THURSDAY

(image via Stigma Unbound / Eventbrite)

Stigma Unbound: Pride
Thursday, June 21 at Secret Location, 8 pm: $15-30

You probably haven’t forgotten, but it’s Pride month. To sex-worker-centric event series Stigma Unbound, Pride means something more than merely slapping a rainbow flag onto your coffee mug or banner ad. “In contrast to corporate and official pride celebrations, we come together on this night to share personal stories and perspectives on what pride really means if you’re queer, a person of color, gender nonconforming, trans, or a sex worker,” they say. At a secret dungeon in Brooklyn, a variety of performances from sex workers and their allies will unfold, exploring topics such as queerness and trans identity, white supremacy, lost loved ones, and fantasy. After the show, the evening will turn into an inclusive, consent-focused, all-gender play party for those who want to engage in a little post-show steaminess.

FRIDAY

(image via The Muse / Facebook)

Cirque Celestial
Friday, June 22 at The Muse, 7 pm: $20+

Circus arts aren’t something you see at just any variety show in the back of a bar. That’s not for lack of eager performers, but due to the fact that performances like lyra and other aerial stylings require certain architectural accommodations, such as specific ceiling heights and rigging setups. This isn’t exactly ultra-prevalent throughout the city, but Bushwick venue and practice space The Muse is a haven for those looking to literally fly high. Friday night, Eric Schmalenberger will present a variety of circus creations within The Muse’s hallowed halls, such as Cassady Rose’s trapeze work, The Love Show’s extravagant dances, and RAVEN’s aerial hoop acts.

SATURDAY

(image via Ars Nova / Facebook)

My Straighties
Saturday, June 23 at Ars Nova, 7 pm: $15

A show about straight men during Pride month? Say it ain’t so. Well, Ryan J. Haddad’s My Straighties, presented as part of Ars Nova’s annual ANT Fest, isn’t about just any type of hetero. “A straighty is any man who is straight, kind, and affectionate,” explains the show’s description. Haddad has many of those, he says, but no boyfriend. What might that mean? With the help of some beer (PBR, if you were wondering), an audience, and a “fraternity past,” he shall try to parse through this world of desire and non-toxic masculinity, if such a thing can even exist.

SUNDAY

Rebecca Naomi Jones and Kyle Beltran in rehearsal for Fire in Dreamland, photographed at New 42 Street Studios, written by Rinne Groff and directed by Marissa Wolf. Photo credit: Joan Marcus.

Fire in Dreamland
Now through August 5 at The Public Theater, 7 pm (weekends also at 1 pm): $50+ ($20 rush seats available)

Hurricane Sandy happened my first year in New York, just a couple months after I arrived, understandably stressing out my parents who were probably already worried about anything that might happen to their child in the big city. I personally was fine, but much of the city is still to this day recovering from the superstorm’s effects. Rinne Groff’s new play Fire in Dreamland is set in the storm’s aftermath, but it also explores another type of disaster that affected the city: a 1911 fire that incinerated Coney Island’s Dreamland amusement park. No humans died, but it was the biggest fire to ever hit the city until 9/11 came along. Groff’s play puts these two acts of destruction in conversation, telling the story of a woman who, in the wake of the storm, meets a man making a documentary about the Dreamland fire.