BUTOH MEDEA to Encore at United Solo 2015

Using the Japanese dance form Butoh and an adapted text, Yokko brings the spirit of Medea alive. This fusion of Eastern dance and Western drama invites the audience inside of Medea's dark and desperate struggle. Trapped in the underworld, she is forever cursed to relive her tragic journey through love, hate, and ultimate loss.

BUTOH MEDEA received four awards at United Solo 2014: Best One-Woman Show, Best Lighting Design, Best Costume Design and Best Choreography. It was selected to perform at United Solo Europe in Warsaw, Poland in June where it played to a sold out audience and received much acclaim. In August, the show went to Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where again it played to sold out houses and was nominated for The Asian Arts Award 2015. BUTOH MEDEA was invited to open the United Solo Festival in NYC this year, where it has so far played to two sold-out houses and received an unprecedented second encore!

United Solo, the world's largest solo theatre festival, now in its 6th season, annually presents over 150 productions from 6 different continents. BUTOH MEDEA will encore at The Studio Theatre, 410 West 42nd Street, New York City. Tickets for $19.25 (includes a $1.25 theatre restoration charge) are available at the Theatre Row Box Office and online through Telecharge at www.telecharge.com or call 212-239-6200. For more about the show, visit www.butohmedea.com.

Writer: Sean Michael Welch. Director: Brian Rhinehart. Co-Choreographer: Jordan Rosin. Costume Design: Deepsikha Chatterjee. Lighting Design: Derek Van Heel. Assistant Director: Cihangir Duman.

Brian Rhinehart (Director) is an actor, director, professor and Fulbright scholar. An expert in devised theatre and collaborative playmaking, he has worked as a freelance theatre director in Florida and New York for the last seventeen years. He holds an M.F.A. in Directing from The Actors Studio Drama School, and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Florida. He is a Member of AEA and SDC.

Sean Michael Welch (Writer, Adapter) was awarded the 1999 Kennedy Center / American College Theatre Festival John Cauble Short Play Award for Earl the Vampire, and won the 2000 KC/ACTF Region III Ten-Minute Play Competition for Charleston's Finger. His novel 1897: Aliens! Vampires! Zombies! is released in October 2015.

Yokko (Performer, Choreographer and writer) is an actress, a movement and Butoh artist, and a solo-performer from Japan. She has acted in, devised and choreographed a variety of local and international shows and films, having won several awards including Best One-Woman show and Best Choreography for BUTOH MEDEA. She debuted at United Solo in 2013 with her first one-woman show BALDY, which had also been featured on both coasts and nominated for an award. She is a member of The Ume Group, The Void Theatre Company as well as the artistic director of Ren Gyo Soh in NYC. She holds a B.A. in Theatre (UAlbany) and an MFA in Acting (Actors Studio). www.yokko-online.com