There are two ways to commemorate Veteran’s Day and also the Marine Corps Birthday — which originated in Philly — with Yellow Bicycle Company this weekend.
Firstly, the theater company will put on a stage show, ‘Squatters’, and then immediately after, a new film titled ‘Black Box’ will premiere. Both were written and directed by former Marine and Yellow Bicycle founder Joshua Crone, and both also resonate with themes related to service members and offer half-price tickets to veterans.
As a release states, ‘Squatters’ opens in an abandoned building overlooking Ground Zero where a woman pieces together a story that gives her grief meaning, only to have it demolished by the man who brought her there. Did they really just meet in a bar? Did she really lose someone in the Towers? This darkly comedic look at the aftermath of 9/11 also delves into the “geopolitical ramifications of bad sex, the art of tactical bed-making and the occult significance of sharing a hairbrush.”
Crone’s play will be making its Philadelphia premiere this weekend, but it had audiences talking in London, Berlin and New York before. And the writer and theater founder writes from the perspective of someone who’s served before, having a background of serving four in the Corps as a rifleman, scout swimmer and assault climber. Crone also received a Navy Achievement Medal for meritorious service at Guantanamo Bay during the 1994 Cuban Rafter Crisis and was honorably discharged in 1997.
Following ‘Squatters’ will be ‘Black Box’, which takes place in September 2002. As a release describes the film, its follows a dancer visiting her late husband’s station, sparking an affair. A 9/11 fireman hides from his wife and himself and his son, struggles alone, caught between an army recruiter and an uncle obsessed with the missing black boxes in this new film from Crone.
Adapted for the screen and filmed largely in South Philly on and around the 20th anniversary of the attacks ‘Black Box’ premiered at the 2023 Philadelphia Fringe Festival and now will be open for visitors to see this weekend.
Philadelphians can get tickets now for the Nov. 10 and 11 event, with both days offering different options for times at 1435 Arch St. Fl. 2. For more information and to purchase your seat ($10-$20), visit yellowbicycle.com
