Soho Rep. Launches Job Creation Program Called SOHO REP. PROJECT NUMBER ONE

Soho Rep. today announced that eight theater-makers will join its staff for the 2020-2021 season. Responding to the extreme precarity the artistic community is experiencing amidst a dire lack of government intervention, Soho Rep. Project Number One creates jobs to support artists in this moment and will be part of building a new path forward. The group is made up of artists who have been in community with Soho Rep. through recent projects, or have been in talks to work with the company in the near future: Becca Blackwell, Shayok Misha Chowdhury, Stacey Derosier, David Mendizábal, Ife Olujobi, David Ryan Smith, Carmelita Tropicana, and Tow Playwright-in-Residence Jillian Walker. Each of them will receive a salary of $1,250 per week from September 21, 2020, through June 30, 2021 (totaling $50K) and health insurance from October 1, 2020, through June 30, 2021.

Soho Rep. has long been artist-led and has in its mission the charge to "elevate artists as thought leaders and citizens who change the field and society." Amidst the global health crisis and nationwide (and industry specific) calls for racial and social justice, and recognizing that the world, and theater, will never and should never return to "normal," the organization's Directors (Sarah Benson, Cynthia Flowers and Meropi Peponides) and Board see the current moment as an opportunity to build a community around deliberate conversations and experiments that aim to transcend calcified industry norms, and create a more sustainable, ethically-sound, equitable theater. They will consider their hopes for what theater prioritizes in the wake of the pandemic and social uprising; for expanding, deepening, and shifting the bounds of what constitutes a "production"; and for re-envisioning production processes, season models, and space use around all of these conversations.

The resident artists will also each create an artistic project-that can take any form determined by the artist, from socially distant theater performance, to a written publication, to a digital recording, to an installation at 46 Walker street-that will be shared publicly with Soho Rep. audiences, throughout the next nine months, in keeping with unfolding COVID-19 safety protocols. They will each lead their own projects-with a budget of $10,000 each.

Meropi Peponides "We felt it was important to cultivate a community of artists, each of whom will bring a unique perspective to grappling with how we emerge from this moment. These artists have expressed an interest in interrogating the relationship between artist and institution; they integrate their values deeply into their artistic practice, and show a generosity of spirit toward the work of other artists. We wanted this group to represent a range of disciplines, challenging the hierarchies that typically exist in theater, and to be intergenerational-ranging from artists with a depth of history working in the field in NYC over decades to people who had just begun their practice in the past few years."

Sarah Benson "It should not be a wild experiment or a radical act to wholeheartedly recognize the enormous benefit that artists offer society. Unfortunately, given the federal response, it is. So we are over the moon to be launching this job creation program and to be in robust conversation with eight extraordinary artists this season as we figure out together what we want to make, and who we want to be, on the other side of this. I cannot wait to see what comes out of our time together."

Cynthia Flowers "While COVID-19 has had a meaningful impact on all of our lives, it is an unfortunate reality that theaters were among the first businesses to close, and will be among the last to fully reopen. This ongoing, involuntary hibernation of the field en masse is creating a snowballing community crisis, and many freelance artists are bearing the brunt of this catastrophe. We have been so inspired by the continuum of responses from folks who are activating the power they do have to make a difference right now: from artists organizing mutual aid funds, to theaters that are awarding smaller grants to hundreds of arts workers; to foundations who have provided emergency grants with no strings attached; to those who are making work for people to enjoy at home at a time when we are all feeling so isolated. We are grateful for the significant emergency funding that our institution has received from individuals and organizations like the New York Community Trust and the Howard Gilman Foundation. We want to pay this generosity forward, and work together as a collective hand-in-hand with artists to ensure that both our theater and our entire community comes out of this stronger than ever over the long term."

At the core of this project-bridging the typical gaps and leveling power dynamics between institution and artist-is a bi-weekly three-hour meeting of the cohort with Soho Rep. staff members, and sometimes including artist Board members, Writer/Director Lab co-chairs, and members of the company's continuing Lab cohort.

