Cast Set for BETWEEN TWO KNEES at The Perelman Performing Arts Center

The Perelman Performing Arts Center has revealed the cast for the NY premiere of The 1491’s comedy Between Two Knees, directed by Eric Ting, at the new performing arts center at the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan.  Between Two Knees is an Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Yale Repertory Theatre production.

The company will feature Rachel Crowl, Derek Garza, Justin Gauthier, Shyla Lefner, Wotko Long, James Ryen, Shaun Taylor-Corbett, Sheila Tousey. The understudy company includes Irma-Estel LaGuerre, Jessica Ranville, John Scott-Richardson, Kholan Studi, Ryan Anthony Williams.

Between Two Knees will begin performances on Saturday, February 3 with the official opening night on Tuesday, February 13.  This is a limited engagement through Saturday, February 24, 2024.

Between Two Knees is an outrageously funny ride through American history by the acclaimed intertribal sketch comedy troupe The 1491s (Reservation Dogs and Rutherford Falls). 

Coming to PAC NYC following runs at Oregon Shakespeare Festival - where it was commissioned and premiered, Yale Repertory Theatre, McCarter Theater and Seattle Rep, this play centers on one family’s story of love, loss, and resilience spanning the 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee, forced re-education at Indian boarding schools, World War II, the Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam and the American Indian Movement occupation of Wounded Knee in 1973. 

Directed by Obie Award winner Eric Ting and infused with the 1491s’ boldly uninhibited comedy, this New York City premiere takes a hard look at the effects of systemic oppression long after our textbooks typically stop teaching Native history.   Also, it’s funny.

The creative team includes Ty Defoe (Choreographer), Regina García (Scenic Design), Lux Haac (Costume Design), Elizabeth Harper (Lighting Design), Jake Rodriguez (Sound Design), Shawn Duan (Projection Design), Younghawk Bautista (Wig & Hair Design), Rod Kinter (Fight Director), Julie Felise Dubiner (Dramaturg), Tanis Parenteau & Stephanie Yankwitt, CSA tbd casting co. (Additional Casting), Amanda Nita Luke-Sayed (Production Stage Manager).

Content advisory:  Between Two Knees contains depictions and graphic details of violence against Native peoples including war, genocide and massacres; depictions of death and gun-related violence; depictions of Native American boarding schools; use of aggressive and stereotypical anti-Native rhetoric; pedophile priests; Nun-ja fights; country line dancing, ballet, hip hop, traditional powwow; Vaudeville; prophecies; surprise revelations; loud rapping; 31 wigs; over 300 props; Disney princesses; mime wolves; a bison; a rapture; and a really big explosion.

On February 10 at 10:30-11:30am, PAC NYC will host an artistic conversation titled “Native 

Representation in Contemporary Media” with artists and changemakers; Bobby Wilson, writer and actor on FX's critically acclaimed Reservation Dogs and Crystal Echo Hawk, founder and CEO of IllumiNative and Jana Schmieding, writer and actor on Peacock’s Rutherford Falls. They will discuss narrative change and the crucial role of Native creatives leading Native stories. The panel is curated and moderated by comedian Jackie Keliiaa, founder of Good Medicine, an all-Native stand-up comedy show coming to PAC NYC on February 9, 2024.

BIOS:

1491 (Authors).  The 1491s are an intertribal Indigenous sketch comedy troupe. Dallas Goldtooth (Mdewakanton Dakota-Diné), Sterlin Harjo (Seminole-Muscogee), Migizi Pensoneau (Ponca-Ojibwe), Ryan RedCorn (Osage Nation) and Bobby Wilson (Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota) originally combined their talents to create comedic videos for YouTube. Their first video, a Twilight parody called New Moon Wolf Pack Auditions, went viral in 2009 as have many of their subsequent videos. The 1491s have traveled the country and the world sharing their satirical, stereotype-busting humor through live performances, panels, discussions, and appearances on major media outlets including The Daily Show on Comedy Central, Al Jazeera and National Public Radio. They have also used their talents to address social and legislative issues, such as the full inclusion of Indigenous women in the Violence Against Women Act.

Eric Ting (Director). Eric Ting is an Obie Award-winning director. Credits include the world premieres of The Far Country (Atlantic Theater Co); Lear (Cal Shakes, co-director); The World of Extreme Happiness (Goodman/ Manhattan Theater Club); The Great Leap (Denver Center/ Seattle Rep); Between Two Knees (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); We Are Proud to Present a Presentation… (Soho Rep); Parable of the Sower: The Opera. New York: Public Theater Under the Radar, BAM Next Wave. Regional: Long Wharf, Hartford Stage, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Cincinnati Playhouse, Goodman, CTG, ACT, Berkeley Rep. International: Singapore, France, UAE, Holland, Canada, Romania, Czech Republic, Hungary, Bali. Upcoming: Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ The Comeuppance (Signature Theater).

About PAC NYC

PAC NYC (251 Fulton Street) is a dynamic new home for the performing arts, serving audiences and the creative sector through flexible venues that embrace wide-ranging artistic programs. The inaugural season features work across theater, dance, music, opera, film and more.

The inaugural season showcases the unparalleled flexibility of three performing arts venues inside PAC NYC: the John E. Zuccotti Theater (seating up to 450 people), the Mike Nichols Theater (seating up to 250) and the Doris Duke Foundation Theater (seating up to 99). These venues can recombine in over 60 configurations with capacities ranging from 50 to 1080 seats.  Mechanical systems allow the floors to be raked or flat; staging options include proscenium and thrust; and seating, lighting grids and acoustical systems can accommodate each layout for artistic innovation that can engage and delight audiences in new ways at every visit.

Named for businessman, philanthropist and benefactor Ronald O. Perelman, the Perelman Performing Arts Center is 129,000 square feet, rising 138 feet from street level.  Its cube-shaped exterior is wrapped in glass-covered Portuguese marble tiles, arranged in a book-matched pattern that radiates from the center of each façade.  The tiles, less than half an inch thick, allow light to radiate in during the day, and glow out during the evening.  Designed by the architecture firm REX, led by founding principal Joshua Ramus, the building was created in collaboration with executive architect Davis Brody Bond, theater consultant Charcoalblue and acoustician Threshold Acoustics.  David Rockwell and his architecture and design firm Rockwell Group designed the interior of the lobby and restaurant with a dynamic ceiling visible from the street to create an inviting entry experience. The lobby's restaurant by chef Marcus Samuelsson, along with the bar and outdoor terrace, will offer a new gathering space for the Lower Manhattan community.

Tickets & PAC NYC Individual Memberships

PAC NYC Memberships starting at $10 for the inaugural season are available. Members are provided early access to purchase tickets and other perks. For more information or to learn how to support PAC NYC, visit PACNYC.org.

Tickets start at $39 and are available online at PACNYC.org or by calling 212.266.3000.  All performances are at 251 Fulton Street.

The public can sign up for important updates from PAC NYC at PACNYC.org/sign-up.

Citi is the official card and a proud sponsor of PAC NYC.

PAC NYC is grateful for the support of Bloomberg Philanthropies

Accessibility 

PAC NYC is committed to providing an enjoyable and inclusive experience for all patrons and ensuring that all audiences have access to our programs and performances. PAC NYC meets or exceeds the standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA Entrance at PAC NYC is sponsored by Citi. For more information on accessibility, please visit PACNYC.org/accessibility.

Information provided is accurate at the time of printing but is subject to change.

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