| LaMaMa presents the Loose Change Production of the THE MULBERRY TREE - a play about loyalty and loss, set in historic Palestine | |
| Posted by: Official_Press_Release 11:49 pm EDT 09/17/24 | |
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| LaMaMa presents the Loose Change Production of the THE MULBERRY TREE a play about loyalty and loss, set in historic Palestine by HANNA EADY and EDWARD MAST Directed by ALEXANDRA ARON October 10 – 20, 2024 Opening celebration, October 14, NEW YORK, NY -- September 17, 2024, The Mulberry Tree, a new play set in Palestine by Hanna Eady and Edward Mast, directed by Alexandra Aron, will have its world premiere at La MaMa ETC (66 East 4th Street, New York City). LaMaMa presents Loose Change Productions' The Mulberry Tree, which will run from October 10 to 20, and it will celebrate its opening night on Monday, October 14th, at 8 pm. As 1948, the year of the founding of the state of Israel, approaches, a Palestinian boy and his beloved neighbor, the village Rabbi, struggle to maintain their friendship in a village where Jews, Christians, and Muslims have lived side by side, trying to go about life as usual – until it becomes impossible. An achingly human story, The Mulberry Tree is a play about Palestine's past and a heartbreaking but hopeful ode to its future. Written by longtime collaborators Eady (born in Palestine) and Mast (born in California), the story shows the painful price of loyalty and betrayal while honoring the power of memory. "This production opens over Yom Kippur, a day of reflection and atonement. We hope this play serves as an opportunity for contemplation for all, shedding light on the complexities of history and on the enduring hope for a future where humanity prevails over division." Carey Lovelace and John Breen, Loose Change Productions. "Despite the current circumstances, there was a time not too long ago in Palestine when Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived together in peace and harmony. My father, the late scholar Edward Said, was born in that place during that time. This play, grounded in history and truth, tells the story of two families whose deep, long-standing friendship is tested by the forces of politics and nationalism. As artists, I believe our role is to envision and create possibilities for the future, and often that requires a closer examination of both our humanity and our shared past. This play offers us the opportunity to do just that." —Najla Said, portraying Salma The cast includes Ramzi Khalif (The Kite Runner, National Tour), Rachel Botchan (King of the Jews, Off-Broadway), Laith Zuaiter (TV: "Ramy"), Najla Said (Palestine, Off-Broadway), and Khalifa Natour (Grey Rock ), and Haythem Noor, (The Kite Runner, National Tour) The play is produced for Loose Change Productions by John Breen. The production team includes Izmir Ikbal (set design), Dina El-Aziz (costume design), Habib Hanna (composer), Amanda Baughman (sound design), Tal Yarden (projection design), Stephanie Klapper (casting), Eileen Haggerty (production stage manager) and Amanda Reynoso (assistant stage manager). Special thanks to the Sari-Sari Women of ColorArts Coup for their ongoing support of this production. THE MULBERRY TREE Thursday, October 10 – Sunday, October 13, and Thursday, October 17 – Sunday, October 20 All performances at 8 pm, except Sundays at 4 pm Official opening performance: Monday, October 14, 8pm La Mama, The Downstairs Theatre, 66 East 4th Street, New York City, basement level. Tickets: Adults: $30. Students/Seniors: $25. The first 10 tickets are $10 (limit 2 per person). Ticket prices are inclusive of all fees. For tickets and more information https://www.lamama.org/shows/the-mulberry-tree-2024 Post-show discussion featuring Rabbi Alissa Wise and Riham Barghouti will follow the final performance on October 20th. Press performances: Friday October 11, 8pm; Saturday October 12, 8pm; Sunday October 13, 4pm; Monday October 14, 8 pm (Official opening ) CREATIVE TEAM HANNA EADY and EDWARD MAST (Playwrights) have been writing plays together since they met in Seattle in 1995. Hanna Eady grew up as a Palestinian in what is now Israel. He came to Seattle for graduate school in directing, and he continues to return home to work with different Palestinian theatre companies, including the one he founded in his native village Buqayah, where he wrote his first play, Art and Politics. Edward Mast's plays have been performed in several cities and countries, and he was returning home from his first of many trips to the Occupied Palestinian West Bank when he met Hanna Eady. Their first collaboration was Sahmatah, a play drawn from testimonies by residents of one of the Palestinian villages destroyed during the founding of Israel in 1948. Other plays they have written together include Loved Ones: Families of the Incarcerated, Letters from Palestine in the Time of the Virus, and The Love Tunnel: A Comedy of Occupation. Their play The Return premiered in a Hebrew-language production in Haifa, and just completed an extended run in Seattle by Dunya Productions. ALEXANDRA ARON (Director) is the Founder and Producing Artistic Director of the Remote Theater Project, bringing theater artists from different cultural backgrounds to create new work (www.remotetheaterproject.com). Alex has directed in NY and Internationally, including: Leslie Epstein's King of the Jews at HERE Arts starring Richard Topol, A Night in the Old Marketplace (Frank London/Glen Berger) at MASS MoCA and São Paulo, Copenhagen, Warsaw, Toronto, Milan, New York City, Naked Old Man by Murray Schisgal, starring David Margulies (Ensemble Studio Theatre); Imagining Madoff by Deb Margolin (Theater J, DC); Three Seconds in the Key by Deb Margolin (New Georges, NYC). Salomé: Woman of Valor, Adeena Karasick/Frank London (Vancouver, Toronto, ART's Oberon Theater). She directed the short film Two Altars and a Cave starring Lois Smith. Alex has developed several plays with Palestinian and Jewish theater artists. She commissioned and produced Grey Rock by Amir Nizar Zuabi at La MaMa, also seen at the Melbourne and Adelaide Festivals, Kennedy Center, and Guthrie Theater Under the Radar Festival. Alex co-created and produced Lines an international collaboration with Fidaa Zidan (Palestine), John Rwothomack (Uganda/UK), and Junaid Sarieddeen (Lebanon) at the Sheffield Theatre, UK, and at LaMaMa Theatre in April 2024. She is an affiliated artist of New Georges Theater, an alum of LCT Directing Lab & Women's Project Lab, a Fulbright scholar to Argentina, and a graduate of Wesleyan University. www.alexandraaron.co LA MAMA EXPERIMENTAL THEATRE CLUB is dedicated to the artist and all aspects of the theatre. La MaMa's 63rd Season, the "La MaMa Beyond Season," expands efforts to develop creative methods and tools for greater access to the arts. Pop-up performances and installations will be held in parks, neighborhood community centers, and online. By going beyond La MaMa's physical campus, new audiences and artists from different contexts are welcomed into the creative process. La MaMa has been honored with 30+ Obie Awards, dozens of Drama Desk, Bessie Awards, Villager Awards, the 2018 Regional Theatre Tony Award, and most recently, a 2023 New York Drama Critics' Circle Special Citation. We are a creative home to artists and resident companies from around the world, many of whom have made lasting contributions to the arts, including Blue Man Group, Bette Midler, Ping Chong, Jackie Curtis, Robert De Niro, André De Shields, Adrienne Kennedy, Cole Escola, Bridget Everett, Harvey Fierstein, Diane Lane, Charles Ludlam, Tom Eyen, Spiderwoman Theater, Tadeusz Kantor, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, Meredith Monk, David and Amy Sedaris, Stephanie Hsu, Julie Taymor, Kazuo Ohno, Tom O'Horgan, Andrei Serban, Liz Swados, and Andy Warhol. La MaMa's vision of nurturing new artists and new work from all nations, cultures, races, and identities remains as strong today as it was when Ellen Stewart first opened the doors in 1961. |
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