Book-It Presents Inventive Story about a Search for Home in A TALE FOR THE TIME BEING

Book-It Repertory Theatre opens its 27th season with A Tale for the Time Being this September. In Tokyo, 16-year-old Nao's only solace is her diary. Across the Pacific, Ruth is a novelist living on a remote island who discovers a collection of artifacts washed ashore in a Hello Kitty lunchbox-possibly debris from the devastating 2011 tsunami. As a mystery unfolds, Ruth is pulled into the past, into Nao's drama and her unknown fate, and forward into her own future.

"A Tale for the Time Being is a deeply spiritual story, and like any good piece of art, awakens us from complacency and taps into all the large unanswerable questions about life, death, and human connection. It reminds us that we have the capacity to make a profound impact on each other and our world, in surprising and unexpected ways," says Director Desdemona Chiang. Chiang makes her Book-It debut with this production.

The cast includes Khanh Doan as Jiko, Mi Kang as Nao, Mariko Kita (Red Ranger Came Calling) as Ruth, Scott Koh (How I Came West, and Why I Stayed) as Haruki #2, Kevin Lin (Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet) as Haruki #1, Michael Patten (Little Bee, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay) as Oliver, Rachel Rene as Muji, and Annie Yim as Babette. The design team is led by Scenic Designer Catherine Cornell (Slaughterhouse-Five, Truth Like the Sun) with Robertson Witmer (The Art of Racing in the Rain, the 2009 premiere of Emma) as Sound Designer, costumes by Christine Tschirgi, and lighting by Tristan Roberson.

A Tale for the Time Being runs Sept 14-Oct 9, 2016 (opening/press night on Saturday, Sept 17) atCenter Theatre at the Armory (305 Harrison Street, Seattle, WA 98109). Tickets range from $25-$50 with group rates available. Purchase at book-it.org or by calling the box office at 206.216.0833. The box office is open Tues. through Fri., 12:00p.m. - 5:00p.m. (Tues. - Sat. during production run), located in the outer lobby of the Center Theatre at the Armory.

Desdemona Chiang is a stage director based in Seattle and the San Francisco Bay Area. Co-Founder of Azeotrope. Directing credits include Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre (upcoming), Playmakers Repertory Company, Aurora Theatre Company, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Shotgun Players, Crowded Fire Theatre Company, Impact Theatre, Playwrights Foundation, Golden Thread Productions, Washington Ensemble Theatre, among others. Assisting and new play development credits include: Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Intiman Theatre, A Contemporary Theatre, California Shakespeare Theater, Arizona Theatre Company, Mark Taper Forum, Magic Theatre, Theatreworks, Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre, among others. Awards/Affiliations: Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Theatre, SDC Sir John Gielgud Directing Fellow, Drama League Directing Fellow, TCG Young Leader of Color. Adjunct Faculty, Cornish College of the Arts. BA: University of California at Berkeley. MFA Directing: University of Washington School of Drama.

A company member for over 25 years, Laura Ferri most recently directed Prairie Nocturne, winner of a 2012 Seattle Times Footlight Award. She adapted and directed Broken for You and the Danger: Books! series for Book-It All Over (now Book-It's Arts & Education Programs). Her adapting and/or directing credits also include Special Editions of The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, Stories for Boys, and The Call of the Wild. Laura's most memorable Book-It stage appearance was as Mrs. Bennet/Lady Catherine in Pride and Prejudice, which she also choreographed along with Emma, Anna Karenina, Sense and Sensibility, My Ántonia, and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. Her work has been commissioned by Seattle Art Museum, Tacoma Art Museum, Seattle Arts and Lectures, Women's University Club, and JTNews, among others.

A novelist, filmmaker, and Zen Buddhist priest, Ruth Ozeki grew up in New Haven, Connecticut and graduated with degrees in English Literature and Asian Studies. Along with A Tale for the Time Being, she has published novels My Year of Meats and All Over Creation.Her film Body of Correspondence received the New Visions Award at the San Francisco Film Festival and Halving the Bones was screened at the Sundance Film Festival, the Museum of Modern Art, the Montreal World Film Festival, and the Margaret Mead Film Festival, among others.

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