Katori Hall’s OUR LADY OF KIBEHO

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Starla Benford and Joaquina Kalukango. Photo by Joan Marcus

 

CASTING ANNOUNCED & $25 TICKETS NOW ON SALE FOR SIGNATURE THEATRE’S WORLD PREMIERE PRODUCTION OF OUR LADY OF KIBEHO

By KATORI HALL

Directed by MICHAEL GREIF

IN THE IRENE DIAMOND STAGE AT THE PERSHING SQUARE SIGNATURE CENTER

TICKETS ON SALE AT HYPERLINK “”WWW.SIGNATURETHEATRE.ORG

Signature Theatre (James Houghton, Founding Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director) is pleased to announce casting is confirmed and tickets are now on sale for the World Premiere of OUR LADY OF KIBEHO by Katori Hall, directed by Michael Greif. All tickets for the initial run of the production are $25 as part of the Signature Ticket Initiative: A Generation of Access. The production runs October 28 through December 7, 2014 with a November 16 opening night in The Irene Diamond Stage at The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street between 9th and 10th Avenues).

The cast includes Starla Benford as Sister Evangelique, Jade Eshete as Girl 3, Danaya Esperanza as Girl 2, Niles Fitch as Emmanuel, Kambi Gathesha as Villager 1, Brent Jennings as Bishop Gahamanyi, Joaquina Kalukango as Marie-Clare Mukangango, Mandi Masden as Anathalie Mukamazimpaka, Owiso Odera as Father Tuyishime, Nneka Okafor as Alphonsine Mumureke, Stacey Sargeant as Girl 1, T. Ryder Smith as Father Flavia, Irungu Mutu as Villager 2, Angel Uwamahoro as Girl 4, Bowman Wright as Nkango.

In 1981, a village girl in Rwanda claims to see the Virgin Mary. Ostracized by her schoolmates and labeled disturbed, everyone refuses to believe, until the impossible starts happening again and again. Skepticism gives way to fear, faith, and fate, causing upheaval in the school community and beyond. Based on real events, Our Lady of Kibeho is the second production of Olivier Award-winning playwright Katori Hall’s Residency at Signature.

The design team includes Rachel Hauck (Scenic Design), Emily Rebholz (Costume Design), Ben Stanton (Lighting Design), Matt Tierney (Sound Design), Peter Nigrini (Projection Design), Greg Meeh (Special Effects Design), Paul Rubin (Aerial Effects Design), Michael McElroy (Original Music, Arrangements and Music Direction), Rick Sordelet (Fight Direction), Dawn-Elin Fraser (Dialect Coach) and Faye Armon-Troncoso (Props & Set Dressing). Michael McGoff is the Production Stage Manager. Casting by Telsey + Company, Karyn Casl, CSA.

Supplemental programming has been set for OUR LADY OF KIBEHO. There will be post-show talkbacks on November 4, 20, 25 and December 2. There will be a pre-show Page to Stage discussion with playwright Katori Hall and director Michael Greif on Tuesday, November 11 at 6pm. There will also be two joint Backstage Pass events for OUR LADY OF KIBEHO and Sam Shepard’s A PARTICLE OF DREAD (OEDIPUS VARIATIONS), which begins performances at Signature on November 11, 2014. Focus: On Music will feature Michael McElroy (Original Music, Arrangements and Music Direction for Our Lady of Kibeho) and Neil Martin (Composer and Cellist for A Particle of Dread (Oedipus Variations)) discussing composing and arranging music for new plays on December 3 at 6pm, and in Focus On: Dialects, Dialect Coaches Dawn–Elin Fraser (Our Lady of Kibeho) and Kate Wilson (A Particle of Dread (Oedipus Variations)) will discuss their roles in the rehearsal process on December 10 at 6pm.

To purchase tickets for all Signature productions, call Ticket Services at 212-244-7529 (Tues. – Sun., 11am – 6pm) or visit signaturetheatre.org.

Tickets to the initial runs of all Signature productions at The Pershing Square Signature Center are $25, part of the groundbreaking Signature Ticket Initiative: A Generation of Access, a program that guarantees affordable and accessible tickets to every Signature production through 2031. Serving as a model for theatres and performing arts organizations across the country, the Initiative was founded in 2005 and is made possible by lead partner The Pershing Square Foundation. Additional support provided by Margot Adams and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

2014-15 SEASON OVERVIEW

RESIDENCY ONE

THE WAYSIDE MOTOR INN

By A. R. Gurney

Directed by Lila Neugebauer

Now thru October 5, 2014

The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre

Outside Boston, ten people—some strangers, some not—struggle with the circumstances that have brought them to the Wayside Motor Inn.  With old grudges and new feuds threatening the travelers’ peace, this funny and moving work kicks off A. R. Gurney’s Signature Residency by examining the tenuous space between loneliness and connection, and the fragile framework of the American Dream.

WHAT I DID LAST SUMMER

By A. R. Gurney

Directed by Jim Simpson

May – June 2015

The Irene Diamond Stage

With her husband overseas near the end of World War II, Grace fights to save the splintering bonds of her family by taking her teenage son and daughter to spend the summer on Lake Erie. When her son takes up with the town outcast, the entire family must confront the expectations of a society that holds conformity in the highest regard. Grace finds that her attempt to restore normalcy may have only fractured their relationships further in the second show of A. R. Gurney’s Signature Residency.

