ROMANIA. KISS ME! EBILL 6pp - 59E59 Theaters

DEAR FRIENDS,
Welcome to Romania. KISS ME! - six short plays
from Romania’s New Wave. The Play Company is
proud to present this evening of new work by five
young writers at the forefront of the burgeoning
new writing scene in Romania.
Romania will join the European Union in January
2007. The country continues to change rapidly and
radically. Along with their peers, these five playwrights
- Nicoleta Esinencu, Bogdan Georgescu, Vera Ion,
Ioana Moldovan and Cristian Panaite - are forging
a dynamic new body of work for the stage that
reflects life as it is there now.
We were introduced to new Romanian writing last
summer, when the Immigrants’ Theatre Project and
Roberta Levitow collaborated with Corina Suteu and
the Romanian Cultural Institute to bring a group
of playwrights to New York. We were struck by the
vitality of their work and the explosion of artistic
energy in Romania right now. We thought that our
community of artists and audiences should know
about this exciting pocket of activity in the world,
THE PLAY COMPANY BOARD OF DIRECTORS
LAWRENCE KAPLEN Chairman
JEFFREY A. SINE Vice Chairman
BRIAN SILVER Treasurer
James V. Hart, Patricia Heaton, Ruth Hendel,
David Hunt, Robert Lantz, Kate Loewald,
Victoria Reese, George Sheanshang, Susan Stroman
and so we planned an evening showcasing new
Romanian plays. We are producing this work to
spotlight not only these plays and playwrights,
but also a moment of real transformation in a place
we in the U.S. know very little about. We hope you
enjoy the nerve and theatricality of these plays as
much as we do.
The Play Company is New York’s gateway to new
international plays. If you like what you see tonight,
please remember that not-for-profit companies can’t
produce quality theatre without your help. We need
your support to continue our exploration of new
plays and writers from the U.S. and around the
world. Your generosity is truly appreciated.
Thank you for coming tonight, and enjoy the show!
KATE LOEWALD
Founding Producer
THE PLAY COMPANY’S 2006/2007 SEASON CONTINUES:
THE ATTIC
By Yoji Sakate (Japan); directed by Ari Edelson
Translated by Leon Ingulsrud and Keiko Tsuneda
English Language premiere
February 21 – March 24
at 59E59 Theaters, Theater B
NEW WORK/NEW WORLD SERIES
Discussion of contemporary Japanese Theatre
with guest Yoji Sakate Winter 2007
THE PLAY COMPANY
Kate Loewald, Founding Producer
Lauren Weigel, Managing Producer
presents
Romania. KISS ME!
Six Short Plays from Romania’s New Wave
BUS
By CRISTIAN PANAITE
Directed by LIESL TOMMY
RED BULL
By VERA ION
Translated by ROBERTA LEVITOW
& SAVIANA STANESCU
Directed by MARCY ARLIN
DIAGNOSIS
By IOANA MOLDOVAN
Translated by ROBERTA LEVITOW
& SAVIANA STANESCU
Directed by THOMAS CARUSO
With NADIA BOWERS, JOHN BOYD, CHRIS DE ONI,
ROBERT HOGAN, JULIE JESNECK, ROSEMARY PRINZ
Set Design: CLINT RAMOS
Costume Design: OANA BOTEZ-BAN
Lighting Design: TYLER MICOLEAU
Sound Design: BART FASBENDER
Properties Designer: JUDI GURALNICK
Production Stage Manager: NICOLE BOUCLIER
Production Manager: JEE HAN
There will be one ten-minute intermission.
The Play Company gratefully acknowledges the leadership
support of the Kaplen Foundation for the 2006/2007 season.
The Play Company gratefully acknowledges the support
of The Romanian Cultural Institute.
For Jack and Mike
LAUREN WEIGEL
Managing Producer
THE PLAY COMPANY STAFF
ROB MARCATO Producing Associate
LESLIE CAIOLA Assistant General Manager
TRIP CULLMAN Associate Artist
PHILLIP GUTTMANN Special Events Consultant
AIMEE DAVIS Literary Intern
APOORVA KALE Literary Intern
3 Events devoted to classical and contemporary
writing from Iran Spring 2007
CURRENTLY IN DEVELOPMENT:
JOURNEY FROM THE LAND OF NO:
A GIRLHOOD CAUGHT
IN REVOLUTIONARY IRAN.
