McCarter Theatre Presents Two Family Performances Of Sunjata Kamalenya

McCarter Theatre Education Department will present two family performances of Sunjata Kamalenya, written and directed by Christopher Parks, on Sunday, April 3 at 11am and 2pm.

For more than seven centuries, the legendary hero Sunjata has been hailed and exalted by the revered West African praise-singers known as jeli. Now, the McCarter Theater Education Department has teamed up with cast of performers and artists from America and Africa to bring the spirit and majesty of this time-honored epic to student and family audiences.

"Most people that experience Sunjata Kamalenya here in America will be hearing the story for the first time," said Christopher T. Parks, McCarter's Director of Education. " It is our ongoing commitment to faithfully bring the events of the Manden people's Tariku (chronicle) to you with the same excitement engendered in the music, dance and performance celebrated every day in countries such as Mali, Guinea, Senegal, and The Ivory Coast.

The artists at McCarter Theatre who brought you the "experiential theater" style when they created The Odyssey Experience, have further developed what is possible in terms of audience immersion for this production. "When you arrive, you and your children will likely expect to see a play that day. But instead, you will quickly discover that you are going to be in a play, as you, without any prior rehearsal, sing, dance and act alongside professional performers who have been trained to create a unique memorable performance," added Parks.

This play was first presented as a rehearsed reading in May 2010, at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, as part of New Visions/New Voices.

All tickets $12 and are available by calling (609) 258-2787; visiting www.mccarter.org; or in person at the McCarter Theatre Box Office at 91 University Place in Princeton.

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