Running in parallel, Soho Rep. continues its 2019-2021 Writer/Director Lab, which supports the development of four projects created by collaborative teams over 18 months, culminating in work-in-progress presentations; and its STUDIO, which fully supports the development of new work, from first impulse through full production, over the course of several years. 2019-2021 Lab members are Jeesun Choi & Bryn Herdrich, Nia Farrell & Talia Paulette Oliveras, Keenan Hurley & Kedian Keohan, and Kate Moore Heaney & Divya Mangwanim; the Lab is co-chaired by William Burke & Jackie Sibblies Drury. Soho Rep. commissions artists with an upfront commitment to production and will award two new $15,000 commissions to Garrett Allen and Raja Feather Kelly. Artists already commissioned or developing work in the Studio program include Becca Blackwell; Alice Birch; Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas; Jackie Sibblies Drury; Branden Jacobs-Jenkins & Carmelita Tropicana; Narcissister; Radical Evolution; Kate Tarker; and Jillian Walker.

Soho Rep. plans to recommence productions in the 2021-22 season, or earlier if conditions allow, and to stage the following works when it does: Hansol Jung's Wolf Play, directed by Dustin Wills, produced in association with Ma-Yi Theater Company, and postponed from Spring 2020 due to the pandemic; while you were partying, by Peter Mills Weiss and Julia Mounsey with Brian Fiddyment, postponed from Summer 2020; Omar Vélez Meléndez's Notes on Killing Seven Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Board Members directed by David Mendizábal; Kate Tarker's Montag, directed by Dustin Wills; and Jillian Walker's Untitled Work(ing) for Whitney, directed by Jenny Koons. In order to alleviate the financial challenges presented by the prolonged COVID-19 shutdowns of theater in New York, Soho Rep. will pay lead artist advances for these projects now.

The company also announces that author, actress, and director Amber Tamblyn will join the Soho Rep. board, following the recent additions of Paige Blansfield (Program Manager, Special Projects, Corporate Social Responsibility at American Express); poet, playwright, and MacArthur Fellow Claudia Rankine; and Daniel C. Smith (Director of Finance, St. Ann's Warehouse). Cynthia Flowers says, "Amber is an incredible artist and activist who has been coming to see work at Soho Rep. for over a decade. She is exactly the kind of community builder and thinker that we're eager to invite into the company in a leadership role. We are inspired by her passion for our work, and feel lucky to have her as an advocate for our theater. "

About Soho Rep. Project Number One Artists

Becca Blackwell (they/them) is an NYC-based trans actor, performer and writer. Existing between genders, and preferring the pronoun "they," Blackwell works collaboratively with playwrights and directors to expand our sense of personhood and the body through performance. Some of their collaborations have been with Young Jean Lee, Half Straddle, Jennifer Miller's Circus Amok, Richard Maxwell, Erin Markey, Sharon Hayes, Theater of the Two Headed Calf and Lisa D'Amour. Film/TV includes: "High Maintenance," "Ramy," "Marriage Story," "Shameless," "Deadman's Barstool," and "Jack in the Box." They have toured their solo shows They, Themself and Schmerm and Schmermie's Choice across the US. Blackwell was a recipient of the Doris Duke Impact Artist Award, the Franklin Furnace award and the Creative Capital Award.

Shayok Misha Chowdhury (he/him) is a writer, director, and many-tentacled maker. He is the creator of VICHITRA, an experiment in queer South Asian imagination. The project has been commissioned by Ars Nova, The Bushwick Starr, HERE Arts Center, Joe's Pub, Dixon Place, and National Queer Theater. Misha is a Resident Artist at HERE Arts Center, a member of the Devised Theater Working Group @ The Public, and an alumnus of the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, Ars Nova's Maker's Lab, New York Theatre Workshop's 2050 Fellowship, and residencies at BRIC, The Drama League, and SPACE on Ryder Farm. Recent: MukhAgni (Under the Radar); How the White Girl Got Her Spots and Other 90s Trivia (Joe's Pub); Englandbashi (HERE Arts). Upcoming: The Other Other with Kameron Neal (Ars Nova), a queer Carnatic extravaganza (The Bushwick Starr), and a new collaboration with Aleshea Harris (New York Theatre Workshop). In progress: SPEECH with Lightning Rod Special; Antioch Mass with Troy Anthony. A Fulbright and Kundiman fellow, Misha has been published in The Cincinnati Review, TriQuarterly, Hayden's Ferry Review, Asian American Literary Review, and elsewhere. shayokmishachowdhury.com