A stage adaptation of Roya Hakakian’s memoir
Visit www.playco.org for more information.
Romania. KISS ME!
By BOGDAN GEORGESCU
Translated by ROBERTA LEVITOW
& SAVIANA STANESCU
Directed by KAIPO SCHWAB
FUCK YOU. Eu.ro.Pa!
By NICOLETA ESINENCU
Translated by CORNELIA TALMAZAN
Adapted by ALEXANDRU BERCEANU
& TANIA MCBRIED
Directed by JACKSON GAY
OUR CHILDREN
By CRISTIAN PANAITE
Directed by LIESL TOMMY
Production Consultant: LESTER GRANT
Casting: JUDY HENDERSON, CSA
Press Representation: THE KARPEL GROUP/
BRIDGET KLAPINSKI
Literary Associate: MELISSA HARDY
Associate Producer: LINDA BARTHOLOMAI
Bus
By Cristian Panaite
Directed by Liesl Tommy
Leo Chris De Oni
Chichi Nadia Bowers
Lena Rosemary Prinz
Vali John Boyd
Sleeping Mother Julie Jesneck
Red Bull
By Vera Ion
Directed by Marcy Arlin
She Julie Jesneck
He John Boyd
The Old Woman In The
Candy Store Rosemary Prinz
Diagnosis
By Ioana Moldovan
Directed by Thomas Caruso
TheOld Woman Rosemary Prinz
The Stranger Robert Hogan
NADIA BOWERS Most recently, Nadia was the
standby for Sister James in Doubt on Broadway.
She will be doing Aaron Sorkin’s new play The
Farnsworth Invention at the La Jolla Playhouse
this winter. In adoration of Romanian director
Liviu Ciuleu who promised her: “Art is not nice”.
JOHN BOYD is excited to be making his New York
City theatrical debut with The Play Company. Previous
credits include Pinwheel Freak (Glaxa Studios), The
Crusaders (Two Roads Theatre). Film: “Lady in the
Water”, “The Notorious Bettie Page”, “Fields of
Freedom”, “Building Girl”. TV: “Law and Order”.
CHRIS DE ONI Theatre: Quira Hudes’ The
Adventures of Barrio Grrrl directed by Liesl Tommy
(SPF 2005), Tony Kushner’s Good Person of Sezuan
(La Jolla Playhouse), Maria Irene Fornes’s Letters
from CUBA (Signature Theatre). Film debut opposite
Al Pacino in “Sea of Love”; “Revenge” with Kevin
Costner; “Blown Away” with Jeff Bridges. Next I
Believe in America directed by Michael Narvaez.
ROBERT HOGAN Broadway: A Few Good Men,
Hamlet. Off-Broadway: Boy, What Didn’t Happen,
Further Than the Furthest Thing, Never the Sinner
(Outer Critics Circle Award Best Featured Actor),
Rutherford and Son, The Country Girl, On the Bum,
Lighting Up the Two-Year-Old, Hope is the Thing
With Feathers, Waiting for Lefty. Film: “Species II”,
“Day Zero”, “Maze”, “Westworld”, “Lady in Red”,
“Prince Jack” and “Hamburger, the Motion Picture”.
TV: “The Wire”, “Law and Order”, “L&O Criminal
Intent”, “Third Watch”, “Cosby”, “M*A*S*H” and
many other shows.
JULIE JESNECK Off-Broadway: Mr. Marmalade
(u/s) (Roundabout). Regional: Othello, A Midsummer
Night's Dream (The Old Globe), The Heart Is a
Lonely Hunter (The Alliance & Acting Co. Tour), The
Ruby Sunrise (Trinity Rep and ATL/Humana), Mary’s
Wedding (San Jose Rep). NY: Abu Ghraib Triptych
(Ensemble Studio Theatre), Mistral (Drama League),
Juilliard BFA.
ROSEMARY PRINZ Over 300 theatrical productions,
2000 TV shows. Broadway: Tribute opposite Jack
Lemmon, Prisoner of 2nd Avenue co-starring Art
Carney, Three Men on a Horse (All-Star George
Abbott Revival), Tonight in Samarkand, Late Love.
