The Ambassador Theatre has announced the world premiere of Happily Ever After by Cristina Colmena. Happily Ever After will run March 12-30, with an opening night reception on March 13, at the Mead Theater Lab at Flashpoint (916 G Street NW, Washington DC). Performances will be Tuesdays-Saturdays at 8:00pm, and Sunday matinees at 2:00pm. Tickets are $20 - $40 and can be purchased online at http://www.aticc.org/home/box-office. Happily Ever After is recommended for mature audiences.
In Happily Ever After, one and one not always equals two. The couples and its complicated arithmetic are exposed through three stories where characters want to be happy but they don´t know how. When you get stood up, when you wake up beside a stranger, when after thirty years you don´t know what to speak about. The loneliness of sleeping alone and of sleeping with someone. Why one plus one may equal nothing?
Three couples of different ages, representing a lifetime of romantic struggles, are crippled by fears and insecurities and unable to find fulfilment in love. We see young lovers bound by a powerful attraction yet destined to part; cynical middle aged 'one night standers' failing to act on a promising encounter; and an older, deeply unhappy couple keeping up appearances after thirty years of marriage.
The compelling dark comedy and its high emotional resonance present a chance for self-reflection and an opportunity to learn from the characters' mistakes. All three 'un-love' stories are poignant reminders that if we keep sitting on the fence, fearful and pessimistic, happiness may never come!
The play was written in 2013 by Cristina Colmena, a writer and playwright born in Spain, currently living in New York. She writes short stories, articles and film reviews. Her plays, Typing and Happily Ever After, were included in the New Plays from Spain series as part of the PEN World Voices Festival 2013. Ambassador Theatre is happy to partner with the Embassy of Spain and its cultural program SPAIN, arts and culture to present one of the newest play written by Cristina Colmena! Do not miss an opportunity to meet Cristina Colmena, who will be in attendance for both preview and opening nights on 12 and 13 of March, as well as on Friday March 14, which will feature a Question and Answer session after the performance.
Writer and playwright, Cristina Colmena has lived in New York since 2010. She has published a book of short stories, La amabilidad de los extraños (The Kindness of Strangers), and several of her short stories have appeared in literary magazines. Her plays, Typing and Happily Ever After, were included in the New Plays from Spain series as part of the PEN World Voices Festival 2013. She holds Bachelor's degree in Audiovisual Communication and Journalism and has worked as a director and screenwriter for television. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing in Spanish from New York University, where she is currently pursuing a PhD in Spanish and Portuguese Literature. She is also a contributor of articles and film reviews for various publications.
Ambassador Theater's mission is to build international cultural awareness, provide a high standard of international repertoire based on close relations with the diplomatic and cultural representatives of different countries in the United States, and provide international interactive educational programs for the youth of the District of Columbia, the D.C. Metro area, and around the United States.ATICC is a 501(c)3 Nonprofit Organization.
For more information, visit www.aticc.org.
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