Hillel Place’s business district just steps from Brooklyn College was abuzz on January 9, when Mayor Zohran Mamdani helped hand out free tickets to the Under the Radar Festival during a free ticket giveaway, which made 1,500 free tickets available to participating shows at theaters across the city in January as part of the “Under the Radar for All” effort. Under the Radar includes the performances of the play Reconstructing, which opened that evening at the Don Buchwald Theater at the Leonard & Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts. The event helped highlight efforts to make the arts more accessible and affordable to all New Yorkers. Reconstructing will offer one of New York’s most diverse student bodies, as well as the surrounding community, access to high-quality theater they rarely have the opportunity to experience. Co-written by 21 Black-, POC-, and White-identifying artists ranging in age from 29 to 99, Reconstructing is a bold theatrical work from the internationally acclaimed theater collective The TEAM. The piece examines how, in the long aftermath of slavery, we might navigate American history together and how we move toward a more equitable future. The production is directed by two of contemporary theater’s most visionary talents: Rachel Chavkin (founding artistic director of The TEAM and Tony Award winner for Hadestown) and Zhailon Levingston (Obie Award winner for the Broadway-bound Cats: The Jellicle Ball at the Perelman Performing Arts Center). Performance dates: January 9 at 7:30 p.m.; January 10 at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.; and January 11 at noon and 5 p.m. Tickets may be purchased here. Read more about this exciting event in The New York Times.
