Actors Denis O'Hare and Stephen Spinella will get in touch with Greek myths in An Iliad, drawing from the Homeric epic; and a co-production with the Middle East-centric company Noor Theatre will introduce us to a Palestinian woman with a passion for cooking. A fourth title will be announced.
The 2011-12 season in the East Village will feature:
The Select—The Sun Also Rises
Based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway
Created by Elevator Repair Service
Directed by John Collins
"Last fall Elevator Repair Service electrified audiences with the triumphant Gatz, based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby,' and their interpretation of 'The Sound and the Fury' received critical acclaim when it debuted at NYTW in 2008. The 2011-2012 season begins with ERS's final chapter in their trilogy of classic American literature. The Select—The Sun Also Rises presents a fresh take on Ernest Hemingway's tale of young ex-patriots living in Europe after World War I as journalist Jake Barnes, his former lover Lady Brett Ashley, and the writer Robert Cohn cope with post-war realities and enter the 'age of anxiety.'"
Food and Fadwa
Written by Lameece Issaq
Directed by Shana Gold
Conceived and developed with Jacob Kader
A Co-Production with Noor Theatre
"Meet Fadwa Faranesh, an unmarried, 30-something, Palestinian woman known for her delectable cooking and deep-seated sense of duty to her siblings and aging father. Despite the constraints of a curfew imposed on the community of East Bethlehem in 2002, our kitchen maven insists on continuing the preparations for the wedding of her younger sister. Politics blend with family tensions to create a sometimes humorous and sometimes heartbreaking meal. This new play melds the fight a Palestinian family wages to hold onto its traditional culture with its need to celebrate love, joy and hope. NYTW teams up with company-in-residence Noor Theatre."
An Iliad
Adapted from The Iliad by Homer
Translated by Robert Fagles
Written by Lisa Peterson and Denis O'Hare
Featuring Denis O'Hare and Stephen Spinella
Directed by Lisa Peterson
"Creators Lisa Peterson and Denis O'Hare have crafted a sprawling yarn based on Homer's epic poem. An Iliad spins the tale of gods and goddesses, undying love, and endless battles told through an original, contemporary, and immediate voice. Tony Award-winning actors Denis O'Hare (Assassins, Take Me Out) and Stephen Spinella (Angels in America) alternate in this sweeping account of humanity's unshakeable attraction to violence, destruction, and chaos. Has anything really changed since the Trojan War?" For more information about New York Theatre Workshop, the company that launched Rent, visit www.nytw.org.
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The final production of New York Theatre Workshop's current 2010-11 season, which included The Little Foxes, Three Pianos and Peter and the Starcatcher, is The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World, which begins performances May 12.