Stacey Derosier (she/her) (NYC lighting designer). Credits include: Here We Are (Theater for One), School Girls, Or the African Mean Girls Play (Berkeley Rep), All the Natalie Portmans (MCC Theater), Stew (Page 73), How to Load a Musket (Less Than Rent), The Copper Children (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Men on Boats (Baltimore Center Stage), for all the women who thought they were Mad (Soho Rep.), White Noise conceived by Daniel Fish (NYU Skirball), the bandaged place (NYSAF Powerhouse), Playing Hot! (Pipeline Theater Company), The Climb (Cherry Lane - Mentor Project), Mies Julie & Dance of Death (Classic Stage Company), Novenas For a Lost Hospital, No One is Forgotten, Lewiston/Clarkston (Rattlestick Playwright's Theater), The Revolving Cycles Truly & Steadily Roll'd (Playwright's Realm) & was the 2018 Lilly Award recipient of the Daryl Roth Prize. www.staceyderosier.com

David Mendizábal (he/him) is a director/designer, one of the Producing Artistic Leaders of the Obie Award winning The Movement Theatre Company, and the Associate Artistic Director of The Sol Project. Select directing credits include: Don't Eat the Mangos (Magic Theatre/Sundance/Sol), On The Grounds of Belonging (Long Wharf), the bandaged place (NYSAF), Then They Forgot About The Rest (INTAR), The Maturation of an Inconvenient Negro (Cherry Lane Mentor Project), And She Would Stand Like This (w/ choreo. by Kia LaBeija), Look Upon Our Lowliness, and Bintou (The Movement), and Tell Hector I Miss Him (Atlantic / Drama League Nomination). He is a member of the Latinx Theatre Commons, alumnus of The Drama League Directors Project, LAByrinth Intensive Ensemble, NALAC, artEquity, and Lincoln Center Directors Lab. David was a participant in the TCG Leadership U: One-on-One program from 2017 - 2018, where he was the Artistic Associate at Atlantic Theater Company. BFA - NYU/Tisch @ PHTS | davidmendizabal.com | IG: @its_daveed

Ife Olujobi (she/her) is a Nigerian American playwright and screenwriter from Columbia, Maryland. She is a 2019-20 New Voices Fellow at The Lark, a 2020-21 Resident Artist at Ars Nova, a member of Youngblood at Ensemble Studio Theatre, an alumnus of both the 2018-19 Emerging Writers Group at The Public Theater and the 2020 Sundance Institute Theatre Lab, and the recipient of a 2020 Sloan Foundation commission from Manhattan Theatre Club. Her plays include Jordans, Smoke, MARKETPLACE, and others, and her work has been seen at The Public, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Charity Randall Theater, Bishop Arts Theater Center, and more. She is also the founder and editor of Townies zine, managing editor of The Supplements at Soho Rep, and a former assistant editor at the Criterion Collection. She received her BFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in 2016.

David Ryan Smith (he/him) Broadway: One Man, Two Guvnors; Passing Strange. Off Broadway: Where We Stand (Women's Project) Passage (Soho Rep); A Midsummer Night's Dream Henry V, Twelfth Night, Romeo & Juliet, The Comedy of Errors, Pericles (The Public Theater), Gone Missing (City Center/Encores! Off Center), Mankind (Playwrights Horizons), The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World (Signature Theater), The Glory of the World (BAM), #9 (59E59); The Rover (NY Classical Theater); Marat/Sade (Classical Theater of Harlem). Select Regional: Repertory Theater of Saint Louis, Shakespeare Theater Company, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Actors Theater of Louisville, Barrington Stage, American Conservatory Theater, Dallas Theater Center, Crossroads Theater Company. Film: The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Medal of Victory, Bee Season. Education: MFA, American Conservatory Theater, BFA University of Evansville. He is a member of the Young Partner Board at The Public Theater and teaches acting at Playwrights Horizons Theater School-NYU.

