MY NAME IS NOT ACTUALLY MARIA Comes to TNC Dream Up Fest

"My Name is not Actually Maria" is a multidisciplinary devised ensemble theater piece that seeks to investigating the phrase "and then I never saw them again." Using Craigslist missed connections ads and verbatim stories as source material, this piece blends movement, text, music, and technology to create a dream land of opportunities lost. It is a search for something that disappeared while your back was turned. Dreamy, ethereal and haunting, it is performed to a mix of contemporary music and soundscapes. The work is conceived by Allie Marotta and devised by Cucumber Dogs in association with Sitting Shotgun. It is co-facilitated by Marotta and Fernando Moya Delgado. Movement is directed by Delgado.

Author/Director Allie Marotta is a Brooklyn based arts educator and collaborative theater maker focused in devised ensemble work. She holds a double degree in BA Acting, BA Directing under the International Performance Ensemble program at Pace School of Performing Arts and earned a MA Contemporary Performance Practices with Merit at Royal Holloway University of London. Her academic research is focused in analyzing the hierarchy and democracy of contemporary theater. Her practical work aims to investigate and define immersive and site specific performance. (www.allie-marotta.com)

Movement director Fernando Moya Delgado is an actor, dancer and choreographer who was born and raised in Guayaquil, Ecuador. He graduated from Pace University with a BFA in Acting for Film & TV and a Dance Minor. Delgado was recently part of "SISTEMA" by Curet Performance Project, in which he premiered his choreography work, "Conform." In 2017, he premiered "EN BUSCA/IN PURSUIT" in Ecuador, a one-man show that was created in collaboration with Allie Marotta. His work comes from a passionate, colorful background bred in his home country and a love for bringing people together through art. (www.fernandomoyadelgado.com)

The piece is devised and performed by Essence Brown, Fernando Moya Delgado, Allie Marotta, Stephanie Orta Vazquez and Lindsey Weiss. Lighting design is by Joe Scardino. Costume and projection design are by Stephen Stanec.

The ninth annual Dream Up Festival (www.dreamupfestival.org) is being presented by Theater for the New City from August 26 to September 16. An ultimate new work festival, it is dedicated to the joy of discovering new authors and edgy, innovative performances. Audiences savor the excitement, awe, passion, challenge and intrigue of new plays from around the country and around the world.

The festival does not seek out traditional scripts that are presented in a traditional way. It selects works that push new ideas to the forefront, challenge audience expectations and make us question our understanding of how art illuminates the world around us.

In addition to traditional plays, a unique and varied selection of productions will again be offered, drawing upon a variety of performance genres including musicals, puppetry and movement theater. The Festival's founders, Crystal Field and Michael Scott-Price, feel this is especially needed in our present time of declining donations to the arts, grants not being awarded due to market conditions, and arts funding cuts on almost every level across the country and abroad.