Silvia Cassini's A MAN LIKE YOU to Open in July at IATI Theater

Inspired by a real Somali terrorist event, RED Soil Productions presents A Man Like You, a new play direct from Kenya by Kenyan-born playwright Silvia Cassini about who has the moral right to truth. Yudelka Heyer directs a cast of 4, including Jenny Boote, Andrew Clarke, Jeffrey Marc, and Matthew Stannah. Fifteen performances will be staged from July 13-31, 2016 at IATI Theater, 64 East 4th Street, in New York City's East Village.

A Man Like You is a conversation between a British hostage, Patrick North, and his Somali captor Abdi, set in a windowless concrete room in Somalia. Elizabeth, North's wife provides a counter-point to the story, from the Norths' house in Nairobi. A Man Like You illustrates the world views of two men who come from different circumstances and hold completely different philosophies, which they discuss over the course of North's captivity of 102 days. They debate good and evil, power and control, who is a terrorist and who is not, and what is God, and in so doing they challenge our own deeply-held views. In a heroic struggle, Abdi and North rarely agree their basic humanity connects them. Can they come to realize they are more alike than they initially believe?

?A Man Like You is inspired by the events of 21st September 2013, when Somali men from the terrorist group Al Shabaab opened fire on shoppers at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, killing at least 67. Following the tragic attack, the perpetrators were often referred to as 'animals' and 'inhuman', and indeed it was hard to feel they were anything different when the CCTV footage of them blowing civilians away in cold blood was released. ? ?However, the same footage also showed them washing their feet and praying in the aisles of Nakumatt supermarket where most of the victims died. This served as a powerful reminder that although their actions are repulsive, those terrorists and hundreds others like them all over the world have a rationale for their actions, with which the world basically refuses to engage. We do not really want to look inside the mind of a terrorist and properly understand what motivates him; it may be uncomfortable, painful and worse, we may discover that in some ways we even identify with their truth.

Performances for A Man Like You are Wednesdays-Saturdays at 8pm & Sundays at 3pm.

Tickets are $30 (plus fees) and can be purchased by visiting BrownPaperTickets.com or by calling 800-838--3006. Available tickets will also be sold at the door one hour before the performance.

The runtime is approximately 100 minutes with no intermission.

Silvia Cassini (playwright) Born and raised in Kenya and educated at Oxford University, Silvia's wrote "A Man Like You" which had its first production in Nairobi in March 2016 in conjunction with The Theatre Company, for which she is an Associate Director. Her passion for the theatre started early. While still in school she played Helena in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', Lady Macbeth in 'Macbeth', and Yerma in Federico Garcia Lorca's 'Yerma'. She continued acting at Oxford University where she played Margherita in Dario Fo's 'Can't Pay, Won't Pay', Mrs. Alving in Ibsen's 'Ghosts' and Helena in Osborne's 'Look Back in Anger.' She also had her first directing experience with 'The Crucible' by Arthur Miller. Back in Nairobi Silvia focused on set design creating sets for 'Dracula Spectacula', 'Peter Pan', 'The Wizard of Oz', 'The Gruffalo' and 'Pinocchio' before returning to directing with 'The Parents' Revue,' a comedy she co-wrote. 'Baldilocks and the Three Hairs' in which she played Baldilocks followed, and she is currently directing 'The Return of The Revue - The Exodus' which she has again co-written.

Yudelka Heyer (director) is a founder and artistic director of Red Soil Productions. She is an actor, director, and writer born and raised in the Dominican Republic. Yudelka won Best Director of a Play at the 2014 Strawberry Theatre Festival in 2014 for Good Morning by Matthew Stannah. She was nominated for Best Director at the 2011 Strawberry Theatre Festival, and in 2011, she won three Outstanding Director awards at the Theatre Company LC Productions. Yudelka studied at New World School of the Arts, Miami Dade Community College, and Prometeo Theater in Miami. She graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. Her credits span several theatre companies in New York, including Manhattan Theater Source, Stragenious Theater Festival, and Aching Dogs, among others. As an actor Yudelka was last seen in her written play Anna's Hope, and her short film "Yellow." She has directed theatre, films and music videos for RED Soil Productions.

A Man Like You is presented by RED Soil Productions. Playwright: Silvia Cassini; Director: Yudelka Heyer; Original Music: Lev Choubine; Lighting Designer: Michael O'Connor; Costumer Designer: Steven Daniels; Set Designer: Christopher Wharton; Stage Manager: Annie Rosenberg; Public Relations: Paul Siebold/Off Off PR.

RED Soil Productions is an African/Caribbean inspired theatre/film company founded by Matthew Stannah (Nairobi, Kenya) and Yudelka Heyer (Dominican Republic). This company's mission is to showcase new, innovative work that brings about new ways to share vivid stories, in which pain and struggle is brought to life in the form of art. Their goal is to shed light on stories that are not often told, to inspire their audiences and shake them with the vulnerability and truth of each character that is brought to life on the stage/film. Awakening American culture with stories never heard before, stories one could never dream of hearing, stories using raw, real life material uncovered after so many years. RED Soil Productions delves deep into a sacred, misunderstood world that the theatre/film-goer never knew existed. The companies hope is to bring these untouched, unrefined stories of love, heartbreak, bravery, and soul from the writer's pen to the raw sancrite world we call art.