Alina Troyano aka Carmelita Tropicana (she/her) has been performing in New York's downtown arts scene since the 1980's, straddling the worlds of performance art and theater with irreverent humor, subversive fantasy, and bilingual puns. Current works online include Pandemic Fight, Theater for One Project (2020) and Rad Women for Pandemic Times, 100 Years / 100 Women, The Park Avenue Armory (2020). Tropicana is a Guggenheim Fellow and Obie recipient in Theater. Select awards include Creative Capital, Anonymous Was a Woman, New York Foundation for the Arts. Publications include Memories of the Revolution: The First 10 Years of the Wow Café Theater, (2015) edited with Holly Hughes and Jill Dolan and Carmelita Tropicana: Performing Between Cultures (2000). Tropicana was an original member of the WOW collective, served on the Board of Directors of PS New York, formerly PS 122 (1998 - 2016) and New York Foundation for the Arts (2015 to date).

Jillian Walker (she/her) writes and performs sacred texts for the theatre. Her work has taken the form of plays, musicals, lecture-sermon-concert gatherings, and self-reflective space for remembrance and liberation. She draws deeply on her training as a dramaturg (MFA Columbia), Black Spiritual wisdom, and the ongoing work of Black feminist thinkers to bring process-driven performance to life. Some of her work(ings) include SKiNFoLK: An American Show, co-presented by The Bushwick Starr and National Black Theatre (NY Times Critics' Pick, Kilroys List, Antonyo Award), Sarah's Salt., and Songs of Speculation. Jillian is currently co-conspiring with The TEAM as a writer/performer on Reconstruction, and Soho Rep., where she is the 2020-21 Tow Playwright-in-Residence. She is a 2020 Lilly Award recipient who also enjoys co-conspiring with the readers of her monthly newsletter, The Free List.

www.thisisjillianwalker.com

About the 2021-2022 Artists

Wolf Play (Produced in Association with Ma-Yi Theater Company)

Hansol Jung (she/her) (Playwright, Wolf Play) is a playwright from South Korea. Productions include Wild Goose Dreams (The Public Theater, La Jolla Playhouse), Cardboard Piano (Humana Festival at ATL), Among the Dead (Ma-Yi Theatre), and No More Sad Things (Sideshow, Boise Contemporary). Commissions from The Public Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, Seattle Repertory Theatre, National Theatre in UK, Playwrights Horizons, Artists Repertory Theatre, Ma-Yi Theatre and Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Her work has been developed at Royal Court, New York Theatre Workshop, Hedgebrook, Berkeley Repertory, Sundance Theatre Lab, O'Neill Theater Center, and the Lark. Hansol is the recipient of the Hodder Fellowship, Whiting Award, Helen Merrill Award, Page 73 Fellowship, Lark's Rita Goldberg Fellowship, NYTW's 2050 Fellowship, MacDowell Artist Residency, and International Playwrights Residency at Royal Court. She is a proud member of the Ma-Yi Writers Lab, NYTW's Usual Suspects, and The New Class of Kilroys. MFA: Yale.

Dustin Wills (he/him) (Director, Wolf Play) is a New York-based theatre and opera director. Upcoming: A Boy's Company Presents: Tell Me If I'm Hurting You by Jeremy O. Harris (Playwrights Horizons). Recent theatre: Mikhail Bulgakov's Black Snow (Juilliard), Phillip Howze's Frontières Sans Frontières (Bushwick Starr-Top Ten Theatrical Productions of 2017 by New York Magazine), Will Arbery's Evanston Salt Costs Climbing (New Neighborhood), Basil Kreimendahl's Orange Julius (Rattlestick and Page 73), Casey Llewellyn's O, Earth (Foundry Theatre), and a Baryshnikov Arts Center Residency for AWFUL EVENT! a new musical with Kate Tarker and Dan Schlosberg. Recent opera: Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and Stravinsky's Le Rossignol (Yale Opera), Francesco Cavalli's L'Egisto and Xerse (Yale Baroque Opera), and ongoing work on an operatic adaptation of Federico García Lorca's surrealist play Once Five Years Pass (Williamstown Theatre Festival). He has devised new work with Teatro L'Arciliuto in Rome, Italy, created large-scale community puppetry pageants with Creative Action, is a two-time Princess Grace Award recipient, a Drama League and Boris Sagal directing fellow, and for a couple of years gave rogue tours of the Vatican. MFA: Yale School of Drama.

