Teatro La Tea and Core Creative Productions are proud to present the world premiere of Dia de los Muertos, a searing new play by Anthony P. Pennino, co-directed by Pennino and Alberto Bonilla. Spanish translations by Javier E. Gomez. All performances held at Teatro La Tea, 107 Suffolk Street in New York City from July 13, 2011-July 31, 2011 (Wed.-Sat. @ 8pm, Sun @ 3pm). Tickets are $18.00 and are available at www.smarttix.com, or by phone 212-868-4444. Group discounts are available. For more information, please go to http://www.teatrolatea.com
The year is 1916. The world is at war. Kings are falling, and empires are crumbling. And into a small Mexican village near the U.S. border walks Devlyn Byrne, newly arrived from Ireland. There, she meets Pablo Carrillo, a Mexican doctor, and together they embark on a journey for the honor of both families. Or so Pablo believes. Devlyn certainly has a hidden agenda she is not ready to reveal. Dia de los Muertos is a daring new play from Core Creative Productions. Told in English and Spanish, it is both a tale of magical realism and a deconstructed Western.
"We wanted this play to have an epic sweep," stated Core Creative Productions founding member Alberto Bonilla. "Our audience will have a fully immersive evening of theatre. They will be treated to gun battles, knife fights, beautiful music, the conflict between the personal and the political, moments of comedy, and scenes of harrowing emotional intensity."
Dia de los Muertos is a story of individuals struggling to be true to themselves in a world disintegrating into violence. And in such a place and in such a time, only one can grow into something more while another descends into darkness.
Core Creative Productions consists of director and actor Alberto Bonilla ["Albert Bonilla has created a powerful world with these actors, with this place, with calibrated movement and timing. Delightful, dark, dismaying, resonant, uplifting" (Urban Excavations)]; actor Elizabeth Ingram ["Elizabeth Inghram is a scene-stealing delight as the saucy and pragmatic Polly" (Backstage)]; and playwright Anthony P. Pennino ["Meditations from North America is raw and emotional and unpolished, which is probably why it's finally so cathartic" (nytheatre.com)] Company website: http://corecreativeproductions.com
ALBERTO BONILLA* is a New York based actor, director and writer whose recent directing credits include Servant of Two Masters (Secret Theater), Raft of the Medusa ("gloriously directed."-critic A. Martin), and Clout in the Mug's Look Back in Anger. He is currently in pre-production for a Spanish television pilot and his short film Speed of Love will be premiering in 2011. "Alberto is a diverse and passionate actor... who bring intelligence and innovation to any role. As a playwright, Alberto demonstrates astute observations about the world around him, wry humor, a strong ear for dialogue, an understanding of dramatic structure, and passion for theatrical collaboration." ~ Eric Parness Artistic Director
ANTHONY P. PENNINO has been credited by Backstage for helping to create a new genre -- the morality musical -- for his work on the libretto of The Devil and Tom Walker, which received its world premiere at the Obie-winning Metropolitan Playhouse. In addition to The Devil and Tom Walker, he has had three works published: the one-acts "Forgeries of Jealousy" and "Howard Hopped the A-Train" as well as the full-length Story of an Unknown Man. His work has been seen across the United States as well as in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, and Turkey. He was awarded a 2005 Fellowship from the New Jersey Council for the Arts. He served as a Fulbright Scholar in Istanbul, Turkey in 2008. Anthony Holds an M.F.A. in Playwriting from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in Theatre from the University of London. He currently teaches literature and theatre at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ.
Elizabeth Inghram * was most recently hailed by the New York Times for "breathing life" into her performance as the comic Polly and her ability to "elevate the material" and as a "...scene stealing delight..." by Backstage in The Great Divide at the Obie award winning Metropolitan Playhouse. Other favorite New York credits include After the Ball at the Irish Repertory Theatre, Busker Alley for the York Theatre (starring Glenn Close and Jim Dale), the award winning Hot and Sweet at the New York Music Theater Festival, Fragments of New York (US premier - Richmond Shepard Theater), and The House in Ilium Valley with FoxStole (a collaborative movement based theater company of which Elizabeth is a founding member). Elizabeth graduated with a degree in music from Oklahoma City University, and of the two-year Meisner program with Maggie Flanigan. www.elizabethinghram.com
JAVIER E. GÓMEZ* is a graduate of the two-year Meisner program with Bill Esper, was recently seen in The Smell of Popcorn at IATI Theatre. Off Broadway: No Dogs Allowed (Atlantic Theatre Company). Other credits: My Favorite Year (Village Light Opera, dir. Evan Papas), Rocky Horror Show (Centerstage Playhouse), Measure for Measure (dir. Glory Kadigan), Apathy: The Gen X Musical (dir. Paula D'Alessandris), Lorca Federico Lorca (dir. Luis Caballero), Passion, Threepenny Opera, The Wiz, Man of La Mancha, and Ruandi (Latino International Theater Festival of NY). TV: Guiding Light, Psyshosis (Telemundo). Also an accomplished journalist, Javier received the 2010 Community Service Award by Comité Noviembre. www.javieregomez.com
*These actors appear courtesy of Actor's Equity Association.
Production for Dia de los Muertos includes Jasmine Sanchez (stage manager).
Established in 1982, LATEA is one of New York's premier and highly regarded Off-Off Broadway Latino theaters. It was founded and operates under the direction of two well-known professional stage, film and television actors who are committed to providing opportunities to New York's emerging and professional artists, especially Latinos who would otherwise not have the resources or affordable physical facilities to exhibit their works and talents. As arts advocates LATEA's founders took the initiative of providing much needed leadership to secure and safeguard the continued use of their city-owned property, a struggle that led to the creation of the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural & Educational Center, where the theater is housed. Its Mission is to foster, preserve, promote and maintain the history, literature, cultural values and heritage of the Latin American people, including the Caribbean. To educate North American audiences and the general public of the contributions made by Latinos and to demonstrate the universality of beliefs that bind us all together as universal human beings. It is of the philosophy that the arts should not be for nor by a privileged few, but available to working class people and men from all walks of life.
WHERE:Teatro la Tea
107 Suffolk Street
between Delancey St. & Rivington St.
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10002
www.teatrolatea.com
