MADAME LYNCH From The Drunkard's Wife Opens Tonight At New Ohio Theatre

New Ohio Theatre and IRT Theater's second Archive Residency show, The Drunkard's Wife's world premiere of MADAME LYNCH, written and directed by Normandy Sherwood and Craig Flanagin, and choreographed by Iliana Gauto of Ballet Panambí Vera, opens tonight.

A spectacle with music, MADAME LYNCH takes on the picaresque story of Eliza Lynch, a 19th century woman whose fortunes took her from Irish potato famine refugee, to French courtesan, to the self-proclaimed "Empress of Paraguay." In collaboration with the Paraguayan folkloric dance group Ballet Panambí Vera, The Drunkard's Wife creates a multifaceted portrait of La Lynch as a way to understand the complex dynamics of cultural imperialism. The show reaches peaks of beauty and horror as it proceeds by way of live music, dance, and real and imagined scenes from her life as an adventuress, cultural doyenne, femme fatale and microfinance pioneer.

The cast includes Obie Award winner Juliana Francis Kelly, Nikki Calonge, Braulio Cruz, Blaze Ferrer, Mieko Gavia, Kevin Green, Hannah Kallenbach and the dancers of Ballet Panambí Vera.

The production team includes Yung Oh Le Page (Scenic Design), Christina Tang (Lighting Design), Craig Flanagin (Sound Design & Music), Normandy Sherwood with Nikki Luna Paz & Chelsea Collins (Costume Design), David Pym (Video Design) and Liz Nielsen (Stage Manager). Live band directed by Rachel Swaner.

MADAME LYNCH began performances on May 26 and runs through June 15 at New Ohio Theatre, located at 154 Christopher Street between Greenwich and Washington Streets in New York City. Performances are Thursdays - Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 7pm with an additional show on Wed 5/29 at 8pm. No show on Sun 6/2. The running time is 85 minutes. Tickets are $25. Purchase at NewOhioTheatre.org or by calling 212-352-3101.

The Drunkard's Wife is a theater company led by Normandy Sherwood and Craig Flanagin that creates theatrical and musical spectacles in New York City. Their mission is to create and produce experimental musical plays and site-specific theatrical environments with a generous, maximalist design sense. Their plays are darkly comic, language-drunk, full of reverence for the hand-made and therefore wholeheartedly feminist and anticapitalist. Their theatrical style combines their impulses towards camp, the carnivalesque, and the maximal with an appetite for subtlety, complex argument and tenderness. They make music that draws from folk mountain music traditions and no-wave dissonance, and that incorporates complex time signatures and improvisation. For info visit https://www.thedrunkardswife.com.

Ballet Panambí Vera is an organization founded by Berta Gauto which is dedicated to supporting Paraguayan cultural in New York. Since 1995, Panambí Vera's mission has been to educate, demonstrate and spread Paraguayan culture through collaboration with local artists, organizations, and leaders in the community. While their focus is empowering young Latina/Paraguayan girls locally, ultimately their goal is to embrace global currents in contemporary culture so that they can foster global citizenship through the affirmation of local identities. Choreographer Iliana Gauto is the creative director of Ballet Panambí Vera.

Photo Credit: Russ Rowland

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