Set in an unassuming soup kitchen at a Catholic church in the Bronx, Heidi Schreck’s
FALL PROJECT A
Grand Concourse provides a deep investigation of faith, doubt, forgiveness, redemption, and human connection. Here we encounter Shelley, a devout nun second-guessing her life’s purpose; Emma, an impulsive college dropout with a troubled past; Oscar, a charismatic security guard from the DR with big dreams; and Frog, a hippie intellectual turned unhoused joke-writer. With little in common besides the soup kitchen and a shared desire for community and
GRAND CONCOURSE
meaning, these human beings weave in and out of each other’s daily lives, recklessly bumping heads one day and compassionately holding each other up the next. Grand Concourse is more than a play about the efficacy of social justice and the plight of poverty; it is a play that confronts the messiness of being human. What is the line between the forgivable and unforgivable? What constitutes evil? Who is qualified to care and who is worthy of being cared for? These are just a few of the questions Schreck poses over the course of the play. She doesn’t attempt to provide easy, digestible answers, but rather invites us to join Shelley, Emma, Oscar and Frog in that space between faith and doubt, to find peace in the unknown, and maybe even something resembling joy. —Rebeca Robles, Assistant Director
A 2023–24 SEASON STUDIO SERIES PRODUCTION