| NAATCO announces the all-femme, all-Asian American cast & design team for World Premiere of a modern verse translation CYMBELINE | |
| Posted by: Official_Press_Release 02:37 pm EST 11/18/24 | |
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| NAATCO, In Partnership with PLAY ON SHAKESPEARE, Announces the All-Femme, All-Asian American Cast and Design Team for the World Premiere of a Modern Verse Translation of William Shakespeare's CYMBELINE by Andrea Thome (Pinkolandia) Directed by Stephen Brown-Fried (Henry VI, Awake & Sing!) Amy Hill Leads the Cast as Cymbeline, Along with Purva Bedi, Annie Fang, Anna Ishida, Narea Kang, Jennifer Lim, KK Moggie, Maria-Christina Oliveras, Julyana Soelistyo, Sarah Suzuki, and Jeena Yi Performances Begin January 17th at the Lynn F. Angelson Theater Opening Night is Set for January 23rd TICKETS ON SALE NOW! NAATCO, the National Asian American Theatre Co., today announced the all-femme, all-Asian American cast and design team for the World Premiere of Andrea Thome's modern verse translation of one of Shakespeare's most compelling plays, Cymbeline, presented in partnership with Play On Shakespeare. Thome's update brings the play's language into the present, highlighting new resonances and providing a more accessible version of Shakespeare's play for today's audiences. The translation was commissioned by Play On Shakespeare. One of Shakespeare's final plays, Cymbeline tells the story of the British king Cymbeline and his daughter, Imogen. It is a tale of deceit and jealousy, with accusations of infidelity that often draw comparisons to Othello and The Winter's Tale. Performances begin January 17th at the Lynn F. Angelson Theater (136 East 13th Street) for a limited Off-Broadway engagement through February 15th only. Opening Night is set for Thursday January 23rd. Performances will be Tuesday through Friday evenings at 7pm, Saturday at 2pm & 7pm, and Sun matinees at 3pm. Tickets, starting at $25, are on sale now at naatco.org. Stephen Brown-Fried (NAATCO's Awake and Sing! at the Public Theater, and the Drama Desk nominated six-hour compilation of Shakespeare's Henry VI plays) directs a cast lead by Amy Hill in the title role (Broadway: Twelfth Night - Lincoln Center Theater; NAATCO's Our Town as the Stage Manager; numerous recurring roles on TV including "Mom," "All-American Girl," "My Wife and Kids," "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend," "Preacher." "Black-ish," and "Magnum P.I."). She will be joined by Purva Bedi (NAATCO's Romeo and Juliet; Dance Nation - Drama Desk Award, Playwrights Horizons; Passage - Soho Rep; India Pale Ale - Manhattan Theater Club; An Ordinary Muslim - New York Theatre Workshop; Uncommon Sense - Tectonic Theatre Project); Annie Fang (Your Own Personal Exegesis - LCT3; Shhhh - world premiere, Atlantic Theater Company; A Woman Among Women - Bushwick Starr/New Georges); Anna Ishida (NAATCO's Henry VI); Narea Kang (Madonna col Bambino - Ars Nova/New Ohio Theatre); Jennifer Lim (Broadway: Chinglish - Drama Desk nomination, Theatre World Award; Golden Child - Signature Theatre; Usual Girls – Roundabout; Fefu and Her Friends – Theatre for a New Audience); KK Moggie (NAATCO's Charles Francis Chan Jr.'s Exotic Oriental Murder Mystery; Grace - MCC Theater; Passage - Soho Rep; The Gravedigger's Lullaby - The Actors Company Theatre); Maria-Christina Oliveras (Broadway: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Amélie, Machinal; Zorba! - Encores!; Pretty Filthy - The Civilians; Here Lies Love, Romeo and Juliet - Public Theater); Julyana Soelistyo (Broadway: Golden Child - Actors Equity Clarence Derwent Award, Tony Award nomination; The Skin of Our Teeth - Lincoln Center Theater; NAATCO's The House of Bernarda Alba; On the Town - City Center Encores!; The Glorious Ones - LCT Newhouse); Sarah Suzuki (Our Town In Topaz - New York Theatre Workshop; Keene – Red Bull Theater; One Night, The Triumphant, Remember This Trick - Target Margin Theater); and Jeena Yi (Broadway: Network; Daphne- LCT Claire Tow; Judgment Day - Park Avenue Armory; Good Enemy - Audible Theater; The Beastiary - Ars Nova; Somebody's Daughter - Second Stage). Cymbeline will have scenic design by Ant Ma, costume design by Mariko Ohigashi, lighting design by Yiyuan Li, and sound design by Caroline Eng. "Cymbeline was one of the last plays Shakespeare wrote, at a time when he was fully aware of theater's power to confront the deepest questions of existence. There's evidence the play was first performed after a long closure of the theaters due to the plague, and in the play, we can feel Shakespeare wrestling not only with the brokenness of the world, but also with the exuberance of rebirth, and the courageousness of hope. Throughout the play, Shakespeare presents us with images almost too fantastical to believe – a wicked queen, a conniving villain, a headless body – until ultimately, god descends onstage declaring "Whom best I love I cross; to make my gift, the more delayed, delighted." In this play, Shakespeare creates a theatrical journey as surprising, perplexing, and ultimately as rewarding as life itself," director Stephen Brown-Fried said. "A multi- and intercultural cast of eleven Asian American women and stellar creative and technical teams will take us through this remarkable, theatrical journey. Our company hails from New York, Los Angeles, Hawai'i, Chile, China, Taiwan, Japan, India, and Singapore. I have always believed that the quintessence of "American" meant a diverse population sharing common ground, and thriving as a consequence. In this communal telling of Shakespeare's story of courage and hope, the multiplicity of our company's make-up celebrates the power of unity," Mia Katigbak added. About the Playwright