Indo-American Arts Council Presents BARRIERS At Here 9/11

To commemorate the tenth anniversary of the September 11th tragedy, The Indo-American Arts Council will present BARRIERS on September 11th at 7 p.m. at HERE Theatre (145 Sixth Avenue). The play, by Rehana LewMirza (THE GOOD MUSLIM), is a Desipina production, about a South Asian family's loss from the 9/11 attacks and the backlash they endure, featuring a cast that includes Pooja Kumar (Miss India USA 1995, "Hiding Divya") and Sunkrish Bala (ABC-TV's "Notes from the Underbelly"). Previews of BARRIERS will begin Wednesday, September 7 prior to an official opening date of September 9 at HERE (145 6th Avenue, enter on Dominick, 1 block south of Spring Street) in Manhattan.

The IAAC-sponsored performance will take place on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 with a pre-performance reception and a Q&A with the playwright, director and cast at 4:30 pm, followed by the performance at 7 pm. 

Rehana Lew Mirza's play BARRIERS takes place four months after the 9/11 attacks and focuses on the Chinese/Pakistani Abbas family and the loss of their eldest son Nabhil who had been in the World Trade Center during the attack. When Sunima, the Abbas's only daughter, comes home to announce her pending engagement to a white man - she finds her joyful news lost in a mire of household problems and quickly becomes trapped in the shared family loss that was never dealt with. As this multi-cultural family begins to fragment, they begin to piece together the past each one hides, and the future they all share.

Originally mounted in 2002 at HERE and then subsequently co-produced with the Asian American Theater Company in San Francisco and Los Angeles in 2003, BARRIERS is returning to the stage to look back on the ten-year anniversary of the September 11th tragedy.

Directed by Colette Robert, BARRIERS features a cast that includes: Pooja Kumar, Sunkrish Bala, Joe Petrilla, Eileen Rivera, JonNorman Schneider and Rajeev Varma. BARRIERS is an Equity-approved showcase.

BARRIERS is produced by Ying Le for Desipina & Co. and has a design team that includes Katherine Akiko Day (set and costume design), Colin Whitely (sound design), and Marie Yokoyama (lighting design). It is a part of HEREstay, HERE's curated rental program, which provides artists with subsidized space and equipment, as well as technical and administrative support.

The performance of BARRIERS on September 11th at 7 pm will be an IAAC Benefit performance with a pre-performance discussion & reception

Scheduled September 7 through September 18, performances of BARRIERS will run Tuesdays through Saturdays at 7:00pm and Sundays at 2:00pm and 7:00pm (exception: no 7:00pm performance on Sunday, September 18). The performances on Sunday, September 11th at 2pm will be "pay what you can," with part of the proceeds going to support The Neil G. Shastri Foundation (www.NeilShastri.com), an educational foundation named in honor of a September 11th victim who was of South Asian heritage. Tickets are $18 general admission. BARRIERS will be performed at HERE 145 6th Ave. (Enter on Dominick, 1 Block South of Spring).

For more information on BARRIERS or IAAC, please visit www.iaac.us.

About The Indo-American Arts Council: The Indo-American Arts Council is a registered 501(c)3 not-for-profit, secular service and resource arts organization charged with the mission of promoting and building the awareness, creation, production, exhibition, publication and performance of Indian and cross-cultural art forms in North America. It is passionate about showcasing, celebrating and building an awareness of artists and artistic disciplines of Indian origin in the performing, literary, visual and folk arts. For further information please visit www.iaac.us.