Peter Mills Weiss (he/him) and Julia Mounsey (she/her) collaborate on works for the stage. Their work has been presented at Under the Radar at The Public Theater, La MaMa, JACK, Ant Fest at Ars Nova, CATCH Performance Series, and Little Theater at Dixon Place. Peter has performed for or collaborated with artists such as 600 Highwaymen, The Wooster Group, Richard Foreman, and the Wallace Shawn-André Gregory Project. Julia has worked with New York City Players, Soho Rep., The National Theater of Hungary, and was an Assistant Director on Young Jean Lee's Straight White Men. Both Peter and Julia are members of the 2017-2018 Devised Theater Working Group at The Public Theater.

Brian Fiddyment (he/him) is a comedian, actor and writer from Virginia. He performs comedy regularly around New York City and is also known for his short experimental videos. His work can be found at brianfiddyment.biz

Notes on Killing Seven Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Board Members

Omar Vélez Meléndez (they/them) (Playwright, Notes on Killing Seven Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Board Members) is a playwright born and raised in Puerto Rico. Their playwriting debut took place at the 2016 UPR Student Theatre Festival with The Natives Fight for Their Cave: Part 2. They are a member of Ars Nova's Playgroup and have also developed work at The Lark, Teatro SEA, Pregones/PRTT, The Latinx Playwrights Circle and Fresh Ground Pepper. Other Plays include We Built Our Homes Near Kingdoms of Animals and Magic (The Lark's Playwright's Week, 2019 Rita & Burton Goldberg Playwriting Prize) and Lajasarriba. Playwriting MFA: Hunter College.

David Mendizábal (he/him) (Director, Notes on Killing Seven Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Board Members). (See above)

Kate Tarker (she/her) (Playwright, Montag). Plays include THUNDERBODIES (Soho Rep.), Dionysus Was Such a Nice Man (The Wilma, FoolsFURY), and Laura and the Sea (Rivendell Theatre Ensemble). Her works have been developed at The Vineyard, The Lark, Rattlestick, Ars Nova, NYTW, Magic Theatre, Cutting Ball, the Playwrights' Center, Theatre503, and The O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, among others. She is the recipient of a Jerome Fellowship, The Vineyard's Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, the National Science Playwriting Award, Theater Masters' Visionary Playwright Award, a PWCenter/NET Ensemble Collaboration Grant, and she has been featured twice on the Kilroys List. Residencies: Tofte Lake Center, SPACE at Ryder Farm, and two-time MacDowell Colony Fellow. Alum of Ars Nova Play Group, New Georges Jam, and Playwrights' Center Core Writer Program. Kate currently holds commissions from Theater Masters, Soho Rep., and Playwrights Horizons. M.F.A. Yale.

Dustin Wills (he/him) (Director, Montag). (See above)

Untitled Work(ing) for Whitney

Jillian Walker (she/her) (Playwright, Untitled Work(ing) for Whitney). (See above)

Jenny Koons (she/her) (Director, Untitled Work(ing) for Whitney). Projects: Men on Boats (Baltimore Center Stage), Speechless (Blue Man Group North American Tour), The Tempest (Juilliard School), The Deck of Cards (Denver Center), A Midsummer Night's Dream (The Public Theater Mobile Unit), Burn All Night (American Repertory Theatre), Gimme Shelter (Why Not Theatre, 2015 Pan Am Games), Theatre for One: I'm Not the Stranger You Think I Am (Arts Brookfield), A Sucker Emcee (National Black Theatre, LAByrinth Theater Company), Queen of the Night (Diamond Horseshoe), The Odyssey Project 2012 (site-specific NYC). Jenny was the 2017 curator of the Encores! Off-Center Lobby Project, co-curator of the 2016 ThisGen Conference, and co-founder of Artists 4 Change NYC (National Black Theatre). She has developed new work at Ars Nova, Steppenwolf, Roundabout, and New Black Fest, among others. Jenny has been a facilitator and educator in creating anti-racist spaces and engaging in conversations around race and equity for over a decade, in both non-profit and artistic worlds.

