terraNOVA Collective to Honor Nilaja Sun at PS 122, 5/21

terraNOVA Collective will honor Nilaja Sun as the 2010 soloNOVA Artist of the Year on May 21 at 8pm in the Downstairs Theater at Performance Space 122 as part of the 7th Annual soloNOVA Arts Festival. Join us as we celebrate the career of Nilaja Sun as a performer and arts educator, featuring performances by students, clips from her Obie Award winning solo play, No Child... food and drink, and special surprises. Tickets to this extra special event are $30 and may be purchased in advance at www.ps122.org.

Nilaja Sun says "I am beyond thrilled to be receiving this honor from the terraNOVA Collective, a group whose mission of highlighting the impact of solo work has always been so very close to my life's work."

For the seventh consecutive season, terraNOVA Collective presents its annual celebration of solo performers with the soloNOVA Arts Festival. The soloNOVA Arts Festival is the premier festival for solo performers in New York City which celebrates innovative individuals who push the boundaries of what it means to be an artist, aims to redefine the solo form and uniquely invigorates the audience through the time-honored tradition of storytelling. This year, eight performers will round out the mainstage offerings with comedy, dance theatre, storytelling, music, multi-character thrillers, musical comedies, bilingual cabaret, animation, multimedia, and puppetry.

The 7th Annual soloNOVA Arts Festival will run May 5-22 at Performance Space 122 in the Downstairs Theater (150 1st Ave at 9th Street). Tickets ($20 - general admission, $15 - students/seniors) and festival passes ($55 - $100) are available online at www.ps122.org or by calling 212-352-3101.

Nilaja Sun is the solo writer and performer of the Off-Broadway smash No Child..., which concluded its run at the Barrow Street Theatre in June 2007. For her creation and performance of No Child..., Nilaja won 19 awards including an Obie, 2 Outer Critic Circle Awards, 2 NAACP Theatre awards and a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play. Over the 2007-2008 season Nilaja toured No Child...to several regional theatres including the Lookingglass Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, American Repertory Theatre, Center Theatre Group, and Berkeley Repertory Theatre. A native of the Lower East Side, she has worked as a teaching artist in NYC since 1998. Nilaja will be performing "No Child..." at Long Wharf and Actor's Theatre of Phoenix in 2010.

BINDING
Conceived & Performed by Jesse Zaritt
Directed by Basmat Hazan
Produced by Theatre C
Violent. Tender. Erotic. Submissive. Abandoned. The worlds of pop music, myth and video collide in Jesse Zaritt's movement-based quest for love, connection and the self.
Wed May 5 @ 9pm, Fri May 7 @ 9pm, Sat May 8 @ 4pm, Wed May 12 @ 9pm, & Sat May 15 @ 9pm

MONSTER
Written by Daniel MacIvor
Directed by Steve Cook
Performed by Avery Pearson
Daniel MacIvor's celebrated chiller returns to the New York stage with Avery Pearson stepping into the skin of 16 characters. Peeling back psychological layers to reveal the heart of an individual experience, MONSTER dissects the true nature of evil.
Thu May 6 @ 9pm, Sat May 8 @ 9pm, Mon May 10 @ 9pm, Sat May 15 @ 4pm, & Tue May 18 @ 9pm

PUPPY LOVE: A STRIPPER'S TAIL
Written & Performed by Erin Markey
Attempting to enter the "real world," new college graduate Bridget is rejected from employment at Chuck E. Cheese and hired as a stripper at DejaVu in Ypsilanti, MI. Everything seems trashy, unfair and exciting until she falls for a co-stripper named Sky. The irreverent and poetically charged Bridget learns to sell her body while buying what her irresistibly midwestern competitors have to offer. And there's pole dancing.
Thu May 13 @ 9pm, Sun May 16 @ 4pm, Mon May 17 @ 9pm, Wed May 19 @ 9pm, & Sat May 22 @ 9pm

REMISSION
Written & Directed by Kirk Wood Bromley
Performed by Daniel Berkey
For 45 years, Daniel Berkey suffered the ravages of schizophrenia with attendant addictions to sex, heroin and alcohol. At the age of 51, he experienced complete remission. This is his story.
Thu May 6 @ 7pm, Sat May 8 @ 7pm, Mon May 10 @ 7pm, Sat May 15 @ 2pm, & Tue May 18 @ 7pm

ROOTLESS: La No Nostalgia
Written & Performed by Karina Casiano
Sexy. Bold. Bilingual. Take a journey through the emotional life of migrants with songs ranging from tango to rock. Unraveling the psychological toll of displacement, Casiano ferociously and personally criticizes the role of newcomers and probes their responsibility toward their own countries.
Tue May 11 @ 7pm, Fri May 14 @ 7pm, Sun May 16 @ 7pm, Thu May 20 @ 7pm, & Sat May 22 @ 2pm

THE ADVENTURES OF ALVIN SPUTNIK: DEEP SEA EXPLORER
Created and Performed by Tim Watts
Alvin Sputnik is Earth's last hope. He must venture to the bottom of the ocean to find his wife's lost soul and save humanity.
Thu May 13 @ 7pm, Sun May 16 @ 2pm, Mon May 17 @ 7pm, Wed May 19 @ 7pm, & Sat May 22 @ 7pm

THE W. KAMAU BELL CURVE: ENDING RACISM IN ABOUT AN HOUR
Written & Performed by W. Kamau Bell
Directed by Paul Stein
Black President or not, racism continues to make a comeback. And W. Kamau Bell is here to make (non)sense of it all. Irreverent and thoughtful, The W. Kamau Bell Curve skewers pop culture, news pundits and the man himself, Barack Obama. According to Comedy Central, Kamau told the very first Obama joke way back in 2005
Tue May 11 @ 9pm, Fri May 14 @ 9pm, Sun May 16 @ 9pm, Thu May 20 @ 9pm, & Sat May 22 @ 4pm

WANTED
Written & Performed by Shontina Vernon
Directed by Kamilah Forbes
Arrested and locked up for writing hot checks, a ten-year-old Texan girl loses her way in a reality where even the adults themselves are lost. Shontina Vernon merges childhood stories with searing songs of fear and juvenile justice.
Wed May 5 @ 7pm, Fri May 7 @ 7pm, Sat May 8 @ 2pm, Wed May 12 @ 7pm, & Sat May 15 @ 7pm

TERRANOVA COLLECTIVE is a vibrant playground for artists devoted to innovative new and original theatrical works. Its multi-layered development process, solo arts festivals, and productions serve to nurture and liberate our community at large.

"...brings back the art of storytelling" Backstage

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For more information, visit www.terranovacollective.org