Z Space and Piece by Piece Productions Present Noche Flamenca's ANTIGONA

Z Space and piece by piece productions are pleased to present Soledad Barrio and Noche Flamenca's evening-length work, Antigona, February 4-25, 2017. Press opening is on Tuesday, February 7 at 7pm.

Hailed by critics for its transcendent and deeply emotional performances, Noche Flamenca is one of the most authentic flamenco companies in the world today, and Soledad Barrio is its star. Antigonareinterprets the texts and themes of Sophocles' Antigone, bringing the fiery, expressive nature of flamenco to one of the world's great classic tragedies. Combining live music, song and dance,Antigona touches on themes of catharsis, dictatorship, repression, loss, the strength of family, and female empowerment

Antigona was created by Noche Flamenca Artistic Director Martín Santangelo in collaboration withSoledad Barrio, an artist celebrated by the New York Times as "one of today's great dancers and the recipient of a "Bessie" award for Outstanding Creative Achievement.Honoring the Greek tradition of sung poetry and musical accompaniment, Martín Santangelo studied the poetry of Sophocles, then translated and re-wrote the text into lyrics.

The idea to create a flamenco interpretation of the text and themes in Sophocles' classic play began when Marti?n Santangelo encountered the Living Theatre's production of Antigone, and was struck by the battle between an individual, disenfranchised woman, and the authority of the state and its patriarchy. The idea resurfaced in 2010 when Judge Baltazar Garzon was suspended from the Spanish court for his efforts to publicly honor those who fought against Franco, allowing families to bury their relatives previously left in mass graves. This breach of democracy struck Santangelo as similar to the conflict in Antigone, confirming his belief that the story is alive and relevant today. At its heart however, the story of Antigone resonates with the roots of flamenco, which is based not in any one culture or religion but on the strength of family. Antigone's story is her humanity and her quest to bury her brother regardless of the circumstances.

About Noche Flamenca

Formed in 1993, Noche Flamenca regularly tours around the globe. The mission of the company is to create a diverse theatrical body of performance through song, music, and dance that expresses a rigorous, spell-binding aesthetic in the form of flamenco. It strives to captivate its audiences through its live performances and to evoke in them the vivid and expansive sea of passion and emotion that is flamenco.

About Z Space

Z Space empowers artistic risk, collaboration, and camaraderie amongst artists, audience and staff in the service of creating, developing and presenting new work. Operating two venues in San Francisco's historic Mission District, a mainstage and a black box theater, Z Space hosts new works from a variety of performance disciplines year-round. Keystone initiatives include New Work, a development program that supports artists and ensembles from conception to realization of unique works, Word for Word, a resident theatre company that transforms works of literature verbatim to the stage, and Youth Arts, an arts education program promoting literacy and engaging students' creativity. We foster opportunities around the nation for these works and we engage diverse audiences through direct interactions with the process, the projects, and the artists.

piece by piece productions is a non- profit producing organization that was started in 1999 by Wendy Vanden Heuvel. Productions have included: Medea directed by Deborah Warner with Fiona Shaw on Broadway (associate producer), The Tricky Part (2004 Obie award and two Drama Desk nominations including Outstanding Play) by Martin Moran and All The Rage, (Lucille Lortel Award, Outstanding Solo Show 2013) by Martin Moran produced with Rising Phoenix Repertory and The Barrow Group. The Walworth Farce by Enda Walsh, Mabou Mines DollHouse, Emma Rice's Brief Encounter, and Let The Right One In, all in association with St Ann's Warehouse. My Name is Rachel Corrie in association with The Royal Court Theatre, Slipping in association with Rising Phoenix Repertory and Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. Elective Affinities with Zoe Caldwell by David Adjmi, co-produced with Rising Phoenix Repertory and Soho Rep, Lee Breuer's La Divina Caricaturain association with St Ann's Warehouse, La Mama ETC, Mabou Mines, and Dovetail Productions, andHundred Days by The Bengsons and Kate E. Ryan co-produced with Z Space (TBA Outstanding New Musical 2014). piece by piece productionshas been a producer with co-creators Brian Mertes and Melissa Kievman on The Lake Lucille Chekhov Project since 2010 (Ivanov, Seagull). Film:The Rest I Make Up: Documenting Irene directed by Michelle Memran, (a documentary about the life and work of the playwright Maria Irene Fornes), The Seagull: The Lake Lucille Chekhov Project directed by Brian Mertes. Wendy is an actress, and a teacher, and lives in San Francisco with her husband Brad Coley and their daughter Lila Blue.

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