About Newly Commissioned Artists

Garrett Allen (they/them) is a Black, queer interdisciplinary artist and director working primarily in performance, video, and installation. Their work navigates the recent, dramatic changes in the ways we consume, perceive, process, identify, and, ultimately, empathize. They create pieces that are urgent, emotionally vulnerable, unapologetic, and visceral; aiming to combat spectator (and general worldly) passivity by collaboratively creating sensorial and actively engaging experiences. Their recent projects include co-creating BLK MLK (blackmilk) with poet Kyle Lopez (Spectrum NYC), co-directing Dionne Slay's Slaychella summer concert (LPAC), directing ...When The World Is No Longer: by Dante Green (ANTFEST, Polyphone Festival), and devising/creating We Were All Rooting For You (Flamboyan). Their video and performance art works have been exhibited at The Invisible Dog, School of Visual Arts NYC, Harvard, Knockdown Center, Signal Gallery, The Deep End, and You Are Here. They are currently pursuing their MFA in Directing at Yale School of Drama. garrett-allen.com

Raja Feather Kelly (he/him) is an Obie-winning choreographer, a director, the artistic director of the feath3r theory, and a Creative Associate at The Juilliard School. In 2020, Kelly made his directorial debut at New York City's Second Stage Theatre with We're Gonna Die. Since 2016, Raja has choreographed extensively for Off-Broadway theatre in New York City, most notably for Signature Theatre, Soho Rep, New York Theatre Workshop, and Playwrights Horizons Frequent collaborators include: Lileana Blain-Cruz, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Sarah Benson, and Lila Neugebauer. Other theatre credits include choreography for Skittles Commercial: The Musical (Town Hall), The Chronicles of Cardigan and Khente (SohoRep), Everyday Afroplay (JACK), GURLS (Princeton University, Yale Repertory Theatre), Electric Lucifer (The Kitchen), Lempicka (Williamstown Theatre Festival), The House That Will Not Stand (New York Theatre Workshop), Fireflies (Atlantic Theatre Company), If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must Be a Muhfucka (Playwrights Horizons, nominated for the 2019 Lucille Lortel Award and the 2019 Chita Rivera Award for Outstanding Choreography), The Good Swimmer (BAM), and Faust (Opera Omaha). Most recent work: Fairview (SDCF Joe A. Callaway Award finalist for choreography; Soho Rep, Berkeley Rep, TFANA, and winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Drama), A Strange Loop (Obie Award winner and SDCF Callaway finalist for choreography; Playwrights Horizons, winner of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Drama).

About Amber Tamblyn

Amber Tamblyn (she/her) is an author, actress, director and political organizer. She has been nominated for an Emmy, Golden Globe and Independent Spirit Award for her work in television and film, including Joan of Arcadia, HOUSE MD, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and the critically acclaimed film Stephanie Daley opposite Tilda Swinton, for which she won Best Actress at The Locarno International Film Festival. She will next star opposite Diane Lane in FX's Y: The Last Man, based on the acclaimed graphic novel. In theater, she starred in Gina Gionfriddo's Can you Forgive Her? (The Vineyard Theater), and Neil LaBute's Reasons to be Pretty (Geffen Playhouse).

In politics, Tamblyn worked on Hillary Clinton's 2008 and 2016 campaigns, co-chairing the Youth Leadership Outreach Program with America Ferrera, and has since worked on political strategy and coalition building for Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Representative Antonio DelGado, and Leader Stacey Abrams, among others. She serves on the Creative Council for Emily's List and does surrogacy and advocacy work for Planned Parenthood.

She is the author of six books including the best selling novel Any Man, the critically acclaimed Dark Sparkler, and most recently, the non-fiction collection of essays and cultural criticism, Era of Ignition: Coming of Age In A Time of Rage and Revolution. Tamblyn reviews books of poetry by women for BUST Magazine and is poet-in-residence at Amy Poehler's Smart Girls. She is a contributing writer for the New York Times, New York Magazine's The Cut, and a founder of Time's Up, where she serves on the Global Leadership Board. She lives in Brooklyn.

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