Kentucky Rep Presents Benefit Performance of Where I Come From in NYC

The crime and punishment of courtroom dramas have long held the fascination of theatergoers. Kentucky Repertory Theatre, known for its innovative zeal, gives its audience one with a twist, as it is pleased to present the three-week world premiere of Where I Come From.

Written by Eric K. Daniels, alumni of the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art, Where I Come From was conceived after the playwright served as Juror no. 7 during a federal civil trial in New York City.

Where I Come From is based on a true court trial that exposed racism in a local warehouse and the after affects on its employees. In this play, we watch enthralled as each character relives his/her own interpretation of what can be used to define discrimination in the work place. Guyanese-Indian, Haitian, Jamaican, Irish American, Puerto Rican and African American witnesses throw the courtroom into confusion as they defend, perjure, incriminate and deny their way through the trial.
Daniels wrote Where I Come From during a one-week stay at the Orchard Project's Residency Writing Workshop in upstate New York in 2009. This is his second play. His first, The Jazz Messenger, was presented during the 11th annual Fringe Festival in New York in 2007.

Where I Come From has already received critical acclaim from industry insiders.
"It's a fascinating study of the justice system and the problematic nature of language and interpretation and its potential to house a dangerous predilection for racial bias," said Nicolas Kent with the Tricycle Theatre in London.

Alec Strum with Playwrights Horizons in NYC declared Where I Come From, "a skillfully dramatized trial with intriguing implications."

During the play, the same actors change rolls as they do costumes, switching from judge, attorneys and witnesses to play the seven jurors, which add another layer of interest and intrigue.

"When I read the script, I immediately knew I had to book this play," says Christopher Carter Sanderson, executive director of Kentucky Repertory Theatre. "Audiences will be entranced and entertained at the same time."

Where I Come From is presenting a special Benefit performance in NYC on October 3, 2011, 8PM at the Roy Arias Theatres, 300 West 43rd Street.

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