Hangar Theatre Kicks Off 2014 Wedge Series Tonight

The Hangar Theatre is pleased to announce the shows for its upcoming Wedge Series. These four shows will be under the direction of the Drama League Directing Fellows, and will feature members of the Hangar Theatre Lab Company. Each year the Hangar offers free admission to Hangar patrons and all community members to its Wedge Series of cutting edge performances. These shows take place under the Hangar Tent, which is transformed into a unique performance venue for each Wedge show. Performances begin 15 minutes after the scheduled Mainstage performances tonight, June 19, and June 20, as well as July 3, 4, 17, 18, 24, and 25. Wedge performances are open to all ages; however they may contain mature language and situations that may not be suitable for all children.

The Wedge Series opens with This Property is Condemned and Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen, on June 19 and 20. Both plays are by Tennessee Williams and will be directed by Teya Sugareva. "We deal with the idea of how difficult it is to escape from a bad environment where we hardly can breathe. It is easy to say 'this property is condemned', but it's hard to find beauty in a world of indifference.

On July 3 and 4, the Wedge will be presenting Oedipus directed by John Michael DiResta. "His kingdom in disarray at the hands of a deadly plague, King Oedipus arrives at the newly erected medical relief tent at the Hangar Theatre to assess the crisis and appease his constituents. But all goes awry when the past that he didn't know, begins to destroy his future."

The Grind, or How We Became Posthuman, directed by Zi Alikhan will be performed on July 17, and 18, "In 2014, we live in a world where it's possible to unlock your phone, swipe somebody right on Tinder, and be completely naked with them in 10 minutes flat without exchanging a single spoken word. As the advent of new technology enables us to make sexual and romantic connections in less conventional, less personal, less 'human' ways, will the act of having sex as we know it become just a ghostly relic of humanity's past?"

The Wedge will have its last two performances of the season on July 24 and 25 with The Map of Lost Things directed by Melissa Crespo. "We lose things all the time and we mourn them. But is there such a thing as potential loss? What about the things we don't want and never had, but wanted the potential of having? The play features a woman who is in the aftermath of a miscarriage. Her friend mourns his unrequited love and the One-We-Don't-Talk-About mourns nothing."

Jen Waldman, Hangar Theatre Artistic Director and Drama League directing fellow mentor comments, "Our directing fellows have put together an electrifying Wedge season. I am beyond excited to share these sexy and edgy productions with our audience." The Wedge offers the Ithaca community the "kind of theatre that pulses, vibrates, breathes, and celebrates the experience of being alive." This is a truly unique experience that you won't find elsewhere in the area. The Drama League directing fellows are also busy directing our KIDDSTUFF series and leading our Prologue Series (new for 2014), a free preshow discussion before every Mainstage performance.

Established in 1983, the Wedge has been the proving ground for some of the most innovative and dynamic theatre artists working today. Serving as a home for our Lab Company and led by directors selected for the Drama League Summer Program, The Wedge produces provocative, cutting edge theatre. Over the years it has produced original productions by some of our most exciting playwrights including: Kenny Finkle, Anne Washburn, Kathryn Walat, Gregory Moss, Caridad Svich and Lauren Yee. The Wedge has also launched the directing careers of such theatrical ground-breakers as Michael Mayer, Mark Brokaw, Lisa Peterson, Rob Jess Roth, Sam Gold, Rachel Chavkin, Kevin Moriarty, and Joe Calarco.

Director Biographies:

Zi Alikhan is a theatre director who couldn't be more honored to be working at The Hangar this summer. Zi is the Artistic Director of The BASiC Theatre Project, an NYC-based theatre collective dedicated to creating socially-aware performance for the millennial generation. With BASiC: Gross Indecency, The Mistakes Madeline Made, workshops of A Crucible, The Maids (in development). Other NYC: N/F (HERE Arts), The Future Mrs. Harry Windsor (Dixon Place), In the Next Room (WORK Brooklyn), The Cradle Will Rock (NYU/Tisch). Assistant credits off-Broadway and at the Pasadena Playhouse. Zi is a proud associate member of SDC. BFA/NYU/Tisch.

Melissa Crespo is so excited to be at the Hangar this summer! She is a NYC based freelance director and producer and frequently works with Dramatic Question Theatre, INTAR and [the claque]. Most recently she directed Morningside Opera's ¡Figaro! (90210). Selected assoc/asst credits: Bird in the Hand (Fulcrum Theater), Sarah Ruhl and Todd Almond's Melancholy Play (13P), Camino Real (NYU), Everyday Rapture and Some Men (Second Stage). Melissa was a Van Lier Directing Fellow at Second Stage Theatre and the Allen Lee Hughes Directing Fellow at Arena Stage. She is currently the Grant Coordinator for the Tony Randall Theatrical Fund and a Drama League Directing Fellow. Melissa holds an MFA in Directing from the New School for Drama. www.melissacrespo.com

John Michael DiResta hails from Lawrence, Massachusetts. His work as a director focuses mostly on new work development, site-responsive theater, community engagement, and devised theater. He is particularly interested in the intersection between new work development and theater for social change, and highlights in his work the importance of repositioning audience experience in new plays. John has developed new works with Labyrinth Theater Company, Rising Phoenix Rep, MCC Theater, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Judson Church, Axial Theater, Where Eagles Dare Theater, The American Music Theater Project, and Northwestern University's Master Clash. John has long been a champion of new work from urban teenagers, and served as the producer of the MCC Theater Youth Company from 2007-2010. John has also taught playwriting, acting, and directing at a variety of New York City Public High Schools. Assistant Director: Ode to Joy (Cherry Lane) Skylight (Court Theater), The Verona Project (AMTP), Judgment Day (Bard Summerscape), Killers and Other Family (Rattlestick Theater). Dramaturge: Fur (Access Theater), The Wild Duck (Bard Summerscape). John produced the MCC Theater Youth Company from 2007-2010, and is a teaching artist and writer. www.jmdiresta.com.

Teya Sugareva is a Bulgarian theatre director, poet and teacher at the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts (NATFA). She graduated Directing for Drama Theatre (NATFA), and the very same year started teaching there as an assistant of prof. Snejina Tankovska. Theatre credits: The Miser, Walled in Ones, Welcome, America!, Robin, and Invitation for Dinner. She has won several of the most respected Bulgarian theatre awards. She is currently studying for a PhD in the field of modern Bulgarian theatre.