World Premiere of Shareen Mitchell's WHO ARE YOU to be Presented at Greenway Court Theatre

Greenway Arts Alliance, in association with Two Sisters Media, will present the world premiere of WHO ARE YOU by Shareen Mitchell (New York Theatre Festival's Code Name Triumph). Directed by Kate Jopson (Greenway Arts Alliance's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - six Ovation Award nominations) and performed by Shareen, WHO ARE YOU offers tales of transformation and community from the iconic Los Angeles Store, Shareen Vintage. Performances begin May 12 and run to June 19, 2022, with the official press opening on Friday, May 13 at the Greenway Court Theatre (544 N. Fairfax Avenue) in Los Angeles. For tickets and information visit GreenwayCourtTheatre.org.

In WHO ARE YOU, which she describes as "a memory play," Shareen offers a window into a transformative period of her life - which by then had encompassed successful careers in the acting and fashion realms, including stints at Vogue and Elite Models - and the ripple effect that her change of direction had on the women who came through the doors of Shareen Vintage. She founded the one-of-a-kind Los Angeles store in 2004, surrendering the art of acting for the art of real life.

More than a store, Shareen Vintage was an experience, a unique haven for cool girls who celebrated their original style and were tastemakers in their own right. They came for an answer to the eternal question - "What am I going to wear?" As Shareen fashioned vintage clothing into new creations for them, talk often turned to another eternal question: "Who are you?" Bonds were forged and a sense of community grew, as chronicled by the likes of The New York Times, Vogue, Los Angeles Magazine, Racked, Lucky Magazine and others. The stories Shareen shares in WHO ARE YOU are touching, funny, hopeful and inspiring - intensely personal yet universal.

"We're thrilled to have a member of our Greenway Arts Alliance family return to Los Angeles and to perform on our stage. We know that Shareen Mitchell will inspire all of our communities - our Melrose Trading Post vendors, Greenway Institute for the Arts students, and our Greenway Court Theatre artists - with her truly inspiring story of courage and hope, said Whitney Weston, Greenway Arts Alliance Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director.

Pierson Blaetz, Greenway Arts Alliance Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director said, "Shareen's story challenges her audience to view each day as a creative act. Any entrepreneur interested in navigating obstacles with an artist's passion will connect to her journey." He added, "We're also excited to have the incredibly talented director Kate Jopson return to the Greenway stage."

"WHO ARE YOU speaks to so much that we all go through," said playwright/actor Shareen Mitchell. "I suppose that one could say that I am most fascinated by two things, the power of truth to align a human being to their path, and the power of love to assist us in those moments when we simply cannot do it alone. Life does ask that we bend ourselves to it with fluidity and confidence that something bigger is perhaps occurring, something we may not yet be able to see," she observes. "The silence and stillness that was 2020 invited inspiration and I quietly built this play and wrote the songs and the poetry that inhabit this work."

Shareen Mitchell has been an actress working in theatre, film, and television. Most recently, Shareen wrote and starred in a one woman play called Code Name Triumph, which she performed at The New York Theater Festival Fall/Winter 2021. Shareen has also had a remarkable career in fashion. After working in the fashion departments at Mademoiselle and Vogue, she went on to become the national scout for Elite Models and the co-director of Elite Paris. In 2004, she founded Shareen Vintage, a one-of-a-kind store in Los Angeles' garment district. As Shareen took vintage dresses and transformed them, she underwent a metamorphosis of her own. These stories provide the inspiration for her first full-length play, WHO ARE YOU.

Kate Jopson is a theatre, film, and voice-over director and producer based in Los Angeles. She specializes in experienced-based productions that explore the gaps and silences in society and has created work in spaces across Los Angeles including UNESCO World Heritage Sites, horse ranches, and beaches. Her reimagined production of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time at Greenway Court Theatre received six Ovation Award nominations. Other theatre credits include: Hole in the Sky (Circle X Theatre Co.); Madhatter's Gin & Tea Party (Fever Up Productions); Candide (Santa Cruz Shakespeare); Fefu & Her Friends at Hollyhock House (Circle X Theatre/J.U.S.T Toys Productions, LA); 1984 (Greenway Court Theatre); Twelfth Night(Coeurage Theatre Co. LA); Second Skin (The West/The Flagship Ensemble); A Willow Grows Aslant (La Jolla Playhouse-Without Walls Fest.) Currently, she's directing a documentary about the impact of climate change on her rural Northern California hometown. Her genre-bending web series, The Web Opera, composed by Michael Roth, has been accepted to over 30 film festivals. She is the English-language dubbing director for projects such as Elite (Netflix), On The Spectrum (HBO max) and Valley of Tears (HBO Max). Kate has a B.A in Anthropology from UC Berkeley and an M.F.A. in Directing from UC San Diego.

In addition to Jopson, the creative team for WHO ARE YOU features set design by Sibyl Wickershelmer, lighting design by Lily Bartenstein, sound design by Anna Hibbert and stage management by Amanda Eno.

The play's premiere at the Greenway Court Theatre is especially fitting since Shareen first ventured into vintage fashion as a vendor at the Melrose Trading Post which is a program of the Greenway Arts Alliance.

WHO ARE YOU will play at Greenway Court Theatre, 544 North Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90036 from May 12 - June 19, 2022; with the official press opening on Friday, May 13 at 8:00 p.m. A preview performance is scheduled on Thursday, May 12 at 8:00 p.m. The regular performance schedule is Friday - Saturday at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday at 7:00 p.m. Regular ticket prices are $30 with general admission seating. Tickets are available online at GreenwayCourtTheatre.org. For more information call 323-673-0544 or visit GreenwayCourtTheatre.org. Free parking is available in the Fairfax High School parking lot on Fairfax and Clinton, directly adjacent to the theatre.

Greenway Arts Alliance (GAA) was Co-Founded in 1997 by artists-activists Whitney Weston and Pierson Blaetz, both of whom serve as Co-Artistic Directors for the organization. The organization is a community-based nonprofit, whose mission is to unite communities through its art (Greenway Court Theatre), education (Greenway Institute for the Arts) and enterprise (Melrose Trading Post) programs. GAA is based on the campus of Fairfax High School. Greenway Institute for the Arts (GIA) fosters education through creativity by offering both in-school and after-school multidisciplinary arts programs. Classes and workshops are offered at no cost to Fairfax High School students. Presented with opportunities to engage with professional artists, young people are able to discover their individual voices and passions. Through Greenway's unique partnership with Fairfax High, students are exposed to a myriad of opportunities for creative collaboration through Greenway Court Theatre and at the Melrose Trading Post.

Greenway Court Theatre was initially built by Fairfax High School students in 1939 as a class project and used as a Social Hall by both students and faculty. It sat virtually unused for many years until it was finally renovated into a professional 99-seat theatre by Greenway Arts Alliance in 2000, to benefit both the school and the surrounding community. Greenway Court Theatre has a rich history of presenting and producing diverse bodies of work. Greenway has opened its door to many main-stage productions, weekly open mic poetry, festivals and world premieres that have moved to larger venues and toured across the country. Mohammed Ojarigi serves as Producing Director of the Greenway Court Theatre.

Photo credit: Andrew Brucker

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