Friday, October 24, 2008

FRIENDS by Kobo Abe!

Brava Theater Center inaugurates its Second Stage! FRIENDS by Kobo Abe is the first play in its new Shout Out Loud series.


http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b195/anthemsalgado/IMG_8523_1.jpg
Pictured: Anthem Salgado as the Man, the surprise target of a bizarre family's affection.
Photo: Nate Keck.



Brava Theater
Preview: November 5, 2008
Run: November 6-21, 2008
2781 24th Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
Tickets: $10-$35, 415-641-7657
http://brava.org

Individualism and privacy versus collectivism and shared living. FRIENDS is the story of a man whose home is invaded by a family of strangers who insist on saving him from loneliness. "We are here to help," the family declares, beginning the journey into this dark comedy written by Kobo Abe (1967). This adaptation of FRIENDS is directed by Brava Theater Center's new Artistic Director, Raelle Myrick-Hodges.

The cast includes: Alanna Coby, Anthem Salgado, Brant Rotnem, Cec Levinson, Cynthia Brinkman, Daegan Palermo, Garth Petal, Gilberto Esqueda, Heidi Wolff, Jayne Deely, Khamara Pettus, Laurie Smith, and Liz Anderson.

ABOUT KOBO ABE: Kobo Abe is a Tokyo-born Japanese writer. Although Abe trained as a doctor, he never practiced medicine. Poet, novelist, and dramatist, Abe's surreal and often nightmarish explorations of the individual in contemporary society earned him comparisons to Kafka and his influence extended well beyond Japan, particularly with the success of Woman in the Dunes at the Cannes Film Festival. His play Friends won the Tanizaki Prize, one of Japan's most sought-after literary awards.

ABOUT RAELLE MYRICK-HODGES: Raelle has worked with such notables as director George C. Wolfe, and actors Meryl Streep and Mos Def among many others. She attended the Ealing College of Humanities in London and received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Southern California. Raelle produced plays and a series of political satire vignettes in San Francisco, and co-founded Azuka Theater in Philidelphia. Raelle was awarded a two-year grant, the NEA/TCG Career Development Award for Directing. As an Independence Foundation Awardee, she developed a new work, “An Artist’s Workshop.” She was (with creator Alden Moore) nominated for "Outstanding New Play” for this piece. Raelle has also directed the works of Naomi Iizuka (Polaroid Stories) and Suzan-Lori Parks (Topdog/Underdog; In the Blood).

ABOUT ANTHEM SALGADO: Anthem Salgado is a multi-disciplinary artist and educator. He has performed his original solo-theater creations on the stages of Asian Art Museum, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and Intersection for the Arts. Salgado has presented his spoken word throughout the Bay Area, New York, Honolulu, and Manila. As a literary artist, his fiction appears in the anthology, Field of Mirrors, and in the book, I Saw My Ex at a Party. He is a resident teaching artist for Brava Theater and also serves as a board member to Mind Power Collective, a network of educators focusing on social justice and youth empowerment. Salgado was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to attend Ateneo de Davao University in the Philippines to expand on his skills as a teacher. Anthem Salgado was elected Young Leader for his work as an artist and active community member by national organization for American theatre, Theatre Communications Group.

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