An Auburn native has been selected as a finalist in a New York City theater festival. Phillip Gregory Burke's "A Mercy at Midnight Castle" was chosen from 850 submissions as one of 30 plays that will be performed at the 49th annual Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival, Burke announced in a news release. Directed by Brandon Alvion ("The Color Purple," "A Soldier's Play"), it will be performed Aug.
15 in The Vineyard's Dimson Theatre in Manhattan. Burke, an Auburn High School graduate and 2023 inductee into the Auburn Alumni Hall of Distinction, was a top-13 finalist in last year's festival for his award-winning play "He's the First." He has also appeared in commercials for the NFL and Crest/Oral B, and his writing "dissects the sociology of the African Diaspora and illuminates the intricate intersections of Blackness and queerness," he said.
“I’m thrilled to bring this work of historical fiction inspired by historical facts to life, birthed by the event historians argue is the catalyst that changed the course of American history," Burke said. "Our past is a prologue to our present that guides our future and my play with music and dance, is in great hands with some of the finest multihyphenates working today, aiding me in exhuming this story.” For more information, visit oobfestival.
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