International Voices Project Reading Held At The Alliance Theatre 5/27

On Friday, May 7th, Premiere Theatre and Performance launched its inaugural International Voices Project with a staged reading of The Dakato Dream, by famed Catalan playwright, Jordí Galcerán and directed by the Goodman Theatre's Henry Godinez. As the Sun-Times Misha Davenport wrote in his coverage of the performance, "If all the world is indeed a stage, it stands to reason that the stage should reflect all of the world." The event at the Instituto Cervantes reflected that with nearly 100 people in attendance to see this never-before heard translation; participate in an informative talk back led by the Chair of Columbia College's Theatre Department, John Green; and enjoy a conversation with Godinez, his cast and the scripts U.S. translator, DJ Sanders.

Davenport's article talks about the project's "two goals: to expand a potential audience by hosting the readings in non-theater spaces and find theater companies willing to mount full productions of these works." On May 27th, the International Voices Project continues this mission with its second of five American premiere readings of international work. This time the piece is a French play, written by a Romanian playwright and directed by an American-Trap Door's resident director, Max Truax.

Truax, whose current production, The Ghost Sonata (Oracle Theater), is Jeff recommended, directs What Shall We Do With the Cello? by playwright Matei Visniec and translated by Mioara Tarzioru. This event will feature John Gray, Lyndsay Kane, Noah Durham and Jack Lewis.

Matie Visniec is a playwright, poet and journalist, born in Romania, and now settled in Paris, working as a journalist for Radio France Internationale. In Romania, he studied history and philosophy before starting to write for the theatre in 1977. During the following ten years, he wrote some 20 plays, all of which were banned by the Romanian censors. In 1987, he was invited to France by a literary foundation, and he asked for political asylum. Since then, he has been writing mostly in French, and has received French citizenship. After the fall of communism in Romania in 1989, Visniec became one of the most performed playwrights in Romania, with more then 30 plays performed in Bucharest and other cities. Visniec's work was last seen in Chicago on the stages of Trap Door in 2009 when famed Romanian director Radu Alexander Nica directed Horses at the Window to rave reviews from Time Out Chicago and the Chicago Reader, among others.

What Shall We Do With The Cello? will be performed Thursday, May 27, 2010 at 7:30PM at The Alliance Française de Chicago, 810 N. Dearborn Street, Chicago. The Alliance is accessible by the Red Line (Chicago stop) and located near convenient parking. http://www.af-chicago.org/app/homepage.asp

Curated by Patrizia Acerra and Brian LaDuca, the International Voices Project is the first event of its kind in the City of Chicago. The mission of PTAP is to support the development and production of new work. The mission of the International Voices Project is to showcase the vibrant work of International Artists, and to foster relationships for future ChicaGo Productions.

All International Voices Project performances are free and open to the public. Reservations can be made at 773.250.7055. Further information is available on the website: www.ptapchicago.org/ivp.