Nylon Fusion Theatre to Debut MARINA and MATA HARI at Planet Connections, 6/15

Nylon Fusion Theatre Company presents two world-premiere one-act works by Don Nigro Marina and Mata Hari, at Planet Connections Theatre Festivity, about two women who bravely faced personal battles as they were caught up in the turmoil of the two world wars. Directed by Ivette Dumeng, and starring Tatyana Kot in the title roles, with Curtis James Nielsen, Marina and Mata Hari will be performed together at the Robert Moss Theatre at 440 Lafayette Street beginning tomorrow, June 15th.

In 1941 Russia, lyrical poet Marina Tsvetayeva must write propaganda for Soviet leader Joseph Stalin or be sent to his death camps. With the Russian artistic community all but deserting her and her various past affairs having alienated her entire family, she finds herself alone, destitute and running out of options. Told in verse as a one-person's inner monologue, Marina is the story of a woman who refuses to conform to what everybody wants her to be, and who must find out if she has the courage to continue to live on her own terms.

In 1917 legendary femme fatale, exotic dancer, courtesan and accused spy Mata Hari is in her prison cell awaiting execution when she's visited by her bitter and abusive ex-husband. As she unapologetically defends her past deeds, she performs her famous and profoundly sensual Dance of the Seven Veils one last time. But has her ex-husband really come to offer her a second chance, or is it all the fever-dream of a tormented soul finally pushed past the breaking point?

Marina and Mata Hari are presented as part of Planet Connections Theatre Festivity which takes place May 29th - June 23rd at the Gene Frankel and Robert Moss theatres. All tickets are $18. For ticketing information, please visit www.planetconnections.org/marina.

Marina and Mata Hari features a production team of Laura Malseed (Stage Manager), Tijana Bjelajac (Set Designer) Andy Evan Cohen (Sound Designer), Dan Stearns (Lighting Designer), Natasa Trifan (Choreographer) and Hope Governali (Costume Designer).

Don Nigro is among the most frequently published and widely produced playwrights in the world and has continued to build a deeply interrelated and diverse body of dramatic literature, employing a wide variety of dramatic conventions and styles of presentation. Mr. Nigro has won a Playwriting Fellowship Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (for Fisher King), twice been a finalist for the National Repertory Theatre Foundation's National Play Award (for Anima Mundi and for The Dark Sonnets of the Lady), has won grants from the Mary Roberts Reinhart Foundation (for Terre Haute) and the Ohio Arts Council, and twice been James Thurber Writer in Residence at the Thurber House in Columbus. His work has been translated into French, Italian, Spanish, German, Polish, Greek, Russian, and Chinese. In talking aboutMarina and Mata Hari he noted "Marina Tsvetayeva, one of the greatest of Russian poets, and Mata Hari, the internationally celebrated erotic dancer, were two remarkable creative souls who were caught up in and ultimately destroyed by the violent political upheavals of the early twentieth century. They are, in their different ways, complex and extremely compelling women. I am very pleased that two other complex and compelling women, Tatyana Kot and Ivette Dumeng of Nylon Fusion Theatre Company have chosen to bring them to life for the Planet Connections Festivity."

Ivette Dumeng most recently directed Peter Hsieh's Impulse, Interval and Chris Innvar's Signals for Nylon Fusion. She also directed Tatyana Kot in her award-winning role in Frozen Borders and is the Producing Artistic Director and a founding member of Nylon Fusion Theatre Company. Ivette is also producing a TV series with Ted Nash, The Best You've Never Heard and, Chaography, a film about jazz. She is a working commercial, film and theater actress and has most recently guest starred in CBS's Blue Bloods.

Founded in 2007 by Ivette Dumeng and Elliot Joseph, Nylon Fusion Theatre Company is a company of writers, actors and directors from a broad range of backgrounds committed to developing and producing original plays that explore and promote political, social and cultural awareness. www.nylonfusioncollective.org.

Tatyana Kot is an award winning actress, born in the Soviet Union, trained to be a ballerina in Kazakhstan, studied archaeology in Siberia,Russia and worked for 14 years with people with disabilities in the USA, just to end up on a New York stage playing her favorite spy and her favorite poet in two plays by her favorite playwright. Tatyana has fought an on-going battle with breast cancer and recently underwent a double mastectomy.

Curtis James Nielsen's credits include: National Tour of Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, adapted and directed by Mr. Wynn Handman; Don Juan in Hell (Don Juan); Dylan (Dylan Thomas); Hamlet (Hamlet) (at St. Clement's); The Proposal (Ivan) (NCT, NYTheater Visions Award, Best Actor). Film: A Lesson from Aloes (Suzanne Shepherd); and he is currently in production for Barney. More information can be found on www.cjamesn.com.

The mission of The Breast Cancer Research Foundation is to achieve prevention and a cure for breast cancer in our lifetime by providing critical funding for innovative clinical and translational research at leading medical centers worldwide, and increasing public awareness about good breast health. Currently, 91 cents of every dollar spent by BCRF is directed towards breast cancer research and awareness programs.www.bcrfcure.org.

Planet Connections Theatre Festivity is New York's premiere eco-friendly theatre festival. Fostering a diverse cross-section of performances, the festival seeks to inspire artists and audiences both creatively and fundamentally, in a festive atmosphere. At the heart of the festivity are like-minded individuals striving to create professional, meaningful theatre, while supporting organizations, which give back to the community at large.

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