ALABAMA PLAYWRIGHT SOPHOMORE PRODUCTION TO RUN IN NYC

ALABAMA PLAYWRIGHT SOPHOMORE PRODUCTION TO RUN IN NYC

After the success of her one-woman show The Rhythm/ Da Blues, playwright Erika E. Wade is taking another bite out of the Big Apple with The Mad Man Scientist Play, which runs May 24- June 10th at The Gnome Haus in New York City.

A newcomer in the business, Wade felt it important to jumpstart her theatrical career via a solo show before embarking on larger projects. With one production down, the up-and-coming playwright is ready to play with the big boys.

Shifting into a full-cast production, the Alabama native explores the subject of time travel through protagonist Ron, a black professor and theoretical physicist, looking to create the first humanoid time machine. The production is loosely inspired by Ronald Mallet, a respected African American professor at the University of Connecticut in pursuit of time dilation. Using him as a reference, Wade wanted to tackle the mental and social hardships of creating a device only possible in science fiction.

“He’d been cut off from friends and colleagues because no one really considers time travel serious science,” Wade told the Planet Weekly. “So, I kind of wanted to know far would someone go for something they believed in.”

Wade made her playwright debut in 2017 with The Rhythm/ Da Blues, a one-woman show that chronicled the journey of Lena, a writer who finds her voice through the guidance of Miss B. Darling, her confident, business-savvy Aunt. The semi-autobiographical show touched on a myriad themes, including the taboo topic of transsexuality.

An alumna of both the University of Alabama and The Savannah College of Art and Design, Wade currently resides in Los Angeles where she is pursuing a career in screenwriting. A lauded poet and spoken word artist, the 27-year-old has been featured in the Birmingham Arts Journal and Hanging Loose Magazine of New York. Wade is the author of Eyestodewhurld, fresh, edgy and bold collection of poetry.

The sophomore production also marks the end of her year-long residency at the Gnome Haus, where she will transition into a permanent member of its literary and development staff.

The Mad Man Scientist stars Michael D. Baldwin, Jacqueline Springfield, Jerome Brooks, Jr., Tom Watson, and Lev Harvey. The Gnome Haus is located 50 West 13th Street New York, New York 10011.