Theatre 167's World Premiere of MOURNING SUN to Host Talkback Series

Upcoming performances of Theatre 167's World Premiere of MOURNING SUN will feature post-show discussions by activists, philosophers, and founders of human rights organizations. The play travels across two continents with its young protagonists. Culture Craver describes the piece as "incredibly provocative and deeply moving, heart wrenching and humorous."

MOURNING SUN is being presented at the West End Theatre, located in the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew at 263 West 86th Street, 2nd fl. Show times are Thursdays at 7pm, Fridays & Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 7pm.

Post-show speakers will include Drucilla Cornell, feminist philosopher and founder of the Ubuntu Project; Jessica Morris, co-founder and Executive Director of Girl Be Heard; Taina Bien-Aimé, Executive Director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women; and Louisa Boyle, Development Director for the Freedom From Fistula Foundation.

Set in Ethiopia and New York, MOURNING SUN is the story of Biftu and Abdi, Ethiopian teens who listen to American pop music and fantasize about meeting Michael Jackson. But when Biftu is forced into an arranged marriage, her body is broken and their dreams are destroyed. This explosive new play explores trauma and recovery, dislocation and identity, and the power of human connection.

The show's current talkback schedule is as follows:

- Following the performance on Thursday November 12, there will be a question and answer session featuring the cast ofMourning Sun, as well as playwright Antu Yacob and director Ari Laura Kreith.

- Friday, November 13: A conversation with Feminist philosopher Drucilla Cornell, founder of the Ubuntu Project.

- Saturday, November 14: A conversation with Jessica Morris, co-founder and Executive Director of Girl Be Heard.

- Thursday, November 19: A conversation with Taina Bien-Aimé, Executive Director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women.

- Friday, November 20: A conversation with Louisa Boyle, Development Director for the Freedom From Fistula Foundation.

Those attending the MOURNING SUN's opening night performance on Sunday, November 15 are invited to join the company for a reception featuring Ethiopian food after the play.

Playwright Antu Yacob grew up in Ethiopia and the United States. After her sister, a medical student, volunteered at the fistula clinic in Addis Ababa, she began researching stories of child marriage, which impacts 15 million girls a year. Yacob says "I realized if I didn't have the mother I had, I could have been one of those girls. I wanted their voices to be heard."

Drucilla Cornell is recognized as a leading feminist theorist and is a Professor of Political Science, Comparative Literature and Women's and Gender Studies at Rutgers University. She is a Visiting Professor at Birkbeck College at the University of London, and an Extraordinary Professor at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, where she is also the founder and director of the uBuntu Project. Established in 2003, the project promotes the status of importance of indigenous values and ideals across various areas of society. Her work has influenced policymaking worldwide. In her work, she has explored such areas as ethical humanism aimed at reviving black existentialism and radical constitutionalism to counter dominating historicism, imperialism and neo-colonialism. She has also researched female and racial subordination and liberalism post-9/11, particularly in the face of wars in such regions as Afghanistan and Iraq. She has co-authored and edited more than 20 books, including Between Women and Generations, Defending Ideals, At the Heart of Freedom: Feminism, Sex, and Equality and most recently, Law and Revolution in South Africa.

Jessica Greer Morris is a human rights advocate and published playwright listed in Newsweek as one of the 150 Fearless Women who "shake up the world" for her innovative leadership at Girl Be Heard. She was also recently featured in Women You Should Know. Jessica brings her expertise in the area of public health, strategic management and communications to Girl Be Heard, having been a consultant for many years. In this role, she became a principal of Man Up, a global, youth-led campaign to stop violence against women. She helped launch Man Up in South Africa during the 2010 World Cup with 100 young activists from 25 countries. Jessica graduated from Columbia University with a Masters in Public Health and was asked to serve as the Acting Director of the Executive MPH Program at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health. She then worked as an HIV/AIDS consultant for the International Center for AIDS Care and Prevention, one of the largest AIDS-service providers in the developing world, before becoming Communications and Development Director at Family Care International. Last year, she was commissioned to take Girl Be Heard on a five-city tour with the United Nations Girl Up Foundation.

Taina Bien-Aimé is the Executive Director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW). CATW is the first and oldest international non-profit organization dedicated to ending trafficking in women and girls and related forms of commercial sexual exploitation as practices of gender-based violence. Prior to this position, Taina was the Executive Director of Women's City Club of New York (WCC), a multi-issue advocacy organization that helps shape public policy in New York. She was a founding Board member of Equality Now, an international human rights organization that works for the protection of the rights of women and girls and later served as its Executive Director (2000-2011). She was Director of Business Affairs/Film Acquisitions at Home Box Office (1996-2000) and practiced international corporate law at the law firm of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton (1992-1996). Taina holds a J.D. from NYU School of Law and a License in Political Science from the University of Geneva/Graduate School of International Studies in Switzerland.

Louisa Boyle is a former journalist, originally from Scotland. She is currently the Development Director for The Freedom from Fistula Foundation and NGO representative to the United Nations DPI for the organization. Louisa became passionately involved in women's and children's rights and health issues in Africa following her own mother's death when Louisa was in her early 20's. Her mother's death inspired a career change, with Louisa setting up her own fundraising and advocacy charity initiative which saw her move from London to Nairobi, Kenya where she worked with disadvantaged children and women's health projects; before working for the global health charity St. John Ambulance International between London, Uganda and Kenya in 2013 on maternal health issues; finally moving to New York in 2014 to work for the Freedom from Fistula Foundation US office. The Freedom from Fistula Foundation (FFFF) is a 501c3 registered charity dedicated to helping women and girls who are injured and left incontinent following prolonged, obstructed childbirth. The Foundation provides free surgeries for patients already suffering with fistula, as well as maternity care to prevent fistulas from happening at all. The Foundation now has dedicated treatment facilities in Sierra Leone, Malawi and Kenya and has provided almost 5,000 free surgeries in that time.

The cast of MOURNING SUN features Arlene Chico-Lugo*, Shamsuddin Abdul-Hamid, Charles Everett, Fadoua Hanine, Kevis Hillocks, John P. Keller* and Antu Yacob*. The production team includes Jen Price Fick (Set Design), Matthew Fick (Lighting Design), Jessa-Raye Court (Costume Design) and Anna Libbie Grossman (Sound Design). The Assistant Director is Bo Frazier, Fight Choreographer is Erica Gould, Choreographer is David Terry, and the Stage Manager is Ben Andersen*.

MOURNING SUN runs Friday, November 6 through Sunday December 6 at the West End Theatre in the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew, 263 W. 86th Street (between Broadway and West End Avenue), on the 2nd floor. Subway Info: take the 1 train to 86th Street. Show times are Thursdays at 7pm, Fridays & Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 7pm. MOURNING SUN will run approximately two hours, including an intermission. The theatre is wheelchair-accessible.

Tickets are $18.00, $16.00 for students and seniors, and can be purchased online at theatre167.org, at artful.ly, or by calling (646) 568-5167. Follow the company on Twitter at @Theatre167, at Facebook.com/Theatre167, or on instagram @theatre167.

MOURNING SUN is for intended for adult audiences only. The Church of St. Paul & St. Andrew is not responsible for any of its content.

* - These actors are appearing through the courtesy of Actors' Equity Association

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