Wild Swan Theater presents MARKETPLACE STORIES - Folktales from the Arab World Opens 4/4

Wild Swan Theater concludes its 37th season of high quality professional theater for Michigan's families with Marketplace Stories-Folktales from the Arab World. This wonderful collection of tales is set in a 19th century village marketplace that seems to spring to life straight out of the folk art paintings of renowned Lebanese American artist Helen Zughaib. Abu Ali, a wandering storyteller, arrives in the marketplace with his special story box, his sanduk, on his back. As the company of performers gather around him and his brightly painted box of stories, the tales seem to spin out of the box, onto the stage and even out into the audience.

Created especially for elementary school children and their families, the production is lively and fast paced as a band of seven actors including American sign language performers tumble and turn their way through these timeless stories and music, passed on from country to country and from one generation to the next. Directed by Wild Swan's Co-Artistic Directors, Hilary Cohen and Sandy Ryder, the play will be performed simultaneously in spoken English and American Sign Language with the the inclusion of some spoken Arabic and Arabic sign langugae. The cast includes Deaf actor Randa Hermez and hearing actors Jeremy Salvatori, Lauren Ezzo, Ethan Kankula, Natalie Rose Sevick, and ASL shadow performers Shelly Tocco and Marin Goldberg.

Marketplace Stories-Folktales from the Arab World will premiere in Ann Arbor at Towsley Auditorium, Washtenaw Community College on May 4, 5, and 6, 2017 and in Dearborn at the Arab American National Museum AANM on May 9, 10, and 13, 2017. All performances will be American Sign Language shadow interpreted for Deaf patrons by Synergy on Stage. After May 2017, the production will be available for touring to schools, museums, libraries, and theaters throughout Michigan and the Midwest.
We are pleased that the Buhr Foundation, Detroit Auto Dealers Association Charitable Foundation of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, Ford Motor Company Fund, Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, Michigan Humanities Council, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Endowment for the Arts have provided support for Marketplace Stories-Folktales from the Arab World. These funds allow us to make theater for children and families that expands learning across cultures. "One of our goals in creating this work is to celebrate the Arab American culture in Michigan because it is such a vibrant part of our state's heritage," said Hilary Cohen, Co-Artistic Director of Wild Swan Theater.

Wild Swan Theater is dedicated to producing professional theater for family audiences of the highest artistic quality and to making that theater accessible to low income, minority and disabled children through low ticket prices and innovative outreach programs. Backstage touch tours and audio-description are available for blind theater patrons. These services are free but must be reserved by calling (734) 995-0530. For more information about the company, its current season, touring programs and theater camps, visit the Wild Swan website at www.wildswantheater.org. For interviews, contact Hilary Cohen at (734) 995-0530.