God Machine, in Partnership with The Foundry Theatre, presents Ugo’s Last Dance, a new musical by David Lefort Nugent & directed by Alec Tok, at The Medicine Show Theatre, 549 West 52nd Street, from September 10th to October 4th. Also featured is live music by Moore & Sons, musical direction by Vickie Shagoian & choreography by Anna Massey.
Based on the thirty-third canto of Dante’s Inferno, Ugo’s Last Dance is a haunting tale about three clowns, whose fame as political commentators under the previous regime, leads them—under a tyrannical usurper—to languish their days away in a jail cell, where the play is set. Faced with the looming specters of starvation & torture, there is little hope of salvation. Through performance, puppetry & the live accompaniment of folk rock band Moore & Sons, Ugo’s Last Dance will transport you to a magical & sinister land, where memories & illusion intertwine, reality becomes fiction & every moment is a struggle to hold on to your humanity.
Featured in this AEA Approved Showcase Production are
Pun Bandhu* as Ugo, Eliza Bent, Regi Huc*, Matt Hussong*, Kiat-Sing Teo & Tom E. Russell*. The creative team includes Roweena Mackay (dramaturg & assistant director), Brenda Davis (sets), Michael Locher (props), Eric Ting & Jonathan Cottle (puppets), Christina Bullard (costumes), Gina Scherr (lights) & Sharath Patel & Ted “TJ” Pallas (sound).
Moore & Sons, hails from Brooklyn & was founded by Chris Moore, drummer for the legendary hardcore/punk quartet, Negative Approach. Today, Moore & Sons is a living, breathing entity which mines each individual member’s eclecticism & is described by Mojo magazine as “thoughtful folk with incandescent melodies” & by musicom.com as a “precious gem."
David Lefort Nugent is a playwright, composer, lyricist & the Artistic Director of God Machine. His plays have been presented &/or developed at
Playwrights Horizons,
Medicine Show Theatre, Joe’s Pub at
The Public Theatre, the Stratford Festival of Canada, Theatre Network, Workshop West in Edmonton, Alberta, the Ottawa Fringe Festival & the Yale Cabaret in New Haven, CT. David holds an MFA in Playwriting from Yale School of Drama & a BFA in Acting from the University of Alberta.
Alec Tok is a Singapore-born, New York-based theatre director, who just produced & directed his first full length feature film, North Bridge River, a story about the Spirit of a Girl, who descends on Shanghai after taking her life by jumping off her balcony. His previous work includes a short film called The Boy Who Asked Too Many Questions - a story set in Singapore, about a boy who was ordered to leave the classroom for asking too many uncomfortable questions. It can be downloaded from youtube & google. He has an MFA in Directing from Yale School of Drama.
Deeksha Gaur is a proud recipient of the Foundry’s Producer’s Chair Award for this production. She is the Assistant Managing Director at
Long Wharf Theatre, as part of the TCG New Generations Future Leaders program. Brought up in Bombay & London, she received her undergraduate degree in history at Cambridge University & her MFA in Theatre Management from Yale School of Drama. Career highlights include producing A Bedtime Story at the Edinburgh Fringe, a play banned in India for seventeen years, running Summer Cabaret 2006 as the Associate Managing Director & producing
Mike Daisey’s Invincible Summer at
Yale Repertory Theatre.
The Foundry Theatre Producer’s Chair is a mentorship program supporting the development of emerging creative producers. Each year, the company selects two promising young producers, who are spearheading the premiere of
Theatre Projects in NYC & provides them with 4 to 6 month residencies at The Foundry, in addition to a small grant to be used toward their projects as they see fit. Unlike the film industry, in which there are training opportunities built into the budget lines of most movies, the American theatre has no such equivalent for young theatre producers, who are increasingly indispensable collaborators in the development & production of new works. By fostering innovation & creative excellence in producing, The Foundry seeks to strengthen & diversify Off-Broadway theatre & begin to build a ladder for those who will re-create it in the generations to come.
God Machine is a new theatre company in New York City whose mission is to stage the unstageable. Founded by Artistic Director David Lefort Nugent, together with Executive Producer Deeksha Gaur, God Machine is committed to supporting the work of artists who create provocative & uncompromising theatre; whose passion for their work is not tailored by their desire to be produced; who are unafraid to explore difficult material; who inspire others to reach down to the depths of their souls & share with the world, what they find there.
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