Off-Broadway: Steel Magnolias, Grown Ups.
National Tours: Driving Miss Daisy, California Suite,
The Apple Tree. All Major Regional Theatres:
Long Day’s Journey, Glass Menagerie, A Delicate
Balance, Perfect Ganesh, A Little Night Music,
and Master Class, to name a few.
NICOLETA ESINENCU (FUCK YOU, Eu.ro.Pa!)
Born 1978, Chisinau. Wrote: A saptea kafana,
Zuckerfrei, Dromomania, Tzap-tzarap and
others. FUCK YOU, Eu.ro.Pa! (Solitude, Stuttgart;
dramAcum2 prize) was published in the Romanian
reader at the 51st Venice Biennale, causing political
controversies in the Romanian parliament. Her plays
Romania. Kiss Me!
By Bogdan Georgescu
Directed by Kaipo Schwab
Orchestra Members/Romanian
National Railway Employees Nadia Bowers
John Boyd
Robert Hogan
Miss Renata Rosemary Prinz
Mr. Neagoe Chris De Oni
Vasile Julie Jesneck
Fuck You, Eu.ro.Pa!
By Nicoleta Esinencu
Directed by Jackson Gay
She Nadia Bowers
Our Children
By Cristian Panaite
Directed by Liesl Tommy
Old Man Robert Hogan
Young Man John Boyd
Middle Aged Man Chris De Oni
have been staged in Moldova, Romania, Sweden,
Germany, Russia, Japan, France and Austria. 2003
scholarship at the Akademie Schloss Solitude,
Stuttgart; 2006 scholarship at Recollets, Paris.
BOGDAN GEORGESCU (Romania. KISS ME!) is a
22-year old playwright and theatre directing student
at the National University of Theatre and
Cinematography in Bucharest, Romania. He studied
at the University of Vermont and worked with the
Immigrants’ Theatre Project in New York. He cofounded
the independent project tangaproject in
Romania, which focuses on the development of new
drama based on social involvement. His other plays
include D.W. (a “dramAcum” contest winner); Rape
(Green Hours Theatre, directed by Vera Ion) and
XXXcartoons (The Desant Theatre in Bucharest). He
is an alumnus of the Cornerstone Summer Institute.
VERA ION (Red Bull) is 25 years old and studies
theatre directing in Bucharest. Other staged plays:
Vitamins. Published books: Acetona, Copilul cafea
(poetry), Vitamins (theatre). She is member of
tangaproject, a young group of directors and
playwrights from Romania. In summer 2006 she
was a member of the Royal Court International
Residency for Playwrights.
IOANA MOLDOVAN (Diagnosis) is 29 years old.
Theatre was for me a sanctuary, after I witnessed
the suicide of a friend, then 29 years old, a prosecutor
for the High Court of Justice and former assistant
at the Romanian American University, where I
graduated in 2000 from the Law Department. I
graduated from Theatre Theory at the I. L. Caragiale
National University of Theatre and Cinema Arts in
Bucharest in September, 2006, and since then I have
been the Cultural Manager of ACT Theater, the first
independent theatre in Romania.
CRISTIAN PANAITE (Bus & Our Children) started
writing plays while studying at Bennington College
with dramaturg Roberta Levitow and playwright,
Gladden Schrock. Since then several of his plays,
dealing with the American dream or the historical/
contemporary Romanian environment, received
readings and productions in the U.S. and Romania.
Currently he is a Graduate Student at Miami
University of Ohio and has little idea where the
American dream will take him next.
MARCY ARLIN (Director - Red Bull) LCT Directors
Lab, Theatre W/o Borders, Fulbright Senior Specialist.
Artistic Director of Immigrants' Theatre Project (2003
OBIE). Directing venues: Soho Rep, LaMama,
HERE, The Public, Barrow Group Theatre, Ellis Island
Museum, QTIP, Tenement Theatre, Dublin Fringe,
NY Int'l Fringe, Yiddish Book Center, Univ. of Chicago,
Nat'l Theatre of Romania, CUNY/MESTC; Other:
Reality & New Romanian Theatre, Prague
Quadrenniale. She teaches Theatre at CUNY. 2006-
07: HERESY by Sabina Berman (HERE), Tropic of X
by Caridad Svich (Artheater/Cologne).
