Incubator Arts Project to Present Tele-Violet's LADY HAN, 2/8-17

Lady Han is a post-Christmas-nearly-Valentine's-Day, distinctly American take on a classical Noh drama about a prostitute going mad with loneliness.

Lady Han is an otherworldly, 20th-century spin on a classic Noh play, with a skeleton faithfully based on the 17th-century ? Japanese play by Zeami and flesh that is All-American. Lady Han is a story of a prostitute who falls in love with a client, Yoshida, and pines for him all Fall and Winter. When he returns she has already gone mad and doesn't recognize him. Using this poetic text and the conventions of classical Japanese drama, the production aims to lift our own culture - denim, Dolly, shopping carts, line dancing, plastic Christmas trees - to the height of elegance.

In a time of manic, maximalist, fast and furious entertainment, the piece takes audiences down an alternate path to use the theatre as a place of contemplation and focus, attempting to slow down our minds and explore the beauty and sadness in contemporary American popular culture. The bold production presents white-hot passion and sorrow with careful restrain and formality utilizing the tools of precise audio and production design. The driving force in this piece - as in traditional Noh - is the live music, which is composed by Taylor Brook, and features banjo, vocals and electronics.

Director: Katherine Brook
Composer and Sound Designer: Taylor Brook
Set Designer: Josh Smith
Costume Designer: Ryan Park
Lighting Designer: Ken Wills
Choreographer: Katie Rose McLaughlin
Stage-Manager: Hannah Johnson-Walsh

Performers: Jessie Shelton, Andrew Dinwiddie, Louisa Bradshaw, Brighid Greene, Nicolas Norena, Lena Moy-Borgen, David Gould, Alex Mallett

Text by Zeami, translated by Royall Tyler

Tickets: $18 General, $14 student pricing. Purchase in advance at incubatorarts.org, or call Theater Mania at 212-352-3101. Performances February 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17 Incubator Arts Project inside St. Mark's Church, 131 East 10th Street, at Second Avenue.

Named after Tennessee Williams' infamous diva Violet Venable, Tele-Violet is a theatre company led by director Katherine Brook, that uses dramatic texts as well as real-world content to experiment with acting and dramatic form.

Upcoming pieces include Lady Han (Incubator Arts, February 2013) and Transcripts an on-going audio- archive-scripting project in collaboration with playwright Liza Birkenmeier("American Realism," 2011-12 and "All My Sons," 2013).

Katherine Brook recently received her MFA in Directing at Carnegie Mellon School of Drama. This past year, she directed "She Is King" at Dixon Place, "American Realism" at The Invisible Dog, the San Diego Museum of Art and Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, and "Suddenly, Last Summer" at Carnegie Mellon University. Katherine has also worked for StoryCorps, Elevator Repair Service, and currently, The Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theatre Festival. More information on the company is available at www.katherinebrook.com.

By offering a series of production programs that provide space, labor, technical assistance and administrative expertise, Incubator Arts Project supports the presentation of world premiere, contemporary work in the performing arts made by dance, music and theatreartists. Incubator Arts Project has been featured in American Theatre magazine, The New York Times, TIME OUT New York, The Village Voice, and The Brooklyn Rail and won a 2010 Obie grant. For more information, visit www.incubatorarts.org.

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