US Premiere Of 'FIVE KINDS OF SILENCE'

FIVE KINDS OF SILENCE by Shelagh Stephenson directed by Tlaloc Rivas with James Chen, Beatriz Córdoba, Stephen Hansen, Lanna Joffrey, Kate Kertez, and Monica Pérez Brandes.
Boundless Theater Company in collaboration with Teatro Círculo (www.teatrocirculo.org) present the U.S. premiere of Shelagh Stephenson's acclaimed FIVE KINDS OF SILENCE directed by Tlaloc Rivas at Teatro Círculo 64 East 4th Street (between Bowery & 2nd Avenue, NYC).

FIVE KINDS OF SILENCE carves the stunning and heartbreaking tale of a working-class family in which control has become the driving force, where everything has its place and where there are only rules, duties and punishments. Shelagh Stephenson's award-winning drama belatedly makes its professional U.S. premiere with an international cast and creative team which exemplifies the 'boundless' mission.

Performances for FIVE KINDS OF SILENCE begin with a preview on Wednesday November 12, press night on Thursday, November 13, and the public opening on November 14. The play will remain on view through November 30. Performances take place on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8PM. On Sundays, matinee performances are at 3PM. The play contains explicit sexual situations - viewer discretion is advised. Performances are in English with Spanish super titles.
 
General Admission is $18.  Tickets can be purchased via phone: 212-505-1808 or online at www.teatrocirculo.org. Founded in 2006, Boundless Theater Company believes that theater needs to be inquisitive and innovative. They are a multi-ethnic, multilingual, designer-led organization committed to creating new productions of existing work that pushes the boundaries of cultural conception, gender and sexual identity. They are dedicated to the reinvention of stories, and the creation of imaginative, visually mesmerizing theater that serves the community.

FIVE KINDS OF SILENCE is an in-your-face play by the acclaimed writer and playwright, Shelagh Stephenson.  The play explores the pain of a family living under the power of vicious Billy, a male figure who physically, emotionally, and sexually abuses his wife, Mary, and daughters, Susan and Janet. The stage play adapted from the radio production of the same name was first performed at the Lyric Hammersmith, London on 31 May 2000. It won the 1996 Writers' Guild award for Best original Radio Play and the 1997 Sony Award for Best Original Drama.
 
As the drama unfolds, the two daughters who can no longer tolerate their suffering shoot their father during an epileptic fit. The narrative weaves together interviews with police officials and psychologists with Mary, Susan and Janet. These offer a glimpse into this tortured family's existence and the circumstances that led to the play's multiple tragedies.

We learn that as a child Billy was abused. Hs wife Mary who when her mother died was left with her father, was abused too. The play's structure brings about Billy's sinister passivity…even when he is not physically present.  Memories haunt.

Tlaloc Rivas (Director) recent productions include the critically-acclaimed off-Broadway production of Summer & Smoke for Big Sky Theater Company, Generic Hispanic for Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, A Contribution To Domestic Architecture for Vital Theater Company, The Dumb Waiter for Ward 10, Crimes Against Humanity and Lonesome for NYU's First Look Theater Company and undone for INTAR in Manhattan. Rivas was the artistic director of Venture Theater in Philadelphia, where he directed the Barrymore Award-winning El Paso Blue by Octavio Solis and Steven Dietz's Rocket Man. He has worked with El Teatro Campesino, The Public Theater, The Wilma Theater, Dallas Theater Center, Mark Taper Forum, Long Wharf Theater, The Group Theatre (Artistic Associate, 1996-98), Penobscot Theater Company, McCarter Theater, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Tlaloc is a member of NoPassport — a theatre alliance devoted to cross-cultural action, advocacy and change — where his participation in the "Brownout" panel on ethnicity and performance was featured in the April 2008 issue of American Theater. He is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Cruz — where he received the UC Regents Presidential Award, Chancellor's Honors and Dean of the Arts Award for his production of Luis Valdez's The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa — and received his MFA in Directing from the University of Washington's School of Drama.

BOUNDLESS THEATRE CAST & CREATIVE TEAM is made up of James Chen, Beatriz Córdoba, Stephen Hansen, Lanna Joffrey, Kate Kertez, and Mónica Pérez Brandes.

Directed by Tlaloc Rivas, lighting design by María Cristina Fusté, set design by Jorge Dieppa, costume design by Sarita Fellows, original music & sound design by Brian McCorkle, production stage manager Giselle Torres, press representative Neyda Martínez.

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