Cast, Creative Team Announced for VEIL'D World Premiere at Astoria Performing Arts Center

Award-winning and critically-acclaimed Astoria Performing Arts Center (APAC) kicks off its 17th season with the world premiere of Veil'd written by Monet Hurst-Mendoza and directed by Pirronne Yousefzadeh.

Veil'd tells the story of Dima, a 16-year old girl with a rare skin condition. Cloistered away in her bedroom, her parents worry that she'll never have the "normal" American teenage experience they sought for her when they came to New York from Afghanistan. Little do they know that Dima's getting by with some help from her secret friends - Elliot, a poet who hangs out under her window hawking rhymes, and Speedo, a talking nurse shark who saves the day in more ways than one. But will Dima get her happy ending? Rapunzel never had it this bad ... or this good.

Veil'd has been developed with support from Rising Circle Theater Collective, The Kupferberg Center for the Arts, |the claque|, WP Theater, and the Time Warner Foundation.

Veil'd will feature: Sahar Bibiyan (Haram! Iran! - Emerging Artists Theatre), Rajesh Bose* (Indian Ink - Roundabout), Christopher Reed Brown (What Would Crazy Horse Do? - Kansas City Rep.), Kayla Jackmon (Lost Voices - HERE Arts Center), and Nikhaar Kishnani. *Member of Actors' Equity Association. An Equity Approved Showcase

The Veil'd creative team includes: Claire DeLiso (Set Designer), Siena Zoë Allen (Costume Designer), Calvin Anderson (Lighting Designer), Christine Schisano (Puppet Designer), Caitlin Curran (Props Designer), Elliott Karliner (Stage Manager), and Stephanie Cowan / Michael Cassara Casting (Casting).

Veil'd runs from November 2 – 18, 2017 at the Good Shepherd United Methodist Church, 30-44 Crescent St. (at 30th Road), Astoria, NY 11102. Performances are Thursdays and Fridays at 8pm, and Saturdays at 2pm and 8pm.

Tickets are $18 for adults ($12 for students and senior citizens) and are now available online at www.apacny.org. Tickets may also be purchased in person at the box office ½ hour prior to each performance.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT AND DIRECTOR:

Monet Hurst-Mendoza is an NYC-based playwright from Los Angeles, CA. Her plays have been developed by Rising Circle Theater Collective, |the claque|, Looking Glass Theatre (NYC), Amios, The Oneness Project, The Other Mirror, Magic Time @ Judson, The Kupferberg Center for the Arts, #serials@The Flea, WP Theater, Playwright's Playground at Classical Theatre of Harlem, and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. She is a current member of the 2017 Emerging Writers Group at The Public Theater and is a 2016-2018 Van Lier Fellow at New Dramatists. Monet was a 2014-2016 WP Theater Lab Time Warner Foundation Fellow and has held residencies with The Other Mirror, The MITTEN Lab, and SPACE on Ryder Farm. She has been a finalist for Playwrights Week at The Lark (2011), Old Vic New Voices US/UK Exchange (2011), Many Voices Fellowship at The Playwright's Center (2013 & 2015), and the Leah Ryan FEWW Prize (Honorable Mention, 2017), and has received nominations for the Smith Prize for Political Theatre (2017) and Cherry Lane Mentor Project (2016). Most recently, Monet worked as J.T. Rogers' assistant on the Tony-award winning Broadway production of Oslo at Lincoln Center Theater. She is a proud member of Rising Circle Theater Collective, where she co-facilitates INKtank/PlayRISE - a developmental writers lab and new works festival for emerging playwrights of color. B.A.: Marymount Manhattan College.

Pirronne Yousefzadeh has directed and developed new work at The Public/Joe's Pub, New York Theatre Workshop, Atlantic Theater Company, Ars Nova, Soho Rep, New Georges, Partial Comfort Productions, Noor Theatre, Ma-Yi Theater Company, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville, La Jolla Playhouse, Huntington Theatre Company, Cleveland Playhouse, Geva Theatre Center, InterAct Theatre Company, and Hangar Theatre, among others. She is a Usual Suspect at NYTW, New Georges Affiliated Artist, member of Ensemble Studio Theatre, recipient of SDC's Denham Fellowship and Williamstown's Sagal Fellowship, and an alumna of the Emerging Artist Fellowship at NYTW, Drama League Directors Project, Lincoln Center Directors Lab, and Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab. MFA, Columbia University. Member, SDC. www.pirronne.com

ABOUT ASTORIA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER:

"Adventurous theater in Astoria," The New York Times says about the award-winning Astoria Performing Arts Center (APAC), a not-for-profit organization founded in 2001. APAC's mission is to bring high-quality professional theater to Astoria, Queens, and to support local youth and senior citizens through community programs at schools, senior centers and our performance venue.

The critically-acclaimed organization provides quality mainstage musicals and plays to the diverse Western Queens community. To date, APAC has received 51 New York Innovative Theatre Award nominations and 11 wins (including four for Outstanding Musical Production for Raisin, Merrily We Roll Along, Allegro, and Children of Eden), as well as an Off-Off Broadway Theatre Review Award for Outstanding Production of a Musical (Is There Life After High School?). APAC was also the recipient of the 2012 Caffe Cino Fellowship Award. www.apacny.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.