Andrea Thome is a Chilean/Costa Rican-American playwright who grew up navigating the multiple landscapes and languages that inhabit her plays. Her play Pinkolandia received a rolling world premiere at INTAR Theater (NYC), Austin's Salvage Vanguard Theater, Two River Theater (NJ), and 16th Street Theater (Chicago). It was awarded the Lark/Mellon Foundation's Launching New Plays Fellowship, and was translated into Russian and presented at Moscow's Meyerhold Center. Other plays include Undone (Whitman Award; developed at Queens College, Victory Gardens, Lark), Worm Girl (Cherry Red Productions), various short plays and many collaborative projects. Her play translations (including Guillermo Calderón's Neva) have been produced by the Public Theater, CTG, La Jolla Playhouse and more. About The Director Stephen Brown-Fried is a theater director based in New York City whose work has been seen at The Public Theater, NAATCO, Ensemble Studio Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop's 4th Street Theater, Sundance Theatre Lab, Shakespeare Theatre of NJ, Trinity Shakespeare, Milwaukee Shakespeare, Illinois Shakespeare and at The Shakespeare Theatre Company, as well as at training programs including The Yale School of Drama, NYU/Tisch Graduate Acting, SMU/Meadows School of the Arts, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, The University of Miami, and Virginia Commonwealth University. He currently serves as Vice Dean of Curriculum and Learning at The New School's College of Performing Arts, where he has taught since 2008 and previously served as Head of Directing and Associate Dean of the School of Drama. From 2016 to 2020, he served as Associate Director of Gingold Theatrical Group, where he oversaw GTG's Speakers' Corner Writers Group and GTG's educational outreach programs. From 2014 to 2015, he served as the Artistic Associate & Casting Director at the Shakespeare Theatre of NJ, where his directing credits include Misalliance, All's Well That Ends Well, The Comedy of Errors, and other plays. He holds a BA in History and Drama from Stanford University and an MFA in Directing from the Yale School of Drama, where he has also served as a Lecturer in Directing. About Play On Shakespeare The modern verse translation of Cymbeline by Andrea Thome was commissioned by Play On Shakespeare. Play On Shakespeare is a non-profit company promoting and creating contemporary modern translations of Shakespeare's plays that originated out of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Since its inception in 2015, Play On Shakespeare has commissioned dozens of contemporary playwrights and translators to translate 39 Shakespeare plays into modern English, with a majority of the commissions being helmed by BIPOC and womxn playwrights. Far from a paraphrasing exercise, each playwright was tasked with matching Shakespeare's linguistic rigor as they approached the text, preserving rhyme, rhythm, metaphor, meter, imagery, symbolism, rhetoric, and the structure that make Shakespeare's plays engaging and accessible to today's audience. Play On Shakespeare partners with artists and organizations across the globe to deliver and advocate for these translations through theatrical productions, podcasts, and publications. For more information, visit playonshakespeare.org. Play On Shakespeare is made possible through the generous support of the Hitz Foundation. About NAATCO NAATCO was founded in 1989 by Mia Katigbak and Richard Eng to assert the presence and significance of Asian American theater in the United States, demonstrating its vital contributions to the fabric of American culture. The company presents the following repertory: •European and American classics as written with all-Asian American casts; •Adaptations of these classics by Asian American playwrights; •New plays – preferably world premieres – written by non-Asian Americans, not for or about Asian Americans, but realized by an all Asian American cast; and •Development and production of new plays by Asian American playwrights that incorporate other performative arts and media. NAATCO puts into service its total commitment to Asian American theater artists to more accurately represent onstage the multi- and intercultural dynamics of our society. By doing so, they demonstrate a rich tapestry of cultural difference bound by the American experience. The enrichment accrues to each different culture as well as to America as a whole. NAATCO was the recipient of the OBIE's Ross Wetzsteon Award, the Lucille Lortel Award from the League of Professional Theatre Women for their work "highlighting the multi- and intercultural dynamics of our society," and the Rosetta LeNoire Award from Actors' Equity Association in recognition of its contribution toward increasing diversity and non-traditional casting in American theater. NAATCO was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play, as well as Outstanding Costume Design for a Play for their acclaimed production of Henry VI: Shakespeare's Trilogy in Two Parts. Additionally, NAATCO Actor-Manager and Co-Founder Mia Katigbak was honored with a Special Drama Desk Award: "the backbone of the Off-Broadway scene, we acclaim her for her performances this season in Henry VI: Shakespeare's Trilogy in Two Parts, The Trial of the Catonsville Nine, Peace for Mary Frances and Recent Alien Abductions. This award also recognizes her vital presence as the artistic director of NAATCO and her sustained excellence as a performer and mentor." Peter Kim is NAATCO's Creative Producer; Mona Moriya is Managing Producer; Todd London is the NNPP Counselor. For more information about Cymbeline or any of NAATCO's programs, please visit www.naatco.org. |
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