Theater world to unite for get-out-the-vote event

NEWYORK » Playwright and “The Walking Dead” star Danai Gurira, Tony Awardwinning director Stephen Daldry and twotime Pulitzer Prize-winner playwright Lynn Nottage, creator of “Sweat,” which was based on Reading, are spearheading a night of music and short monologues as part of a national get-out-the-vote effort.

The hourlong, nonpartisan “Act Out: Vote 2020” will be performed by Yvette Nicole Brown, Ryan J. Haddad, Brian Tyree Henry, Lloyd Knight, Sandra Oh and Ephraim Skyes.

The event will be available to stream for free at Act Out Vote 2020 on Thursday at 9 p.m. and then on YouTube until Nov. 2.

“Voting matters for every election,” said Nottage in a statement, “but this Nov. 3 is even more important. We believe that if the entire theatrical community — a community that has been shut down for 6 months andwill be shut down for a year more — voted, we could help make real, necessary change.”

In addition to Nottage and Gurira, the writers include Luis Alfaro, Ngozi Anyanwu, Will Arbery, Jocelyn Bioh, Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi, Ryan J. Haddad, David Henry Hwang, Lisa Kron, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Martha Redbone, Heidi Schreck and Rhiana Yazzie.

There are dozens of participating theaters, including the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Alley Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Cleveland Playhouse, Dallas Theater Center, Guthrie Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Pittsburgh Public Theater, The Public Theater, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Co.

Each theater will provide voting information specific to their state, assisted by When We All Vote, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization launched by Michelle Obama to increase participation in every election.

Daldry Gurira Nottage