SuperHero: Former Manhattanville Resident Debuts Play Inspired by Childhood
A new off-Broadway play, “SuperHero,” invites audience members into the world of an artistic 10-year-old boy growing up in Manhattanville Houses in the 1980s as he navigates loss, bullying, friendship, and growing into the type of man he wants to become.
“SuperHero” is a debut play written by actor and playwright Ian Eaton, a former Manhattanville Houses resident, about a turning point in his childhood in Harlem. “This is the story I’ve been wanting to write down and tell for some time since it happened,” Mr. Eaton said. “Remembering it always brought a smile to my face, and I felt like it would resonate with people.”
In the play, young Ian fantasizes about having superpowers. After losing his brother to street violence, Ian starts fifth grade with a neighborhood bully on his back, a girl he likes, and his parents’ grief. In his confrontations with the bully, young Ian almost takes a wrong turn by fighting violence with violence, but ultimately he acts as the bigger man, realizing that superheroes don’t need powers or capes.
The play unfolds at the kitchen table of the family’s Manhattanville apartment, inside the subway, and at Ian’s Catholic school in Harlem, accompanied by the sounds of his West Indian parents’ calypso music and 1980s hip hop.
A scene from the play with the family in the kitchen of their Manhattanville Houses apartment. Production photos from SuperHero by Russ Rowland. 
Production photos from SuperHero by Russ Rowland.
“I’m elated about the play,” Mr. Eaton said. “It’s a close-to-the heart personal story, filled with hope and being able to see that there’s something on the other side of adversity – and see that with power. I want people to leave with power and the knowledge that they have the tools within themselves. Because that’s what this story does for me, whenever I think of it.”
Mr. Eaton lived with his family at Manhattanville until he was 17 and has many fond memories of growing up in the Harlem development: “One of my favorite memories is when my dad came to pick me up from school. I was spending the afternoon with him. We were rounding 1430 to head to 1470 and he says, ‘I’ll race you.’ My dad is a little older than most dads, so he had his gray hair and Members Only jacket. We started running and people were watching us and cheering us on, and he was really running, like he was trying to beat me, and he won. It’s a warm memory, and I share it with the audience at the show.”
The play is presented by the Houses on the Moon Theater Company, of which Mr. Eaton has been a member since 2005. It opened on April 14 and runs through May 1 at the Frank Shiner Theater at The Sheen Center.
As a youth, Mr. Eaton studied voice, violin, and acting at Harlem School of the Arts. He later studied acting at LaGuardia High School and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting from City College. Mr. Eaton is a member of Only Make Believe, a non-profit that creates and performs interactive theater for children in hospitals and care facilities, and has appeared in various stage, TV, and film productions.
Mr. Eaton said that as an actor he’s used to taking other people’s words and telling their stories; however, “playwriting is a completely different world for me – it’s exciting and exhilarating and also scary.”
Years ago, Mr. Eaton began drafting his story in a Houses on the Moon writing workshop. It became a 15-minute vignette included in the theater company’s production “gUN COUNTRY,” a collection of true stories written, developed, and presented by people whose lives have been affected by guns. He expanded it into a longer piece that took “Best Play” in a one-act festival. Later, the play’s director, Warren Adams, Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the Black Theatre Coalition, encouraged Mr. Eaton to turn the play into a full-length production with four actors.
Houses on the Moon partnered with NYCHA’s Office of Public/Private Partnerships to provide 245 free “SuperHero” tickets to NYCHA residents.
Mr. Eaton is excited for NYCHA residents to see the play: “Manhattanville is my community, which is a part of NYCHA. I’d love for NYCHA residents to see the play and they should be supported in coming out to see it; it’s important to see yourself and to know you’re not alone and share this experience.”
