Rattestick & piece by piece to Bring 'AFGHANISTAN, ZIMBABWE' to Gym at Judson

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater and piece by piece productions have announced that Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, America, Kuwait, written and directed by Daniel Talbott, will begin performances Thursday, May 21 at 7pm at The Gym at Judson, 243 Thompson Street. The opening night is set for Tuesday, June 9 at 7pm. The production is scheduled to run through Saturday, June 27.

Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, America, Kuwait takes place in the not-so-distant future; two American soldiers wait at a worn-down outpost in the desert. Hot and bright. Hallucinatory hot. The world has been ravaged by war, its natural resources stripped, and it is no longer clear if there is an enemy left to fight or anything left to fight for. They wait. For orders, provisions, a sign of life. For rescue. Even for death.

The cast of Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, America, Kuwait is Kathryn Erbe ("Law & Order: Criminal Intent," Ode to Joy), Brian Miskell (The Undeniable Sound of Right Now, Hill Town Plays), Seth Numrich ("Turn," Golden Boy, War Horse, Slipping), Chris Stack (Your Mother's Copy of the Kama Sutra, Hill Town Plays, "One Life to Live"), Jimi Stanton, and Jelena Stupljanin (Circus Columbia).

Daniel Talbott is an actor, director, writer, and the artistic director of the Lucille Lortel and NYIT Award-winning Rising Phoenix Rep. His plays include Slipping (The Side Project, Rattlestick), Yosemite (Rattlestick), Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, America, Kuwait (Encore/Rattlestick), What Happened When (Rising Phoenix Rep/HERE), Someone Brought Me (Quince Productions), Mike and Seth (Quince, Encore, The Side Project), Extraordinary Things (RPR), Gray (Your Name Here), and F**king Immaculate (RPR). Recent directing work includes Thieves (Weathervane/RPR/Rattlestick), Gray (Your Name Here), A Fable (piece by piece/RPR/Rattlestick), Gin Baby (IRT), Scarcity (Rattlestick/Hill Town Plays), Mike and Seth (Encore), Slipping (Rattlestick), Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, America, Kuwait (Rattlestick/Encore), Lake Water (Neighborhood Productions), Eightythree Down (Hard Sparks), Much Ado About Nothing (Boomerang), Squealer (Lesser America), and The Umbrella Plays (the teacup company/FringeNYC - Overall Excellence Award: Outstanding Play). He is a graduate of Juilliard and of Solano College Theatre's ATP, teaches at Primary Stages/ESPA, and is a proud member of {Your Name Here}, Iron Crow Theatre, Lesser America, and the Actors Studio PDU Unit.

The set design for Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, America, Kuwait is by Raul Abrego; costume design is by Tristan Raines; lighting design is by Joel Moritz; sound design is by John Zalewski; projection design is by Dave Tennent; violence and dance choreography by UnkleDave's Fight-House.

Rattlestick Playwrights Theateris an award-winning company that has produced over sixty world premieres in the past nineteen seasons and was the recipient of the 2007 Ross Wetzsteon Memorial OBIE Award for developing new and innovative work. Previous plays include Two Boys in a Bed, Message to Michael, Carpool, Volunteer Man, A Trip to the Beach, Ascendancy, Stuck, Vick's Boy, The Messenger, Saved or Destroyed, Neil's Garden, My Special Friend, Faster, Bliss, St. Crispin's Day, Where We're Born, Five Flights, Boise, Finer Noble Gases, That Pretty Pretty; or, The Rape Play, God Hates The Irish: The Ballad of Armless Johnny, Miss Julie, Acts of Mercy: passion-play, Cagelove, It Goes Without Saying, Dark Matters, Stay, American Sligo, Rag and Bone, War, Geometry of Fire, The Amish Project, Killers and Other Family, Post No Bills, Blind, Little Doc, underneathmybed, There Are No More Big Secrets, The Hallway Trilogy, Carson McCullers Talks About Love, The Wood, Asuncion, Horsedreams, Yosemite, Massacre (Sing to Your Children), 3C, Through the Yellow Hour, A Summer Day, The Revisionist starring Vanessa Redgrave and Jesse Eisenberg, Buyer & Cellar (2013 Drama Desk and Outer Critic Circle Awards for Outstanding Solo Performance), Basilica, Charles Ives Take Me Home, One Night..., How to Make Friends and then Kill Them, The Correspondent, Ode to Joy, The Few, A FABLE, the Off-Broadway GLAAD Award-nominated hit The Last Sunday in June, Craig Wright's The Pavilion (Drama Desk nominee-Outstanding Play of 2005) and Lady (Drama Desk nominee-Outstanding Play of 2008), The Aliens by Annie Baker (2010 Obie Award winner for Best New American Play), as well as The Hilltown Plays (2014 OBIE Award).

piece by piece productions is a not for profit producing organization that was started in 1999 by Wendy vanden Heuvel. Productions have included: Medea directed by Deborah Warner with Fiona Shaw on Broadway (associate producer), The Tricky Part (2004 Obie award and two Drama Desk nominations including Outstanding Play) by Martin Moran and All The Rage, (Lucille Lortel Award, Outstanding Solo Show 2013) by Martin Moran produced with Rising Phoenix Repertory and The Barrow Group. Ode to the Man Who Kneels by Richard Maxwell, in association with the NY City Players,The Walworth Farce by Enda Walsh, Mabou Mines DollHouse, and Emma Rice's Brief Encounter, all in association with St Anne's Warehouse. My Name is Rachel Corrie in association with The Royal Court Theatre, Slipping in association with Rising Phoenix Repertory and Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. Elective Affinities with Zoe Caldwell by David Adjmi, co-produced with Rising Phoenix Repertory and Soho Rep, Lee Breuer's La Divina Caricatura in association with St Ann's Warehouse, La Mama ETC, Mabou Mines, and Dovetail Productions, and Hundred Days by The Bengsons and Kate E. Ryan co-produced with Z Space (TBA Outstanding New Musical 2014). piece by piecehas been a producer with co-creators Brian Mertes and Melissa Kievman on The Lake Lucille Chekhov Project since 2010 (Ivanov, Seagull). In 2014 piece by pieceand Rising Phoenix Repertory commissioned three playwrights, Charlotte Miller, Sarah Shaefer and Jessie Dickey, to write a play with development and a promised production; the first of the plays, Thieves by Charlotte Miller, was presented in LA at the Monroe Forum Theater at El Portal Theater, co-produced with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. Film: The Rest I Make Up: Documenting Irene by Michelle Memran (a documentary about the life and work of the playwright Maria Irene Fornes).

Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, America, Kuwait plays Tuesday and Thursday through Sunday at 7pm at The Gym at Judson, 243 Thompson Street. There are added performances on Monday, May 25 and Wednesday, May 27, both at 7pm. There will be no performance on Tuesday, May 26; Friday, May 29; and Sunday, June 13. There are special performance times on Sunday, May 24 (7:30pm) and Sunday, June 7 (5pm). Tickets are $45 and may be purchased by visiting www.ovationtix.com; by phoning 866 811 4111; or by going to the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater box office, 224 Waverly Place, Monday through Friday 11am-5pm. Student tickets are $10 and are available for advance sale at the Rattlestick box office with a valid student ID. For more information about Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, America, Kuwait, please visit www.rattlestick.org.

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