La MaMa Presents 2 FROM THE SEA, 10/18-11/4

La Mama E.T.C. presents the World Premiere of Triple Shadow's new theater production, 2 FROM THE SEA, composed of two solo adaptations of plays whose themes are based on stories of the sea: Holiday Memory by Dylan Thomas, performed by Seamus Maynard, and Riders to the Sea by John Millington Synge, performed by Mari Andrejco. Both are directed by Beth Skinner and feature live music composed and performed by Edward Herbst. Lighting design is by Bessie and Drama Desk-winner Paul Clay (RENT), and scenic design is by Obie Award-winner Jun Maeda. The three-week season runs October 18 through November 4 at La Mama E.T.C., 74 East 4th Street, NYC.

Holiday Memory, adapted from a radio play by Dylan Thomas, is a wistful childhood recollection of a day at the seaside, and the excitement of the family as they prepare in the playwright's childhood home - a house on a hill overlooking Swansea Bay in South Wales. Thomas's memories are joyful and his words musical: "A slap of sea and a tickle of sand. A fanfare of sunshades opening." After a long day, the tired family returns up the hill: "And as we climbed home, up the gas-lit hill, to the still house over the mumbling bay, we heard the music die and the voices drift like sand." Accompanied by an original musical score for harmonium, mandolin and toy piano, intertwined with traditional Celtic songs performed by Edward Herbst, actor Seamus Maynard ignites our collective memories.

In Riders to the Sea, set in the Aran Islands, John Millington Synge refers to the annual Gaelic harvest festival "Samhain," held October 31 through November 1. The festival marks the end of harvesting and the lighter half of the year while ushering in the beginning of the dark season. Triple Shadow's adaption sets the time of the play during Samhain, when the boundaries between the world of the living and that of the dead become thinner, allowing spirits to pass between the worlds. Solo actor Mari Andrejco plays Cathleen, recalling the fateful day her mother lost her last two sons to the sea. Cathleen leaves a window open to the west with a light burning to guide the departed home and sets places at the table for her six brothers, father, and grandfather, all lost at sea. Music composed and performed by Edward Herbst includes traditional Irish songs.

Performers and Creators of 2 FROM THE SEA:
MARI ANDREJCO (actor) has toured with Triple Shadow to Pantelleria Italy, Cairo Egypt, and Chiapas Mexico. She has appeared on stage, television and video, appearing as Queen Elizabeth I and Susan B. Anthony on PBS and working with Shakespeare and Company. Her most recent role was a Emily Dickinson in Triple Shadow's production of "The Belle of Amherst."

SEAMUS MAYNARD (actor) has performed with Le Groupov-Belgian National Theater, Julian Crouch's Improbable Theater at Walker Arts Center, Philadelphia Live Arts Festival, the Actor's Ensemble, and London's Barbican. He studied at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

Composer/musicIan Edward HERBST has performed his solo vocal improvisations at Festivals and Theaters in Montreal, Geneva, and Mexico. He was commissioned by Sardono Kusumo's experimental Indonesian dance-theatre company to collaborate on Maha Buta as well as Sardono's film "The Sorceress of Dirah." His book, "Voices in Bali: Energies and Perceptions in Vocal Music and Dance Theater," was published by Wesleyan University Press.

Director BETH SKINNER has received numerous grants from the NEA Theater, Opera-Musical Theater and Multidisciplinary Programs, NYSCA, and Massachusetts Cultural Council, collaborating with artists from Japan, China, Korea, Indonesia, Romania, Hungary and Russia. She has studied and performed mask-dance theater in Indonesia with I Nyoman Kakul and other masters, and researched traditional and experimental performance practice, sponsored by the Indonesia Dance Academy in Bali.

Paul Clay designed the set for the Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway musical RENT, and has done design work for such noted artists and companies as Mabou Mines, Tom Noonan, Hal Hartley, Louis Andriessen, and David Dorfman.

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