Castillo Theatre Hosts World Premiere of DISHWASHER DREAMS

Castillo Theatre (543 W. 42nd Street) proudly presents the world premiere production of Dishwasher Dreams, written and performed by comedian, performer and storyteller Alladin Ullah. Directed by GabrielVega Weissman, the production runs from October 26 - November 18, 2018.

Accompanied by the tabla, Ullah takes his audience on a hilarious and moving journey about art, immigration, family, the Yankees and the nature of the American dream. An inaugural member of The Public Theater's Emerging Writers Group, Ullah developed his solo show in the Public's New Work Now! Reading series and at New York Theatre Workshop, Cape Cod Theater Project, The Lark Play Development Center, and Shakespeare in Paradise in the Bahamas.

Leading the way for South Asians the past two decades, Ullah has been performing all over the world as a stand-up comedian, appearing on US national television, including HBO, Comedy Central, BET, MTV and PBS. In response to the entrenched racism and discrimination in New York comedy clubs during the 90's, Ullah created a show featuring the hottest up and coming multi-ethnic comedians aptly titled Colorblind. The first alternative comedy show to gain critical acclaim in New York, it was hailed by the New York Times as "hilariously original and brave." He is currently at work on a documentary about Bengalis in Harlem.

In his one-man show Dishwasher Dreams, Alladin Ullah draws on the story of his father, a steamship worker from East Bengal, who jumped ship and made his way to New York's Lower East Side in the 1920s, settled in Harlem in the 1930s, worked for years as a dishwasher and line-cook in downtown restaurants, and for a time in the late 1940s ran one of the city's first Indian restaurants just off Broadway in Manhattan's theater district. In his performance, Ullah recalls his father's life and experiences, his parents' futile attempts to raise him Muslim in Spanish Harlem and his own determination to follow his own path - through Hip Hop and graffiti art to the comedy circuit.

GabrielVega Weissman is a Brooklyn-based director and playwright. He has developed and directed pieces for companies including the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Hangar Theatre, Bucks County Playhouse, NYMF and the National Black Theatre. Last fall he directed the world premiere of Charles Cissel's Must produced by Golden Globe-winner Bruce Willis. Earlier this year, he directed Rajiv Joseph's Guards at the Taj for the Central Square Theater in Cambridge, MA which went on to win a 2018 Elliot Norton Award. His play, Loose Canon (co-written with Brian Reno), is published by Dramatists Play Services. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild and an alum of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab, Drama League Directors Project and was a finalist for the inaugural O'Neill Theater Center's National Directors Fellowship.

Tickets for Dishwasher Dreams are $35; $15 seniors and students. For tickets, visit castillo.org or call (212) 941-5800.

The Castillo Theatre (castillo.org) produces cutting-edge political, historical and experimental theatre. Castillo has won two AUDELCO Awards for Outstanding Ensemble Production (2011) and Best Musical Production (2012). Castillo is a multi-cultural home of Black theatre and shares its stages with Woodie King Jr.'s New Federal Theatre.

Photo Credit: Mohammad Amir Hamza

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