THE ORPHANS Premieres At La MaMa, Previews 12/2

La MaMa ETC in association with La Criatura Theater presents the World Premiere of THE ORPHANS by Karina Casiano. With this erotic love story, La Criatura follows up its 2010 IT Award nominated production of Rootless: La No Nostalgia at PS 122 and 8vo Festival Internacional de Cabaret in Mexico City. Performed and directed by Karina Casiano and Daniel Irizarry using physical theater and music, performances begin December 2nd at La MaMa. Opening night is slated for December 5.

THE ORPHANS is set in the turbulent near future of New York in 2020. The economic crisis at the turn of the century has led to the privatization of the most basic resources and the citizens have turned to violence. Fed up with the repressive economy, a laid-off pharmaceutical salesman joins a subversive militia. His only contact with the militia is through a stern female agent for the group. Just as the salesman and the agent find refuge in each other, an unstoppable popular uprising erupts. The unlikely pair are forced to choose between hiding in their newfound, but isolated happiness and joining in the struggle to reclaim a free, more humane society. Would you leave everything behind to change the world?

THE ORPHANS is based on an original idea by Karina Casiano and Jorge Dieppa. This unique blend of text and physical poetry is made possible in part by contributions from the Puffin Foundation and The Yip Harburg Foundation.

Karina Casiano is the creator of three solo shows and two full length plays that have been presented in New York at venues including PS 122, HERE, Chashama on 42nd Street, and the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College. She has collaborated with The Flying Machine, International WOW, Spanish Repertory Theater and the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, among others. A graduate of the University of Puerto Rico, Casiano premiered her first one-woman show in 1999, touring it to Puerto Rico, Cuba, Ecuador, Perú, Chile, and Argentina. In 2005, she was nominated for a New York Latin ACE award as Best Comedy Actress for The Dog in the Manger at Spanish Repertory Theater. In 2006, she premiered her first play with La Criatura, the site-specific Silence Is Health/Silencio es Salud. Earlier this year, her solo musical Rootless: La No-Nostalgia was featured in the soloNOVA Arts Festival at PS 122 where it was nominated for a 2010 IT Award for Outstanding Production of a Musical. For more info, visit www.karinacasiano.com.

Daniel Irizarry's work has been praised in the US and internationally, including Russia, China, Japan, Europe, and the Caribbean. He is currently collaborating with renowned director Andrei Serban's Love's Labour Lost on movement and character work as part of a Columbia University Thesis production. Also, he is participating as a movement and acting coach for Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land, directed by Mabou Mines' Terry O'Reilly for The New School Eugene Lang College. Irizarry has performed with Kevin Augustine and Lone Wolf Tribe (Bride, 2009 UNIMA Citation of Excellence); Eduardo Machado (Crocodile Eyes Terry O'Reilly and Jane Catherine Shaw (Peter and the Wolf); Andrei Serban, Niky Wolcz and James Levine (Benvenuto Cellini and Faust for Met Opera;) Rachel Dickstein (Betrothed and Septimus and Clarissa written by Ellen McLaughlin;) undergroundzero festival at PS 122 (performed and directed The Proposal;) Rania Ajami (Asylum Seekers, winner of best alternative Feature; at 2010 Garden State Film Festival.) He holds an MFA in Acting from Columbia University (the first Puerto Rican student to be accepted into the program) and a BA from the University of Puerto Rico. In 2000, he received the Best New Actor award by the Theater Critics' Circle in Puerto Rico. Irizarry is part of the MFA theater faculty at the Columbia University and of the Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts where he teaches Acting, and is a Mabou Mines RAP 2011 Artist in Residency. For more information go to: www.daniel-irizarry.com.

THE ORPHANS runs December 2 - 12, Thursday - Saturday at 10:00 pm and Sunday at 5:30 pm. La Mama E.T.C. is located at 74A East 4th Street (between 2nd & 3rd Aves -- accessible from the F train at 2nd Ave). Tickets are $15, available at 212-475-7710 or www.lamama.org. For more info, visit www.lacriatura.org.

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