LOOKING TO BREAK NEW GROUND THEATRE FESTIVAL

Cleveland Play House’s New Ground Theatre Festival gives young works exposure

Growing up in Parma, Ryan Haddad knew three things: He was gay, struggled with cerebral palsy and loved theater. ¶ Not surprisingly, today the actor and playwright, who as a youth put on plays in his backyard, is exploring all aspects of his life in his one-man play “Hi, Are You Single?” — which is part of Cleveland Play House’s 13th annual New Ground Theatre Festival. It appears May 17 through 19 Helen Rosenfeld Lewis Bialosky Lab Theatre.

The 2011 Parma Senior High School graduate’s “Hi, Are You Single?” was presented in The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival, as well as received workshops at Dixon Place, Williamstown Theatre Festival and the LGBT Center of New York City.

“People are taken by it because it’s not just, ‘Hi, I’m disabled — let me tell you about that,’” said Haddad, a 2015 Ohio Wesleyan University graduate. “It’s not intended to be pitying in any way, which is the sort of narrative that society wants us to tell.

“When you’re thinking about the narrative of disability, you’re thinking of the inspiring narrative, ‘Oh, isn’t it wonderful that person achieved something even though he’s disabled.’ That nonsense. This show completely breaks that mold. It’s a show about sex and sexuality.”

That’s why the play may be perfect for the New Ground Theatre Festival, appearing May 11 through When: May 11 through 19 (times and shows vary). Where: PlayhouseSquare, 1501 Euclid Ave., Cleveland. Tickets: $10 to $20. Info: 216-241-6000 or clevelandplayhouse.com. 19 at Playhouse Square.

“New Ground Theatre Festival is about celebrating bold, thrilling, necessary contemporary theater and stories that come from a diverse array of voices and perspectives,” Cleveland Play House Artistic Director Laura Kepley said.

“‘Hi, Are You Single?’ is just that: an intimate, deeply moving, incredibly funny theatrical experience, a story of one man’s quest that speaks to all of us who’ve ever been lonely and on the hunt for love.”

Other New Ground Theatre Festival productions include “The Royale” (now through May 27, Outcalt Theatre), “The Nolan Williams Project” (May 19, Allen Theatre), “Cicada” (May 13, Helen Rosenfeld Lewis Bialosky Lab Theatre) and “Tiny Houses” (May 19, Helen Rosenfeld Lewis Bialosky Lab Theatre).

Despite all of the accolades Haddad has enjoyed regarding “Hi, Are You Single?,” he can’t help but remember the struggles early on to get his show produced in a Cleveland theater.

However, with hindsight being 20/20, he admits the reality is he didn’t have the juice fresh out of Ohio Wesleyan University to get a local company to greenlight the project.

Also, it was that lack of interest that cemented his plan to move to New York City, which confirmed what others told him; that for him to be taken seriously, he had to leave his hometown

All of this makes returning to Northeast Ohio to finally stage “Hi, Are You Single?” that much sweeter.

He’ll be performing his original show in the same theater complex where as a preschooler he was introduced to theater, attending memorable productions of “Beauty and the Beast” and “Sesame Street Live.”

“It’s beyond thrilling, and I’m very humbled,” Haddad said.

“It’s not lost on my younger self, who at 23 said, ‘I don’t think I can wait.’

“Now I’m coming back and doing it at this major theater, where before I didn’t belong.

“I didn’t think there was a place for me at the Cleveland Play House and this show. So to find that to be true now is very gratifying.”

ROGER MASTROIANNI The cast and orchestra of “The Good Peaches” perform in the show, which was part of Cleveland Play House’s New Ground Theatre Festival in 2016.

MICHELLE BERKI Megan Medley performs in “These Moral Hosts,” a play by Eric Coble that was part of last year’s “New Ground Theatre Festival.”

RYAN LUCAS Peter Hargrave and Megan Medley perform in a reading of the play “Feed.” The reading was part of a previous Cleveland Play House New Ground Theatre Festival.