Gracemoon Arts Company, a new theater, salon and gallery in Bushwick, is gaining attention from artists and theatergoers for holding difficult conversations in an artful way.
The theater, at 13 Grattan St., opened in July and has since featured multiple productions that delve into topics including race, misogyny and sex. The latest dramedy, What We're Up Against by Theresa Rebeck, talked about workplace misogyny at an architectural firm and how one woman simply became tired of it all.
The theater was co-founded under the artistic direction of Michèle Lonsdale-Smith, who is known for having over 30 years of experience in film, theater and television. The company’s ensemble members includes actors who have worked alongside Lonsdale-Smith for multiple years, including Daren Herbert, who is known for starring in CBC Television's Pretty Hard Cases. Many of the actors, like Amrit Kaur and Andrea Carter, can be seen on shows on popular streaming services like HBO and SYFY/USA Network.
“It's not just about making people laugh or entertaining people, although we want to do that,” explained Lonsdale-Smith. “It should elicit deep conversation...difficult conversation, but we've created a really safe environment to do that.”
Many theater goers would say what’s most unique about the plays at Gracemoon Arts is the conversation that comes after it. Following the plays, the cast and audience members gather together to discuss the topics that arise in the play. These conversations are held in Gracemoon's salon where audience members can decompress from the heavy topics.
We think that we got a little bit more aware, a little tiny bit aware, because of George Floyd, but American society has stayed quite stagnant, said Lonsdale-Smith.
“We constantly had people stay to talk in a conversation: white people, Black people, old people, young people,” explained Lonsdale-Smith. “I mean the sort of unifying response or feedback [is] still the same. Nothing has changed."
In the fall, the theater put on Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage, a play about a Black seamstress in New York City in 1905, who crafts beautiful outfits for her clients but cannot weave a life for herself on her terms; and The Niceties by Eleanor Burgess, which tackles race and privilege in a college setting.
Audience members who go to see the plays often find themselves deeply emotional, Londsdale-Smith said. They find themselves relating to the content or holding space for others who have experienced these hardships. As more and more people try to find their communities, Londale-Smith believes the theater brings people together, something that can’t be accomplished through a screen just yet.
The Gracemoon ensemble hopes to produce its own plays in the future, but until then, it will continue to leave the floor open for conversations that shake the table in 2025.
