Food-Themed 'Milk n Honey' Dines at 3LD Center, Begins 10/21

LightBox and The Food Theater Project present the world premiere of Milk 'n' Honey - a new play about food and why we eat what we eat - with previews to begin October 21, prior to its official press opening October 28 at 3LD Art and Technology Center (80 Greenwich Street at Rector Street) in Lower Manhattan. Ellen Beckerman directs the play, which was collaboratively written by Madeleine George, Bray Poor, C. Andrew Bauer, Shawn Fagan, and Ms. Beckerman, based on their interviews with a wide range of people about food and their relationship to it.

"Part fiction, part documentary, and based in part on interviews conducted with people whose backgrounds are as diverse as farmers, food scholars, hunters, waiters, ad men, immigrant workers, diabetics, and dumpster divers (known as "freegans"), Milk 'n' Honey is a large-scale multi-media play that looks at food and appetite in the 21st century:  the play's interweaving storylines follow a couple whose marriage is at stake as they differ about what food to put on the table, a grocery store clerk who forages through dumpsters, immigrant farm workers, a family that struggles with diabetes, a flavor chemist who attempts to capture the flavor of light," explain press notes, "The themes of food and consumption will be underscored in Milk 'n' Honey as an actor consumes an entire meal - from soup to nuts, from 'curtain up' to 'lights out' - on stage as part of every performance of the play."

Following each performance of Milk 'n' Honey, the 3LD space transforms into the After-Show Cafe, where audience members can eat free locally made food and participate in discussions, cooking demos, book signings and other activities led by LightBox partners, including Slow Food, Just Food, FoodChange, the Small Planet Institute, World Hunger Year, Good Food (arts engine) and the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The After-Show Cafe will be run by the Lower East Side Girls Club, with coffee donated by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters.

The six-member cast of Milk 'n' Honey includes Aysan Celik and Shawn Fagan; completing the ensemble are Brian D. Coats, Vaneik Echeverria, Signe V. Harriday, and Adam Rihacek.

The production of Milk 'n' Honey features scenic design by Narelle Sissons; sound design by Bray Poor; lighting design by Justin Townsend; costume design by Meghan Healey; video design by Nicole Betancourt and C. Andrew Bauer.

Milk 'n' Honey is funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Balm Foundation, Ben &Jerry's Foundation, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Katherine Dalglish Foundation, Mental Insight Foundation, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Organic Valley, Puffin Foundation, The September 11th Fund, and individual donors.

LightBox is a New York-based, nonprofit theater company that creates kinetic, brave and beautiful new performances that speak to issues of our time. Led by artistic director Ellen Beckerman (NEA grantee, Drama League Fellow), the company has created the LightBox Approach, a cross-cultural actor training method that draws on movement techniques including Butoh, Suzuki, Viewpoints, and Commedia delle'Arte.

Performances of Milk 'n' Honey run October 21-November 18 at 3LD Art and Technology Center (80 Greenwich at Rector Street); Mondays, Wednesdays-Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 3:00pm. Tickets are $20, call 212-388-7371.  For more information, visit www.LightBoxTheatre.org.

Photo by Beth Block: Vaneik Escheverria (left) and Signe Harriday (right)

 

To post a comment, you must register and login.