Michael Rau
A performer addresses audience members seated around tables in a bright hall.

2021 · Playwrights Realm, Beyond the Realm Festival

Block Association

A woman speaks with participants seated around tables in a bright community hall.

Written by Michael Yates Crowley, Block Association begins before the audience arrives, with a two-week-long mailing-list preshow. Then, for the block’s first-ever neighborhood potluck, participants enter an unfolding civic narrative and help determine the relationships, conflicts, and collective life of an imagined neighborhood.

Two participants carry refreshments and materials through a crowded hall.
Audience members sit around tables as a performer addresses the room from the center.
A performer stands among audience members seated at tables around the room.
A large group poses together behind tables in a community hall.

Presentations

2019 (development)
Playwrights Realm, Beyond the Realm Festival · New York City
2021
Humana Festival of New Plays, Actors Theatre of Louisville · Louisville, Kentucky
2025 (workshop)
Paramount Theater · Aurora, Illinois
Playwright
Michael Yates Crowley
Scenographer
Sara C. Walsh
Sound & Video Design
Asa Wember
Assistant Director
Kathleen Capdesuñer
Casting Consultant
Ada Karamanyan
Line Producer
Elena Boulos
Dramaturgy
Katherine Kovner & Chelsea Fryer
Performer
Heidi Armbruster
Performer
John Behlmann
Performer
Keilly McQuail
Performer
Genesis Oliver
Performer
Alexandra Silber
Performer
Myra Lucretia Taylor
Performer
Liesl Allen Yaeger

Code and Technical Projects

Press