The Playwrights Realm Presents DRAMATIS PERSONAE, Previews 10/1

The Off-Broadway theatre company The Playwrights Realm begins its 4th season with the U.S. Premiere of DRAMATIS PERSONAE - Gonzalo Rodríguez Risco's darkly witty new play directed by Erik Pearson. Previews begin October 1 prior to an official press opening of October 7 Off-Broadway at the Cherry Lane Studio Theatre (38 Commerce Street) in Manhattan.

Tickets to DRAMATIS PERSONAE go on sale July 1st, 2010 and will be available through TeleCharge at 212-239-6200, or online at www.playwrightsrealm.org.

In DRAMATIS PERSONAE, Peruvian playwright Gonzalo Rodriguez Risco delves into the intersecting lives and minds of three authors searching for inspirational triggers amid the trigger-happy environment of Peru's political coup in the early nineties. When the writers' demons emerge, the lines between fiction and reality blur in this dark and wickedly witty play that forever changes what it means to be based on a true story.

"It's very exciting to be introducing Gonzalo's work to a New York audience, when I first read Gonzalo's work I was immediately drawn to the way he juxtaposes a focus on the everyday struggles of his characters with the broader political themes that surround them," stated The Playwrights Realm Artistic Director Katherine Kovner. "DRAMATIS PERSONAE creates an intimate portrait of artists struggling to create set against a backdrop of violence that can never be ignored. What immediately struck me in reading Dramatis Personae is that the question Gonzalo and his characters are dealing with is one that we all grapple with: How do you live your life and continue to feel that it is meaningful when the larger issues that surround you are threatening to engulf you?"

DRAMATIS PERSONAE premiered at Casa Espacio Libre in Lima, Peru (playwright Gonzalo Rodriguez Risco's homeland) in 2008. The Casa Espacio Libre production of DRAMATIS PERSONAE was directed by Diego La Hoz and featured Franklin Dávalos, Claudia Sacha, Paco Caparó, Omar Del Águila and Camila Maclennan.

Cast and design team for DRAMATIS PERSONAE are TBA.

Gonzalo Rodríguez Risco is a playwright and translator from Peru, where ten of his plays have been professionally produced. He is a recent graduate of the Yale School of Drama. His plays in English include THE FRENCH PLAY, DRAMATIS PERSONAE, FATHER/SON, and JOURNEY TO SANTIAGO. At the Yale Cabaret: GAY PLAY and THREESOME. Other plays in English: EXPIRATION and the short radio play TAXI SCENE, broadcast by the BBC World Service in 2003. Plays in Spanish: UN VERSO PASAJERO, LA MANZANA PROHIBIDA, JUEGOS DE MANOS, GENERACIÓN Y, RAINBOW, MAL CRIADAS (written with Diego La Hoz), ASUNTO DE TRES, EL MUSICAL, TV-TERAPIA, and the recently produced Spanish version of DRAMATIS PERSONAE. His translation credits include: MARISOL by José Rivera, A CHORUS LINE by Hamlisch and Kleban, THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW by Richard O'Brien and THE MYSTERY OF IRMA VEP by Charles Ludlam. He has also written for film and television.

Erik Pearson (Director). New York directing credits include: FINDING WAYS TO PROVE YOU'RE NOT AN AL-QAEDA TERRORIST WHEN YOU'RE BROWN (HERE) and SPEED for (terraNOVA Collective). Regional directing credits include: WASTE (The Shakespeare Theatre's ReDiscovery series), FOOLS IN THE FOREST (Shakespeare Santa Cruz), THE BURIAL AT THEBES (BRAVA!), THE TROJAN WOMEN: A LOVE STORY, LIFE IS A DREAM, and OEDI (Quixote Project), and BIG BOYS (60grit). At Yale School of Drama Erik directed JOURNEY TO SANTIAGO (by Gonzalo Rodriguez Risco), FLY BY NIGHT (by Kim Rosenstock, Michael Mitnick and Will Connolly), MAN=MAN, PERICLES, ONE FOR THE ROAD, THE ILLUSION, THE BEDTRICK, IF FOUND PLEASE RETURN TO CHARLES DARWIN, and GUERNICA!. Erik has developed new work with The Playwrights Realm and NYU Tisch Graduate Playwriting Department. He is the founding artistic director of The Quixote Project and served as co-artistic director of Rococo Risqué, and Yale Cabaret's 40th anniversary season. Erik has designed projections for the Asia Society of NYC, The Magic (San Francisco), Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Marin Theater Company, Center Rep, and works regularly as Wendall Harrington's associate designer. He has taught for the theater department of the University of California at Santa Cruz and holds an MFA in directing from Yale School of Drama.

The Playwrights Realm is a nonprofit Off-Broadway Theater Company dedicated to nurturing the next generation of exciting theatrical voices by providing sustained support to early-career playwrights. Their current production of DREAMS OF THE WASHER KING opened Thursday, June 10th and has performances through June 26th at the Cherry Lane Studio Theatre (38 Commerce Street). Their other productions include: Anna Ziegler's critically acclaimed production of DOV AND ALI and Anton Dudley's SUBSTITUTION. The Playwrights Realm is led by Artistic Director Katherine Kovner and Producing Director Stephanie Ybarra.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE will perform October 1 through October 23, with a performance schedule TBA, at the Cherry Lane Studio Theatre (38 Commerce Street). For more information, please visit www.playwrightsrealm.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.