THOMAS CARUSO (Director - Diagnosis) Most
recently, Thomas directed the Off-Broadway musical
Mimi Le Duck starring Eartha Kitt at New World
Stages. Other credits include: The Butcherhouse
Chronicles by Michael Hidalgo for SPF 2006, Earth
to Bucky (Bay Street Theatre), and the premiere of
Terrence McNally and Israel Horovitz’s Off Season—
A Duet (Gloucester Stage). Thomas has also directed
at EST, Rattlestick, FringeNYC, HB Playwrights and
others. www.ThomasCaruso.com.
JACKSON GAY (Director - FUCK YOU, Eu.ro.Pa!)
Kia Corthron’s Master Disaster and Rolin Jones’
The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow for Atlantic
Theater Company. Best Production Connecticut
Critic’s Award Jenny Chow (Yale Repertory Theater).
Upcoming: Lucy Thurber’s Stay for Rattlestick, a new
musical Tock Tick for Prospect Theater Company
and The Underpants for Two River Theater. MFA
Directing Yale School of Drama.
KAIPO SCHWAB (Director - Romania. KISS ME!)
is the Artistic Director of The Imua! Theatre Company
where he has directed Balm in Gilead, Julius Caesar
and The Greeks. He has also directed ABC
Television’s Diversity Showcase, and for NYTW and
Immigrants Theatre Project. He is a Graduate of
Boston University School for the Arts and a NYTW
Usual Suspect.
LIESL TOMMY (Director - Bus & Our Children)
Brand: NEW Festival at Hartford Stage; Hydriotaphia
by Tony Kushner at Trinity Rep/Brown Consortium;
Misterioso 119 by Koffi Kwahule at Berkshire Theatre
Festival; Adventures of Barrio Grrrl by Quiara Hudes
at SPF. She was awarded the NEA/TCG Directors
Grant and the New York Theatre Workshop Twoyear
Casting/Directing Fellowship.
CLINT RAMOS (Set Design) New York: Public
Theater NYSF, Culture Project, Ma-Yi Theatre, MCC,
Vineyard Theatre, Red Bull Theater, Ensemble Studio
Theatre, SPF, Foundry Theatre, Rude Mechanicals,
Talking Band and others. Regional : American
Repertory Theatre, Merrimack Repertory, Baltimore
Centerstage, East West Players, Speakeasy Stage,
Commonwealth Shakespeare Co., Opera Boston,
Opera Theatre of St. Louis and others.
OANA BOTEZ-BAN (Costume Design), a native
of Romania, has designed for theater and dance
companies including The National Theater of
Bucharest and was involved in the Quadrennial
Scenography Prague. Oana is part of the first
Romanian theater design catalogue, Scenografica.
Since 1999, in New York: Richard Foreman, Richard
Schechner, Brian Kulick, Zelda Fichlander, Karin
Coonrod, Eduardo Machado, Paradigm, Jay Scheib,
Loy Arcenas, Erin Mee, Saviana Stanescu, Zishan
Ugurlu, Michael Sexton.
TYLER MICOLEAU (Lighting Design) Recent credits
include: Turn of the Screw (Delaware Theatre
Company), Hell House (Les Freres Corbusier @ St.
Ann’s Warehouse), The Timekeepers (Barrow Group),
Smoking Bloomberg (NYMF), The Rivals (NJ Shakes),
The Mistakes Madeline Made (Naked Angels).
Faculty: Sarah Lawrence College Dept. of Dance.
Awards: Lucille Lortel, OBIE (Bug).
BART FASBENDER (Sound Design) recently: Hell
House (Les Freres Corbusier @ St. Ann’s Warehouse),
Bhutan (Cherry Lane/NYSAF), Bloody, Bloody
Andrew Jackson (Williamstown) underground
(BAM/David Dorfman Dance), All This Intimacy
(Second Stage), Hitting the Wall (SPF 2006), Huck
and Holden (Cherry Lane). Previous Play Company
productions: Arabian Night, Terrorism, Sakharam
Binder, Trust.
