. It’s overwhelming. Photographing rehearsals taking place in three different buildings? Read-throughs taking place as other shows, barely read through, are on stage doing spacing rehearsals? Writing live blog posts and editing photos while keeping up? And I certainly didn’t have the stamina to stay through the night as casts were chosen and plays were written.

So this first post covers only the meet and greet on Sunday evening: meetings of old friends, actors approaching other actors who they’ve always admired but never met, staff getting necessary details to facilitate the compressed production schedule.

During the meet and greet, each actor, director and playwright introduced themselves, but they had also been asked to bring a item or two to contribute to the production, and a piece of clothing as well. They were also asked if they had any special talents they’d like to use, as well as anything they’ve never done on stage but have always wanted to do.  Here’s a highly selective sample of images and comments from the meet and greet, but in the order in which they were spoken.

Justin Bartha, actor: “I can do an OK Jerry Seinfeld.”

Jason Biggs, actor: “I’m shite at accents.”

David Krumholtz, actor, contributed a framed image of the Mona Lisa with a cat head.

Joanna Christie, actor: “I just want to shout expletives.”

Paul Schneider, actor: “I’ll make you better by dancing.”

David Greenspan, actor: “I can jump rope for 20 minutes straight.”

Michael Chernus, actor: “I’ve never played drunk, but I’m afraid of that.”

Marin Ireland, actor “I’ll take what you throw at me.”

Bess Wohl, playwright: “I didn’t know about bringing a costume, so…nudity.”

Hugh Dancy, actor: “I’m not a bad whistler.”

Shakina Nayfack, actor: “I’m a trans woman, but I’d like to just play a woman.”

Olivia Washington, actor: “I can make shapes with my tongue.”

Ukweli Roach, actor, brought a “Max onesie” from Where The Wild Things Are.

Alicia Witt, actor: “I can do whatever you throw at me.”

Warren Leight, playwright: “I was here 10 days after 9/11. We’re in the right place tonight.”

Carolyn Cantor, director, brought a pair of angel wings.

Rachel Dratch, actor: “If you need a big dramatic moment, I’m not your woman.”

David Lindsay-Abaire, playwright, brought a giant prop meat cleaver and an evil clown mask.

Genevieve Angelson, actor: “I’m really good at giving a bat mitzvah girl a speech – ‘You haftorah was amazing!’”

Grace Gummer, actor: “I brought a guitar, but I can’t play it.”

Anson Mount, actor: “I’ve always wanted to play Joel Osteen…he is smooth. Or Rasputin.”

Jenna Ushkowitz, actor: “I can do a baby sound with my voice.”

Julie White, actor: “I’ve worked with a lot of fake babies.”

Michael Cerveris, actor: “I’d like to get to the end of the play with the girl, ideally alive.”

Justice Smith: “I’d like to play a sociopath who falls in love, or an old person in a young person’s body.”

Christopher Oscar Peña, playwright, brought a Marge Simpson rubber duckie.

Patricia McGregor, director, brought an hour-old piece of fried chicken.

Daveed Diggs, actor: “I fall really well.”

For rehearsal photos of plays by Warren Leight, Christopher Oscar Peña and Jonathan Marc Sherman, click here.

For rehearsal photos of plays by Hansol Jung, David Lindsay-Abaire and Bess Wohl, click here.

All photos © Howard Sherman