Please join us for a screening of STRAIGHT, a film by Mexican director Marcelo Tobar based on the off-Broadway play by Buffalo’s Drew Fornarola and his collaborator Scott Elmegreen.

STRAIGHT, a love triangle about fidelity, sexuality, and identity, premiered off-Broadway in 2016.  A New York Times Critics’ Pick, it was called “smart and bracing” by the Times, “a theatrical revolution” by the Huffington Post, and “A must see” by OUT magazine.  It went on to be produced in Buffalo on the Alleyway stage by BUA in 2017, and became a hit internationally in the coming years.  In 2024 a film version of the Spanish translation starring Mexican superstar Alejandro Speitzer premiered at the Morelia Film Festival, followed by a run in over 500 Mexican cinemas, and a period streaming on Hulu and Disney+.  The film is in Spanish with English subtitles, and will be screened in Buffalo for the first time.  A talkback with the playwrights will follow.

Drew Fornarola is a playwright, songwriter, and the artistic director of Starring Buffalo.  Recent Off-Broadway: Ghost of John McCain (Soho Playhouse), STRAIGHT (NYTimes Critic’s Pick, European Tour), Tilly the Trickster (Atlantic Theater Company, written with SNL’s Molly Shannon). Film: VeggieTales: Noah’s Ark (DreamWorks Animation), STRAIGHT (Hulu / Disney+), 1 Night in San Diego (Hulu). Other Theater: Fauci and Kramer (Artie Award), Tiananmen (Biller Social Impact Grant), Hershey’s Unwrapped (Hershey Park). 2026 NYSCA playwriting grantee. Graduate of Princeton, Fordham Law, and the BMI Workshop. @drewfornarola

Scott Elmegreen is a playwright, composer, and author based in Chicago and Brooklyn. He teaches playwriting, musical theater writing, and songwriting at the University of Chicago. His work has premiered on Broadway and off-Broadway, has been produced around the world, and has been adapted to film for theatrical release, HBO, and streaming on Hulu and Disney+. Select shows include Straight, Expecting, Tiananmen, Thucydides, Ghost of John McCain, Hip Hop Cinderella, Ivy+Bean, and The Magic School Bus. Under a pseudonym, he has written four science fiction novels published by HarperCollins.

Marcelo Tobar is a Mexican writer and director known for his independent films that blend innovative production techniques with intimate explorations of personal and familial dynamics. Tobar gained prominence with his sophomore feature Asteroide (2014), a story of family tensions and return to roots that played at various festivals and received critical notice. He followed this with Polar Bear (2017), an ambitious project shot entirely on a cellphone that won recognition at the Morelia International Film Festival, showcasing his willingness to experiment with accessible tools for ambitious storytelling. His career has continued to evolve with later works including The Idealists (2020), Familia Nacional (2023), and Straight (2023), which explores themes of sexual identity. Tobar has been profiled as part of the rising wave of Mexican filmmakers pursuing distinctive and personal visions in global independent cinema.

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