Built for Collapse presents NUCLEAR LOVE AFFAIR, in association with The Dream Up Festival at THeatre for the New City, AUgust 14 through September 3. In this spectacular multi-media investigation of America in the Atomic Age, unnerving images, vibrant rhythms, disturbing text, and violent slapstick collide to create an erotic pop culture explosion. Featuring Elvis Presley dancing through Vietnam, Charlie Chaplin at Hiroshima, and Marilyn Monroe teaching us all how to "Duck and Cover," Nuclear Love Affair is a bold and twisted take on the journey of the American Dream.
BUILT FOR COLLAPSE is a New York City-based arts organization dedicated to building multi-disciplinary communal celebrations that stimulate the senses. At times a neo-burlesque opera, at times a freakish and violent circus, Built for Collapse has been described as a subversive and "creative new approach to theatre." www.built4collapse.wordpress.com
SANAZ GHAJARRAHIMI (Director and Co-Author) is an Iranian-American director and choreographer. With Built for Collapse she has directed and choreographed: NUCLEAR LOVE AFFAIR (Theater for the New Cty, The Tank, East River Amphitheater); ORPHEUS AND THE PLASTIC MASQUERADE (Galapagos Art Space); ELEPHANT MAN (Wings Theatre); STORK AND OWL (Bleecker Street Theater); HAMLET (Galapagos Art Space, Grace Exhibition Space); ROMEO AND JULIET (Access Theater). Other selected directing credits: KILL TO EAT by Caridad Svich (Hangar Theatre); HOUSE (Brooklyn Lyceum); THE STATES OF PANIC by Jon Marans (The Barrows Group); MELANCHOLY PLAY by Sarah Ruhl (Robert Moss Theater); JET OF BLOOD by Antonin Artaud (Studio Theater). Recent Assistant Credits: PRIMA DONNA by Rufus Wainwright directed by Daniel Kramer (Manchester International Festival) and MAP OF THE WORLD directed by Robert Moss at New York University. Sanaz is a Drama League Alumnus, Artistic Director of Built for Collapse, and earned her BFA at New York University.
BEN HOBBS (Choreographer and Co-Author) is a performer, choreographer and visual artist. Currently a cast member of the Off-Broadway hit FUERZABRUTA, Ben earned his BFA in Drama from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. He also studied Traditional Chinese Opera at Shanghai Theater Academy and Dance at Point Park University. He has over 18 years of dance and acrobatic training. With Built For Collapse he has choreographed and performed in: NUCLEAR LOVE AFFAIR (The Tank, East River Amphitheater, Theater for the New City); ORPHEUS AND THE PLASTIC MASQUERADE (Galapagos Art Space); ELEPHANT MAN (Wings Theatre); HAMLET (Galapagos Art Space, Grace Exhibition Space); ROMEO AND JULIET (Access Theater). Other selected performance and choreographic credits include: LYNN BARR DANCE THEATRE (Judson Church, Kaatsbaan, 2007-2010); THEATER MITU'S HAIR (Skirball Center for the Arts); Savage:Love (Edinburgh Festival Fringe).
Michael Krass (Costume Design) Broadway: AFTER MISS JULIE; 2006 Tony Award nomination for THE CONSTANT WIFE; TWELVE ANGRY MEN; ‘NIGHT MOTHER; RECKLESS; AFTER THE FALL; HEDDA GABLER; THE LION IN WINTER; YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN; THE REHEARSAL (Drama Desk nomination); A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE (1997 Revival), more. Off-Broadway: THE NEW YORK IDEA (Atlantic Theater); THE LANGUAGE ARCHIVE (Roundabout Theatre); SHIPWRECKED (Primary Stages); DISTRACTED (Roundabout Theatre); MACBETH (Public/Delacorte); SLOANE; WOMEN ON FIRE; LOBBY HERO; THIS IS OUR YOUTH; FULL GALLOP; DRIVING MISS DAISY among many others. National Tours: ANGELS IN AMERICA; TWELVE ANGRY MEN; DRIVING MISS DAISY. Regional: Nine seasons at Williamstown; ten at the Hangar Theatre; Old Globe, Chicago Shakespeare (two Jefferson nominations), Arena Stage, McCarter, Guthrie, etc. Film: Campbell Scott's HAMLET. Heads the design department of NYU's Playwrights Horizons studio.
