Downtown Urban Arts Festival 2022

Downtown Urban Arts Festival (DUAF) is a five-week annual multi-disciplinary arts event with cultural offerings in theater, film, music and poetry held during the spring at renowned venues in downtown Manhattan, NYC. DUAF treats New Yorkers, East Coasters and tourists to the best of new groundbreaking theater and film from around the world. Storytellers from America’s burgeoning multicultural landscape and from around the world have the opportunity to share their stories that interpret our history and our times.

 

​20th Anniversary by Marcus Harmon & Hard Knock Lyfe by Cirs Eli Blak
June 1st @ 8:00 PM

20th Anniversary: 
Set 20 years after the September 11th attacks, two firefighters meet to remember their friend and reveal much more about themselves and the world around them.

Hard Knock Lyfe: 
When a rapper is diagnosed with AIDS, he must reckon with masculinity, what it means to be a man of color, and try repairing his relationship with his estranged daughter.

 

Socky Tells All by Rollin Jewett & The Palmist by Sheila Duane
June 2nd @ 8:00 PM

Socky Tells All: 
Andy is a young patient in a mental institution and has no intention of ever leaving. Nor does his best friend — a stuffed sock monkey. Woe to anyone that tries to force Andy from his beloved home.

The Palmist: 
Fortune tellers predict the future, but are they really psychic? Do they look into the darkest corners of the human mind? Can they sense a murderer with a single touch?

 

Phantasmagoria by Alethea Harnish
June 8th @ 8:00 PM

While in university-sanctioned quarantine, a young woman learns what it means to forsake her home, her family, and her religion to live in the devil’s playground: New York City.

 

Forever and a Day by Marcus Scott & The Love Not Together by Jennifer Cendana Armas
June 9th @ 8:00 PM

Forever and a Day:
Triggered by viral videos of young black people dying, a boy genius and his best pals embark on a journey to discover the Fountain of Youth. By creating the cure for eternal youth and immortality, they believe they could circumvent and combat the rampant violence brought on against young black people

 

Soul Survivor by Alano Baez
June 15th @ 8:00 PM

A man imprisoned and sentenced to die, contemplates the course of his life, the story of his beloved Soul music singer, Sam Cooke, and the history of Black oppression in America.

 

Run by Elle & Adulting by Amira Mustapha
June 16th @ 8:00 PM

Run: 
Rhythm and verse drive this contemporary opera about a woman who, after a rattling revelation, awakens from a deep sleep-on-herself to the victory that’s hers to claim… if she’d only RUN.

Adulting:
Miriam is a 30-something “muslim” woman who recently experienced a loss. While she is waiting for her mother to arrive her friend Liz uses every arsenal in her bag to help her cope. How will she navigate this loss? Will her mother ever arrive? and most importantly,
how the hell do you put on a hijab?!

 

For Colored Boyz by Bryan-Keyth Wilson
June 18th @ 8:00 PM

For Colored Boyz on the verge of a nervous breakdown/ when freedom aint enuff is an unabashed display of blackness that’s unapologetic and speaks to the human heart from a black man’s perspective.

 

Midnight Mirage by Zoe Howard & The Good Cop by Christian Eve Cato
June 22nd @ 8:00 PM

Midnight Mirage:
Two strangers encounter each other on a subway platform in the middle of the night. As time bends and warps, they discover what it means to connect.

The Good Cop:
Anita Jones is a journalist who dedicates her life to civil rights and justice, and she is about to help file a lawsuit that will change many Black and Brown lives forever. Anita needs another signature and turns to her estranged friend, Jade Santiago, a police officer who abides by the blue wall of silence.

 

A Shot Rang Out by Michael Hagins & Stoop by Isa Guzman
June 23rd @ 8:00 PM

A Shot Rang Out:
A white police officer is trapped in a warehouse during an increasingly violent protest with a scared Black teen and a disgruntled schoolteacher.

Stoop:
Stoop addresses the difficulties of coming out as transgender between two people from different generations within a predominantly Latino community. The play is a moment, a confrontation, between two characters who really care for one another, but who don’t have the same understanding of the situation.

 

The Pride by Joy
June 25th @ 8:00 PM

In the Baker home, God is first. And women are kings.

 

This show may be inappropriate for ages 16 and under.

Please note all sales are final. We do not offer refunds or exchanges. 

Vaccination Requirements:

All patrons 5 & older must be fully vaccinated 14 days prior to their performance date. Proof of vaccination must be accompanied by a valid photo ID (valid ID for ages 5-18 do not need to include a photo).  

Once a child turns 5, they will have up to 45 days from their date of birth to be fully vaccinated.

Click here for our full COVID-19 safety policy and vaccination requirements. 

Masks must be worn inside the building at all times.