MY MIND IS LIKE AN OPEN MEADOW to Make NY Premiere at 59E59 Theaters, 8/1

59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) welcomes Hand2Mouth Theatre with the New York premiere of MY MIND IS LIKE AN OPEN MEADOW, written by Erin Leddy and directed by Jonathan Walters. MY MIND IS LIKE AN OPEN MEADOW begins performances on Wednesday, August 1 for a limited engagement through Sunday, August 19.  Press opening is Tuesday, August 7 at 7:30 PM.  The performance schedule is Tuesday – Thursday at 7:30 PM; Friday and Saturday at 8:30 PM; and Sunday at 3:30 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Tickets are $25 ($17.50 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go towww.59e59.org.

In 2001, Hand2Mouth ensemble member Erin Leddy lived with her grandmother for a year and recorded her memoirs. From a strange control station operated by her granddaughter, the audio of the elderly actress crackles to life.  MY MIND IS LIKE AN OPEN MEADOW is a sonic journey into the depths of memory between two generations of theater performers.

The Portland, Oregon based Hand2Mouth appeared in New York in 2009 with Undine at the Ontological Incubator and in 2010 with Everyone Who Looks Like You at La MaMa. Erin Leddy created MY MIND IS LIKE AN OPEN MEADOW at a residency at Yaddo at Saratoga Springs. It originally premiered at the NW New Works Festival in Seattle in 2010. It subsequently opened in Portland in 2011, winning 5 Portland “Drammy Awards” including Outstanding Production of 2010-11.

The cast features Erin Leddy and Sarah Braveman.

The design team includes Christopher Kuhl (set and lighting design), Anna Cohen (costume design), and Casi Pacilio (sound design). The choreographer is Jane Paik. Original music composed by Ash Black Bufflo (Knitting Factory Records).

For the last 9 years Erin Leddy (creator/writer/performer) has been a Company Member of Hand2Mouth Theatre, creating, performing and touring new theater. Through training in and outside of the company, she has learned to make compelling original performance in a variety of styles and lead the company’s actor training.  Erin has played a key role in the creation of 15 original H2M productions. Erin has toured the work she created with Hand2Mouth to contemporary performance centers and colleges and arts festivals across the Northwest, to Vancouver BC, San Francisco, New York City, Eastern Europe and Mexico. Erin attended Emerson College in Boston, where she graduated with a degree in Radio. My Mind Is Like An Open Meadow is her first solo piece.

Sarah Braveman (actor) was born in 1917 in Boston, MA.  Sarah worked as an actress in Boston, Manhattan, and upstate New York from the 1930’s until the 1990’s. She worked with many companies and at many houses including the Poet’s Theatre and The New World Theatre. Sarah has taught yoga and meditation for over 40 years where she resides now in Saratoga Springs, NY.

Jonathan Walters (director) founded Hand2Mouth Theatre in 2000 and functions as Artistic Director. Jonathan has directed the bulk of Hand2Mouth shows, and works closely with guest writers and the ensemble to develop new work. Jonathan worked in Poland in 1999 with street theatre Biuro Podrozy and Teatr Usta Usta, and has collaborated, trained and worked with many American physical theatres, including Sojourn Theatre, The Carpetbag Brigade and Elevator Repair Service. He has won multiple residencies at Caldera Arts, and been awarded a fellowship by the Oregon System of Higher Education to engage in theatre work abroad. As a director Jonathan has attended the Unidram Festival in Potsdam, Germany, the Reminstincje Festival in Krakow, Poland, the ATHE Conference in New York City, and the PuppetLove! Festival in San Francisco.  His theatre work has been reviewed in Just Out, Willamette Week, The Oregonian, the Portland Tribune and the Portland Mercury. Jonathan is a 2005-07 recipient of a Career Development Program for Directors Fellowship awarded and administered by Theatre Communications Group and the National Endowment for the Arts.