From The Other Side of Darkness (When There’s No Place Like Home)

“From the Other Side of Darkness (When There’s No Place Like Home)”

Step into the light — and the mystery — with “From the Other Side of Darkness (When There’s No Place Like Home),” a visionary new stage play by Levi Wise Kenneth Catoe Jr., coming to LATEA Theater, 107 Suffolk Street, NYC this December, is a reimagining of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Worl of Oz but through a Black Gaze and through the lens of masculinity; making it in today’s times necessary.

This powerful new work fuses Afrofuturism, gospel, poetry, and social realism into a breathtaking story about love, loss, and transformation. Set against the backdrop of a tornado that sweeps three young men into the heart of the sun, From the Other Side of Darkness asks what it truly means to go home — when home may no longer exist.

Show Dates:

• Wednesday, December 18 – 6:15 PM
• Friday, December 20 – 2:00 PM
• Saturday, December 21 – 6:00 PM
  📍 LATEA Theater, 107 Suffolk St., New York, NY

Synopsis:
When a violent tornado tears through a Midwestern trailer park, three young men — Doug, Mitch, and Tommie — awaken inside a glowing solar realm that challenges their sense of self, power, and belonging. As they confront illusions of godhood and the weight of their own pasts, they must choose between light and shadow, freedom and love, survival and humanity.

Inspired by The Wizard of Oz and reimagined through an Afro-surreal lens, this production blends live performance, music, and projection design into a multi-sensory journey.

About the Creator:
Written and directed by Levi Wise Kenneth Catoe Jr., an award-winning playwright, filmmaker, and CUNY Medgar Evers College Honors graduate. Catoe has won over 120 international film festivals, serves as a Writing Specialist in CUNY’s SEEK Department, and continues to champion bold Black storytelling that transcends genre and expectation.

Why You Should See It:

• A story for anyone who’s ever questioned where home really is.
• A unique fusion of science fiction, spirituality, and soul.
• Performed by a dynamic multicultural cast and underscored by original music and live vocals.

Tickets are available now on Eventbrite — come experience a story that glows, haunts, and heals.

✨ “From the Other Side of Darkness” reminds us that even in our darkest moments, the light we seek may already be within us.