AND I AND SILENCE: U.S. PREMIERE

By Naomi Wallace

Directed by Caitlin McLeod

Final performance played on September 14, 2014

THE LIQUID PLAIN: NEW YORK PREMIERE

By Naomi Wallace

Directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah

February – March 2015

The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre

On the docks of late 18th century Rhode Island, two runaway slaves, Adjua and Dembi, plan a desperate and daring run to freedom. When a chance encounter triggers an unexpected collision of worlds, painful truths are uncovered and the brutality of past crimes spills into the next generation. Winner of the 2012 Horton Foote Prize for Promising New American Play, The Liquid Plain brings to life a group of people whose stories have been erased from history.

Both A.R. Gurney and Naomi Wallace’s residencies will conclude with premiere productions during Signature’s 2015-16 Season.

LEGACY PROGRAM

A PARTICLE OF DREAD (OEDIPUS VARIATIONS): U.S. PREMIERE

By Sam Shepard

Directed by Nancy Meckler

November – December 2014

The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre

Signature and Ireland’s renowned Field Day Theatre Company are thrilled to present the U.S. premiere of 1996-97 Playwright-in-Residence Sam Shepard’s A Particle of Dread (Oedipus Variations). This dark, fragmented, modern-day take on Oedipus Rex premiered in Derry, Ireland and features a cast of actors from both sides of the Atlantic.

Signature Theatre gratefully acknowledges Actors’ Equity Association for its assistance of this production.

BIG LOVE

By Charles Mee

Directed by Tina Landau

February – March 2015

The Irene Diamond Stage

Fifty brides flee their fifty grooms and seek refuge in an Italian villa in this modern re-making of one of the world’s oldest plays, The Danaids by Aeschylus. Mayhem ensues, complete with grooms in flight suits, women throwing themselves to the ground, occasional pop songs and romantic dances—even a bride falling in love. Reuniting Signature’s 2007-08 Playwright-in-Residence Charles Mee with his longtime collaborator Tina Landau, Big Love is a colossal, poetic work that explores the hunger for independence, the burden of tradition, and the shape and size of love.

A New Play: WORLD PREMIERE

Written and directed by Athol Fugard

April – May 2015

The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre

Signature is delighted to welcome back Athol Fugard for the world premiere of his newest play. A trio of Fugard’s plays—Blood Knot, My Children! My Africa!, and The Train Driver christened The Pershing Square Signature Center in the 2012 Inaugural Season and introduced Signature audiences to Fugard’s rich body of work. As he did with Blood Knot and The Train Driver, Fugard will direct this new production.

The Legacy Program is generously supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

RESIDENCY FIVE
Special thanks to The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust for supporting the Residency Five Program.

Signature Theatre exists to honor and celebrate the playwright. Founded in 1991 by James Houghton, Signature makes an extended commitment to a playwright’s body of work, and during this journey, the writer is engaged in every aspect of the creative process. By championing in-depth explorations of a playwright’s body of work, Signature delivers an intimate and immersive journey into the playwright’s singular vision. In 2014 Signature became the first New York City theatre to receive the Regional Theatre Tony Award®.

Signature serves its mission through its permanent home at The Pershing Square Signature Center, a three-theatre facility on West 42nd Street designed by Frank Gehry Architects to host Signature’s three distinct playwrights’ residencies and foster a cultural community. At the Center, opened in January 2012, Signature continues its founding Playwright-in-Residence model as Residency One, a first-of-its-kind, intensive exploration of a single writer’s body of work. Residency Five, the only program of its kind, was launched at the Center to support multiple playwrights as they build bodies of work by guaranteeing each writer three productions over a five-year period. The Legacy Program, launched during Signature’s 10th Anniversary, invites writers from both residencies back for productions of premiere or earlier plays.

The Pershing Square Signature Center is a major contribution to New York City’s cultural landscape and provides a venue for cultural organizations that supports and encourages collaboration among artists throughout the space. In addition to its three intimate theatres, the Center features a studio theatre, rehearsal studio, and a public café, bar and bookstore. Through the Signature Ticket Initiative: A Generation of Access, Signature has also made an unprecedented commitment to making its productions accessible by underwriting the cost of initial run tickets, currently priced at $25, through 2031.

Signature has presented entire seasons of the work of Edward Albee, Lee Blessing, Horton Foote, Maria Irene Fornes, Athol Fugard, John Guare, David Henry Hwang, Bill Irwin, Adrienne Kennedy, Tony Kushner, Romulus Linney, Charles Mee, Arthur Miller, Sam Shepard, Paula Vogel, August Wilson, Lanford Wilson, and a season celebrating the historic Negro Ensemble Company. In addition to the Regional Theatre Tony Award®, Signature’s productions and its resident writers have been recognized with the Pulitzer Prize, Lucille Lortel Awards, Obie Awards, Drama Desk Awards, and AUDELCO Awards, among many other distinctions.

For more information, please visit www.signaturetheatre.org

 

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