Metropolitan Playhouse and Next Stage Studio Present Linda Kuriloff's Solo Performance LINDA MEANS TO WAIT

Race and Reckonings on a journey from South Africa to South Side to South Bronx, January 10 - 13, 2019

Metropolitan Playhouse and Next Stage Studio are proud to present Linda Kuriloff's solo-performance LINDA MEANS TO WAIT, an immigrant's journey from South Africa to the South Side int he 1980's, to play January 10 - 13, 2019 at Metropolitan's home space: 220 E 4th Street, New York, NY 10009.

Tickets: www.metropolitanplayhouse.org/tickets or 800 838 3006.,All tickets: $20

Linda Kuriloff and Michelle Obama took the same bus to the same high school from Chicago's South Side and likewise tell stories that belie the popular images of their beloved city. While the former First Lady offers a look into one black family's life in her recent book "Becoming", LINDA MEANS TO WAIT looks at an immigrant family's journey through the same place during the same era.

Linda Sithole, a South African-American high school leadership skills trainer working in the Bronx, attempts one morning to conduct a conflict resolution activity with her NYC public school students, only to find her Special Ed high schoolers intent on hearing her own story of conflict and transcendence. Taking the chance that sharing personal experience might teach more than a planned exercise, she portrays 20 different childhood characters to reveal her family's cultural traditions, Chicago's racial divide, and the intersections they all share as urban dwellers. Through song, dance, laughter, and tears, teacher and students discover one another, their neighbors, and a new vision of community responsibility.

Ms. Kuriloff, a graduate of the Yale School of Drama, has worked in such theatres as the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville, New York Shakespeare Festival, New Victory Theatre, Crossroads, Theatre for a New Audience, Ubu Repertory, Kennedy Center, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Long Wharf, the Yale Repertory, and the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center. Her film credits include "Down to Earth" with Chris Rock, "Everyone Says I Love You" written and directed by Woody Allen, and "Angie" directed by Martha Coolidge. The original director, Geoffrey Owens, a 1983 Yale graduate, returns to direct. Mr. Owens' career was recently revived by viral fame gained as the Cosby Show guy working at Trader Joe's.
Ms. Kuriloff took a memorable turn at Metropolitan as Ruby Jackson in Abram Hill's On Strivers Row and will be appearing as Lulubelle Alexander in this spring's production of State of the Union.

METROPOLITAN PLAYHOUSE explores America's theatrical heritage through forgotten plays of the past and new plays of American historical and cultural moment. Now in its 26th season, the theater received a 2011 OBIE Grant from The Village Voice for its ongoing productions that illuminate who we are by revealing where we have come from. Called an "indispensable East Village institution" by nytheatre.com and "invaluable" by Back Stage, Metropolitan has earned accolades from The New York Times, The Village Voice, and The New Yorker. Other awards include Outstanding Performing Arts Group from the Victorian Society New York, and 18 nominations for NYIT Awards since 2010, with winners Lenore Wolf for short script, Sidney Fortner for costumes, and Frank Anderson for lead actor. Recent productions include SHADOW OF HEROES; YOU AND I; THE JEWISH KING LEAR; THE CLIMBERS; INDIANS; ON STRIVERS ROW; LEAH, THE FORSAKEN; END OF SUMMER; O'NEILL (Unexpected); WALK HARD; INJUNCTION GRANTED; THE
MAN OF THE HOUR; ICEBOUND; WITHIN THE LAW; THE HERO; BOTH YOUR HOUSES; UNCLE TOM'S CABIN; and DODSWORTH; as well as the Alphabet City and East Village Chronicles series, the Living Literature Festival, Music at Metropolitan, and regular presentations of dance: Metropolitan in Motion.