NICOLE BOUCLIER (Production Stage Manager)
Off-Broadway: Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue (Page 73
Productions), The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow
(Atlantic Theater Company) Regional: Enchanted
April, Martha Mitchell Calling (Shakespeare &
Company), The Front Page, The Model Apartment,
Modern Orthodox (Long Wharf Theatre), Streets
of New York, Nicollette and Aucassin (Westport
Country Playhouse), Ain’t Misbehavin’, Sylvia
(Polkadot Playhouse).
JUDY HENDERSON (C.S.A.) Broadway: Barefoot
In the Park, Circle In The Square. Off Broadway:
The New Group and The Play Company. Hurlyburly,
Guantanamo, Gross Indecency, Ecstasy, Other
People's Money, Forever Plaid. TV: “Sins of The
City” (USA), “The Mia Farrow Story” (Fox). Films:
“12 and Holding”, “L.I.E.”, “subUrbia”, “Before
Sunrise”. ARTIOS nomination for Independent Film
Feature Casting, 2 ARTIOS nominations for the
Casting of an Off Broadway Play, Ross Reports
selection as one of the top 20 US Film Casting
Directors and appears in the National Register’s
WHO’S WHO in Executives and Professionals.
JEE HAN (Production Manager) has worked on
numerous Off-Broadway productions. Romania.
KISS ME! is her fourth show with The Play Company.
LESTER GRANT (Production Consultant) a native
of St. Kitts where he first got involved in entertainment.
He later went to film school where he stumbled into
technical theatre. In theatre, he has worn many
different hats over the years. He now provides
production management/consulting services for
Off-Broadway theatres in New York, video production
and corporate special events. Lester is always
delighted to work with The Play Company.
JUDI GURALNICK (Properties Designer) is the Prop
Shop Supervisor for the Design/Technology Program
at Purchase College. She has designed props for
theaters from Philadelphia to Brunswick, ME. In New
York, she has worked at Mint, Perry Street and Pearl
theaters. Favorites props: carousel animals
(Joseph…), Ezra Pound’s head (Treason). Judi was
artist in residence at the Arad Arts Project in Israel.
SAHEEM ALI (Assistant Director) is a native of
Kenya. Directing: Spring Awakening (Northeastern
University), One Hundred Years of Soledad, In the
Bar of a Tokyo Hotel, Seagull (Columbia University),
Romeo & Juliet (Commonwealth Shakespeare),
Hairy Ape (Northeastern). Assistant directing: Miser
(ART), Ballroom (Jeune Lune), Wintertime (Guthrie),
Henry V, Macbeth (CSC).
TIFFANY TILLMAN (Assistant Stage Manager)
Off-Broadway: Defiance (MTC), 10x20 (Atlantic
Theater Company), Elliot: A Soldier’s Fugue (P73).
New York: Mrs. Miller Does Her Thing (Second
Stage), Curtains, Gutenberg! The Musical!, You
Might as Well Live, The Wedding Plays. Regional:
Forever Plaid (NCBPAC), Bad Dates, Moving Picture,
(Williamstown Theatre Festival). Over a dozen
productions with The Charlotte Rep.
MELISSA HARDY (Literary Associate/Company
Manager) has worked with The Play Company
as Literary Associate, Producing Associate, and
Company Manager. Dramaturgy credits include,
In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Keen
Company), Bronx Express (New York International
Fringe Festival), The Sleeping Girl (Relentless Theatre
Company, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival’s
Southern Writer’s Project) and Three Sisters
(La MaMa etc).
LINDA BARTHOLOMAI (Associate Producer)
previously worked with The Play Company on
Arabian Night by Roland Schimmelpfennig, Lovely
Day by Leslie Ayvazian, Terrorism by the Presnyakov
Brothers and Sakharam Binder by Vijay Tendulkar
in the various capacities of Associate Producer,
Dramaturg and Company Manager. She is, as
always, delighted to work with The Play Company.
THE ROMANIAN CULTURAL INSTITUTE in
New York aims to promote Romanian culture for an
American and international public and to build
sustainable connections and collaborations between
American and Romanian cultural organizations.
Its NEW DRAMA Support Program, under the artistic
coordination of Saviana Stanescu, aims to provide
an open and flexible framework for Romanian-
American theatre exchanges. For more information
visit www.icmy.org