Columbia Stages Presents LIFETIME FAIRYTALE 10/21-24

Columbia Stages announces its first fall presentation of the 2009-2010 season, Lifetime Fairytale-the collaboration of 2nd year MFA Playwright Zhu Yi and 3rd year MFA Director Marios Theocharous. An old Chinese myth "rebottled" like old wine in new skin, Lifetime Fairytale takes us on an emotional journey through both time and space. A story of love, beauty, obligation and fairies, it is also a story of growing old in the presence of youth. Lifetime Fairytale begins with the journey of a student and ends with the progress of a man. He started climbing. The process was slow. He gained courage from love. He never changed his heart. "We will meet and live together," he said.
The cast includes:

Anita Anthonj (Fairy), Jiasi Chen (Lion Dance Performer), Mi Sun Choi (Liu's Mother, Maid Five), Manuel Fihman (Man in Black), R. Paul Hamilton* (Liu's Great Grandson), Kirsten Hopkins* (Liu's Wife, Maid One), Caitlin Johnston (Maid Three), James Kwan (Lion Dance Performer), Gustavo Obregon (Liu's Son, Man in Black), Sarah Stevens (Maid Four), Andrew Taliano (Maid Two), and Moses Villarama* (Liu).

*appears courtesy of Actors' Equity Association

In addition to Theocharous, the creative team includes Ji-Youn Chang (Set & Lighting Design), Paul Carey (Costume Design), Sonia Nolasco (Assistant Costume Design), Stavros Makris (Sound Design), Maja Wampuszyc (Movement Design), Christian Chan (Fight Choreography), Rebecca Poccia (Dramaturgy), Regina Vorria (General Manager), Anna Benziger (Assistant Director/Prop Master), Pisa Waikwamdee (Production Stage Manager), Michelle Cote (Assistant Stage Manager), and Natalie Zhang (Assistant Stage Manager).
Marios Theocharous (Director) is a Greek-Cypriot artist who is currently an MFA candidate in Theatre Directing at Columbia University. He is a Cyprus University alumnus with a degree in Educational Sciences in Primary Education. He is the Artistic Director of DRASTES THEATRICAL GROUP, which is co-producing this project with Columbia University. New York credits include a blend of Chekhov's short plays titled Vodka Mango, A Moon for the Misbegotten by Eugene O'Neill, The Wedding by Zhu Yi and The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams.
Zhu Yi (Playwright) is an MFA Playwriting candidate at Columbia University, born in Shanghai, China. The "One-Child-Policy" in her motherland resulted in a lonely childhood. To cheer herself up, she created stories and talked to herself, which surprisingly turned out to be the starting point of her career. She finished her BA in Literature of Film & Drama at Nanjing University and Acting with Masks at Oslo University College in 2008. Other credits include Promising (Down-Stream Garage, Shanghai), Jacques or Obedience (Oslo University College), and the documentary film "Scrape" (Beijing Independent Film Festival '08).
Performance Schedule:

(all performances at The Riverside Theatre, 91 Claremont Avenue between 120th and 122nd Sts.)

Wednesday, October 21 at 8PM

Thursday, October 22 at 8PM

Friday, October 23 at 8PM

Saturday, October 24 at 2PM & 8PM

Tickets for events at The Riverside Theatre can be purchased online (www.ColumbiaStages.org) or by visiting the box office of The Riverside Theatre. Box office hours are Thursday-Saturday, 4-8pm; Sunday 12-4pm and 1 hour prior to all performances.
Columbia Stages is the producing arm of the Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theatre Studies of Columbia University's School of the Arts. Columbia Stages presents a season of graduate actor and director productions as well as an annual festival of new plays by emerging playwrights. The theatre program offers MFA degrees in acting, directing, playwriting, dramaturgy, stage management, and theatre management and producing. The goal of the program is to provide each student with the foundation for a career in professional theatre as well as the tools to embrace an ever-changing theatrical landscape and shape the future of the theatre.

For more information, visit www.ColumbiaStages.org