Sometimes in life, we get so caught in our daily situations that we lose sight of how important it is to connect with those we encounter each and every day.
Off-Broadway’s The Bench, a homeless love story – based on true stories & real people particularly captures this notion.
The Bench was written and performed by multi-talented Robert Galinsky (Photo credit: Aidan Grant)
The Bench focuses on the true stories of individuals impacted by homelessness in the streets of New York City or any American city. Directed by Jay O. Sanders (Sneaky Pete, True Detective, JFK, Day After Tomorrow) and presented by Chris Noth (Sex & the City, The Good Wife, Gone) and Barry “Shabaka” Henley (Collateral, The Terminal), The Bench was created to leave audiences with a new perspective regarding the plight of the homeless.
“Based on true stories, The Bench, set in urban decay and rubble, explores the emotional heartbreak of five homeless characters and the catastrophic hysteria surrounding AIDs in the 1980s,” Sanders recently told PlayBill. “It’s a solo theater piece wherein one actor plays five characters, written in dialogue form.”
The Bench producer, Chris North, and associate producer, Shannon Hamm. (Photo Credit: Aidan Grant)
Written and performed by multi-talented Robert Galinsky, The Bench is a one-of-a-kind performance that will dramatically shape your perspective and help you understand the roots of social stigmas and stereotypes regarding both homelessness and HIV AIDS.
According to Galinsky, he wanted to be involved in the play because he believed it could show that homeless men and women live in dynamic, multi-leveled, communities that have many of the same characteristics of society at large.
“The needs, desires, and struggles are not far off from what non-homeless people deal with and there are bonds and relationships that are real and not just painful, but very human and humorous as well,” he told RIZZARR.
Galinsky and his colleagues hope audiences, particularly Millennials, will come to see the play to get a new perspective. (Photo Credit: Aidan Grant)
Galinsky also believes the roots of societies demonization of HIV and alienation of homelessness are important for today’s generation to know about in order to understand why people are still hesitant to come forward to speak about the disease or to be associated with either issue it.
“Young people may discover how these biases began and were solidified when the epidemic was first presented to the public by the media and by the government,” he emphasized. “Also, the intentional shame and blame that is, and was, associated with AIDs is evident through the characters interactions and dialogue.”
Millennial associate producer Shannon Hamm, who worked closely with Galinsky, agreed – noting how important it is that those of her generation see a show with a message that strongly showcases what’s happening around them on a daily basis.
Millennial associate producer Shannon Hamm, who worked closely with Galinsky. (Photo Credit: Aidan Grant)
“[It’s] an eye-opening take on what’s outside your daily ‘bubble’ of hashtags,” Shannon Hamm she said. “This show is heartbreaking but also inspires you to get out of your seat and do something about the ever so prevalent homelessness in this nation, especially with the opioid epidemic happening simultaneously.”
Reviewers also raved about the positive message of the play.
Those of Beauty News NYC wrote in a review, “The Bench underscores how love forces us to be braver and to stretch beyond our comfort zone – even when that comfort zone is found on a bench.”
Just in time for the new year, the play will open on Friday, January 26th and will run every Friday with a 9 p.m. curtain through April 13th.
Galinsky knows this is destined to be, as he puts it, “a binge-worthy viewing experience as serialized television in 2018 and beyond” and the fact that it sprang from live theater and the stories of real people, is the true inspiration.
Galinsky and his colleagues hope audiences, particularly Millennials, will come to see the play to get a new perspective and to feel empowered to make positive change.
“Young people today continue to get sanitized, and worse, sensationalized versions of the past, in order to sell, sell, sell,” he told RIZZARR. “The ideas and depictions of history are often not accurate or authentic, in order to serve an agenda or false truths. For young people, The Bench is an unfiltered view of life on the streets in the late 1980’s and hopes to not only entertain but to show the raw truth.”
To purchase tickets and to read more information regarding The Bench, visit http://www.thebenchplay.com.
**BONUS***
Hear the Impact of The Bench from Attendees
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