NDEBELE FUNERAL to Play Special Engagement at NYC Fringe, 8/11

Smoke and Mirrors Collaborative, as part of the 17th annual New York International Fringe Festival, is pleased to announce the New York premiere production of Zoey Martinson's NDEBELE FUNERAL, directed by Awoye Timpo. NDEBELE FUNERAL will play a limited engagement as part of the New York International Fringe Festival, at Teatro Circulo (64 East 4th Street, NYC), which runs from August 9-25, 2013.

NDEBELE FUNERAL examines the world of modern South Africa through the aspirations and loss of three characters whose lives intersect in a Soweto shantytown. Daweti, a college graduate living with HIV, has exiled herself to a shack where she is building her own coffin using supplies provided by the government. She is interrupted by a visit from her best friend Thabo and by Jan, an Afrikaner with the impossible job of checking on the use of the government supplies. Poignant and darkly funny, NDEBELE FUNERAL features original music from Spirits Indigenous, and gumboot dancing from the mines in Jo'burg.

The production stars Jonathan David Martin (Bway: War Horse - Lincoln Center, Leonore Annenberg Foundation Fellowship for the Arts), Zoey Martinson (The Public, Shakespeare in the Park, TBS Sitcom: ARE WE THERE YET), and Yusef Miller (Classic Stage Company, Lila Acheson Wallace Playwright Fellow).

The production features choreography by Sduduzo Ka-Mbili and Cuereston Burge, original music by Spirits Indigenous, lighting design by Justin W. King and costume design by Lara de Bruijn. Kortney Barber is the sound designer and Marissa Maislen is the production stage manager.

NDEBELE FUNERAL plays the following performances only:

Sunday, August 11 at 8:45 p.m.

Friday, August 16 at 5:30 p.m.

Sunday, August18 at 4:00 p.m.

Friday, August 23 at 7:00 p.m.

Sunday, August 25 at 2:00 p.m. (talk-back after show)

Tickets are can be purchased through FringeNYC.org. For more information, visit www.smokemirrors.org .

BIOGRAPHIES

Sduduzo Ka-Mbili (Choreographer) was born in South Africa. He is the founder NYC's JUXTAPOWER South African Dance Company. Recently his production of Got Zulu! Premiered at Dance New Amsterdam Theater to amazing reviews. In South Africa he was a member of Phenduka Dance Theatre, where he received contemporary dance training from Alfred Hinkel (a world-renowned choreographer) from Cape Town., Sduduzo worked on Mbongeni Ngema's Sarafina (The Movie) starring Whoopi Goldberg, Poison Musical by David Kramer and Taliep Peterson, Soweto Dance Theatre (directed by late Jackie Semela) and Free Flight Dance Company, under the direction of Adele Blank and Christopher Kindo.

Zoey Martinson (Playwright) co Artistic Director of Smoke & Mirrors Collaborative. As a writer her play Ndebele Funeral has toured South Africa. She has written short plays for The Fire This Time Festival, and 48 Hours in Harlem, NYC. She is the writer and director of the Web Series A MINORITY REPORT. Skype Duet that she co-created and directed won the 100 Grand award at the HAU2 Theater in Berlin, Germany. As an actress she has performed at The Public Theater, Cleveland Playhouse, Repertory Theater of St. Louis, the Guthrie, Shakespeare On The Sound, Purchase Repertory Theatre, Signature Theatre, Penobscot Theatre, The Flea Theatre, Broom Street Theatre, Theatre in the Muz, South Africa, The National Theatre of Ghana, and the Diorama theatre in London. Film/TV: "Are We There Yet", "Restless City", "Law & Order." She has directed theatre in Ghana, South Africa, Berlin Germany, Los Angeles, New York City, Los Angeles and at NYU Grad Acting. BFA SUNY Purchase College, MFA NYU Grad Acting.

Awoye Timpo (Director) Credits include: The Vanished, Rhinoceros, Sonnets on Tap (Novisi), Chasing the Bird (Joyce Theater), In the Continuum (Juilliard), Tears of Anatolia (Columbia), My Sister In This House (NYU). Workshops/readings: Joe's Pub, Leviathan Lab, 52nd Street Project, Lark, Partial Comfort, Culture Project, Emerging Writers Group. Translations: The Bald Soprano and Rhinocerosby Ionesco; The Vanished, A Crying Friend, andStay With Me by Olivier Coyette. Artistic Director (Novisi Productions). Previous work: Associate Artistic Director (Shakespeare on the Sound), Van Lier Directing Fellow (Public Theater), Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, LCT Directors Lab. Film/TV: Harlem 125.