Dzieci Theatre to Celebrate 10th Anniversary Of Easter Themed A PASSION in April

Best known for their stripped down MAKBET, a Roma-infused take on Shakespeare's Macbeth presented in a shipping container, and their annual holiday extravaganza FOOLS MASS, Dzieci Theatre will present its 10th Anniversary production of A PASSION this Easter. Adapted, directed, and designed by Matt Mitler, performances run April 2-7. Running time is 60 minutes, no intermission. Tickets are $20, available by donation at www.dziecitheatre.org or at the door.

For Easter 2012, Dzieci Theatre was invited to work with a small group of nuns at The Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, CT to create a Passion for their Holy Week. Beginning with the earliest translations of the liturgy and relying heavily on the Aramaic Peshitta, the company integrated Hebraic song and chant, as well as ritual elements of Judaism, and set their revision in the shadow of the Warsaw Ghetto. The result is A PASSION, a dramatic choral liturgy unbound. Whether Christian or Jew or Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist or Zen, A PASSION appeals to the human spirit in everyone and our essential desire for communion.

A PASSION runs:
• Sunday, April 2 (Palm Sunday) at 10:30 AM, Christ Episcopal Church (74 Park Avenue, Glen Ridge, NJ 07028).
• Tuesday, April 4 at 7:00 PM, The Center at West Park (165 West 86th Street, NY, NY 10024).
• Thursday, April 6 at 7:00 PM, The Episcopal Actor's Guild (1 East 29th St. NY, NY 10016).
• Friday, April 7 at 7:00 PM, Boughton Place (150 Kisor Road, Highland, NY 12528).

A PASSION stars Megan Bones, Ryan Castalia, Jesse Hathaway, Matt Mitler and Ella Peck with additional casting to be announced shortly. The production team includes Choral Director Jesse Hathaway and Assistant Directors Megan Bones and Ryan Castalia.

Founded in 1997 by Matt Mitler, Dzieci Theatre is an international experimental theatre ensemble dedicated to a search for the "sacred" through the medium of theatre. Integrating techniques garnered from such theatre masters as Jerzy Grotowski, Eugenio Barba and Peter Brook, and ritual forms derived from Native American and Eastern spiritual disciplines, Dzieci ((pronounced "djyeh-chee") aims to create a theatre that is as equally engaged with personal transformation as it is with public presentation. Their repertoire includes Fools Mass, presented annually at The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine every Christmas season; A Passion, the Biblical tale as set in the shadow of the Warsaw ghetto; The Devils of Loudun, inspired by Aldous Huxley's 1952 novel; Cirkus Luna!, the worst family circus act ever; and Ragnarok, the End Days fable from Norse mythology. Their work has been seen at venues including La MaMa ETC, Irondale Center, The Brick, P.S. 122, Rockaway Center for the Arts, St. Marks Theater, Brooklyn Museum of Art, the cell, Z Space in San Francisco, as well as countless theatres, schools, hospitals, and houses of worship in the tri-state area and beyond. Dzieci is a two-time recipient of the Ann Bogert Fund for the Study and Practice of Christian Mysticism, and in 2004, was the only theatre company invited to participate at The Parliament for the World's Religions in Barcelona, For more info, visit www.dziecitheatre.org.

Matt Mitler has designed and directed over 80 theatrical productions; among them, his own adaptation of Nathaniel West's Miss Lonely Hearts for the 29th Street Repertory Theatre, and the critically acclaimed musical Sofrito (featuring The Latin Legends All Stars) for the New Victory Theater. He has also staged the works of dozens of solo artists and ensembles at a variety of NYC venues including The Samuel Beckett Theatre, LaMama ETC, and The Public Theater. His feature filmmaking debut, Cracking Up, (producer, director, writer, editor and actor), garnered a number of awards, including "Best Film" in The Venice International Film Festival Critic's Week and the "People's Choice Award" in The New York Underground Film Festival. Matt has taught theatre and creative therapy worldwide for actors, therapists, and spiritual communities, but his primary focus is on Dzieci, which he has been with since its inception in 1997.

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