New Spoken Word Play PIOUS POETIC PIE Previews 5/21 At Hudson Guild Theater

Fluid Motion Theater & Film presents the world premiere of PIOUS POETIC PIE, a new spoken word play adapted from Euripides' Medea by Latina slam poet Yubelky Rodriguez. Directed by Denyse Owens, previews begin May 21 at the Hudson Guild Theater. Opening night is set for Saturday, May 23.

PIOUS POETIC PIE uses the explosive nature of slam poetry to adapt Medea's timeless journey of love, loss, and revenge to the multicultural community of a rapidly gentrifying Brooklyn, recasting Medea as Melinda, a Dominican immigrant who finds power in words. Yubelky Rodriguez's poetry recalls the heightened language of Greek tragedy while adding a contemporary urban vibe: "It's happening now / never trust the eyes that see blindly / because it... felt right.... / to reveal simple verses... my heart.... / exposing cuts, now strategic plans... / a vendetta to heal internal wounds / injuries that will bleed eternally seeping slowly through my skin."

PIOUS POETIC PIE features a multiethnic cast of actors and poets, including Mia Bankston*, Athena Colón, Darian Dauchan*, Jose Joaquin Perez, Mia van de Water, and Rick Younger*, with sets by Tim McMath, costumes by Deborah J. Caney, lighting by Christopher Brown, sound by Dave Morreale, stage managed by Patrick McGhee and assistant staged managed by Bridget Halloran. (*Member, AEA)

Playwright Yubelky Rodriguez is a New York City-based slam poet/spoken word artist who has performed her poetry at the Cornelia Street Cafe, Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Culture Shock, Rabbit Hole, Sugar Shack, and Quisqueya (Dominican Association Annual Banquet). She studied Spanish and Latin American Comparative Literature at Cornell University, including a semester of theater studies at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain. PIOUS POETIC PIE is her first full-length theatrical play.

Denyse Owens' favorite directing credits are: TBA by Carla Ching at Second Generation starring Lloyd Suh and Michi Barall, Taking Control at Luna Stage, On Dry Land at Blue Heron Arts Center, Defacing Michael Jackson (Winner of Samuel French Festival 2005), Match Me in the 2005 NY Fringe Festival, Mud at Actors Studio Drama School. She also assistant directed Connie Grappo for The Working Theater's Back From the Front by Lynn Rosen. In 2005 she earned her MFA in Directing from The Actors Studio Drama School. In addition she is a teaching artist, a company member of IRT in the West Village and Institutional Giving Associate at Theatre Development Fund (TDF).

Fluid Motion Theater & Film-whose Founder and Artistic Director Christine Simpson was named one of NYTheatre.com's "People of the Year" in 2006-commissions, develops, and produces multi-
ethnic, multidisciplinary adaptations of classic western and non-western texts to explore The Commonality of the human experience shared by disparate cultures. Theater projects include The Great Conjurer at The Kirk at Theatre Row Studios, Tales of Unrest: Joseph Conrad On Stage at Baruch Performing Arts Center, Arsat at FringeNYC, wAve at The Public Theater, and the upcoming Gone by Katori Hall. For more info visit www.fluid-motion.org

PIOUS POETIC PIE runs May 21-30, 2009, Tuesday - Sunday at 7:00pm with additional matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 3pm. The Hudson Guild Theater is located at 441 West 26th Street between 9th and 10th Avenues. Tickets are $18, $15 for previews, $12 for students/seniors. For information or reservations call 212-868-4444 or visit www.smarttix.com.

 

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