After being named Broadway World’s “ best of “ Rhode Island
2016 ,a sold out run at the New York International Fringe Festival, and Best of
the Festival/Audience Favorite at the Flying Solo Festival former South Bronx
public school drama teacher Karen Sklaire’s, RIPPLE OF HOPE: One
Teacher’s
Journey to Make an Impact will debut at The Dreamland on July 16 at 5pm.
Sklaire is currently a drama teacher in Manhattan, and the show chronicles her trials and
tribulations as an advocate of the arts in the city’s public school system.
Directed by Padraic Lillis (2013 Fringe NYC Overall
Excellence Award-winner for Best Director for Bully, and 2013 Indie Theater Now
Person of the Year), RIPPLE OF HOPE was named the “Best of Washington DC’s
Capital Fringe Festival” and voted “Best Performance” by DC Metro this past
July.
In
RIPPLE OF HOPE, a young idealist from Connecticut, inspired by ‘teacher-as-hero’ movies,
begins her career teaching drama in the South Bronx. In this autobiographical
solo show, Karen navigates her way through the troubled NYC school system as
she struggles to engage her challenging students with everything from ‘gangsta’ improvs
to a rap version of ‘Annie’. Her dedication to her
students and her desire to make a difference impels her to find a way to please
an ever-changing administration in order to keep her job. She will soon realize
that in a world of budget cuts, rubber rooms and the common core, the question
is not “what’s
wrong with me?” but, rather, “what’s wrong with this
system?”
Karen
Sklaire is an award winning actress, singer and comedienne who has toured the
country with Theatreworks/USA and has been featured Off-Broadway at The
Promenade Theatre, Town Hall, and The Soho Playhouse and The Film Forum in
Orson Welle’s “Too Much Johnson”. She
has performed standup comedy in clubs throughout NYC and has hosted such
comedians as Judah Friedlander (30 Rock) and Colin Quinn, as well as touring
with comedian Rob Bartlett and the Bartletts. She has appeared on Saturday
Night Live, In the Mix and on The Imus in the Morning Show. She was honored at
The Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Gala for her work in theatre, and dedication
to human rights education.
RIPPLE
OF HOPE will be performed on July 16 at 5pm followed by a short talk back.
www.rippleofhopeshow.com
STRONG LANGUAGE