foolsFURY to Premiere THE UNHEARD OF WORLD, 10/2-31

FoolsFURY Theater Company is proud to announce theNorth American premiere of The Unheard of World, a dark and eccentric fantasy by playwrightFabrice Melquiot translated from the French by foolsFURY company member Michelle Haner. A play for all ages, The Unheard of World tells the interwoven stories of a 200,000 year-old man, a girl half-swallowed by a bear, a little boy who refused to be born and a woman yearning, even in death, to have a child. The play opens in preview Friday, October 2 with a press opening the following evening, Saturday, October 3 at 8pm. The Unheard of World runs Thursdays - Saturdays through October 31. Tickets range from $20 - $30 and may be purchased online atuniverse.com/LoveAfterLife.

The Unheard of World charts a journey underground to a strange city situated among the roots of trees, home to the spirit of every person who has ever lived. A magical place where even raindrops can speak, the play's subterranean lair opens out onto vistas fit for a love story and a sinister crime alike. "The Unheard of World is part fairy tale, part dystopia," says Haner. "The characters yearn for place, for purpose, for connection, and this not only drives the action of the play, but gives it psychological and philosophical depth."

Best known for The Devil on All Sides(Le Diable en Partage), a play first presented in the U.S. in a widely acclaimed touring production by foolsFURY, Melquiot has written more than 50 works for theater, several of which have been performed around the world in a dozen languages including English, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Russian and Japanese. In 2008 Melquiot received France's highest honor for a playwright, an award given by the French Academy in recognition of the entire corpus of his works. Since 2012 he has served as the director ofthe Théâtre Am Stram Gram in Geneva, renowned for its international center for young audiences.

Joining foolsFURY's production is Emmy Award-winning composer Dan Cantrell, best known for his recent work on the Cartoon Network series The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. A multi-instrumentalist on piano, accordion and saw, he has performed as a featured soloist with Tom Waits, Joanna Newsom, Beats Antique and the San Francisco Symphony, among many others. ForThe Unheard of World Cantrell has composed an original score, his second for a foolsFURY production after The Devil on All Sides.

Songs in Cantrell's score will be performed live each night by members of the cast:

Paul Collins, Debórah Eliezer, Nkechi Emeruwa, Joan Howard and Brian Livingston. To create the world of the play, the actors will perform multiple roles "playing instruments, taking part in choral work, physical imagery and shadow-puppetry," explains Haner.

Additional members of the play's creative team include Noor Adabachi (scenic design), Beth Hersh (lighting design), Freya Prowe (collaborating visual artist), Martha Stookey (costume design), Grisel Torres (stage manager) and Alec White (production manager).

In tandem with the opening of The Unheard of World, EXIT Press will release a collection of Melquiot's plays, translated from the French by Haner and foolsFURY Co-Artistic Director Ben Yalom. Included in this volume are The Unheard of World (Le Monde Inouï), The Devil on All Sides(Le Diable en Partage) and Albatross (Albatros).

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