EST and Radio Drama Network Present WHERE DID WE SIT ON THE BUS?

Ensemble Studio Theatre (EST) and The Radio Drama Network are proud to announce the first production of the 2016-2017 season, the limited engagement of WHERE DID WE SIT ON THE BUS?, written and performed by Brian Quijada and directed by Chay Yew.

WHERE DID WE SIT ON THE BUS? begins performances at EST's Curt Dempster Theatre (549 W. 52nd Street, New York, NY 10019) tonight, September 10, 2016, officially opens Monday, September 19, and runs through Sunday, October 9, 2016.

WHERE DID WE SIT ON THE BUS? is an electric one-man show pulsing with Latin rhythms, rap, hip-hop, spoken word, and live looping. During a third grade lesson on the Civil Rights movement and Rosa Parks, a Latino boy raises his hand to ask, "Where did we sit on the bus?" and his teacher can't answer the question. This thrilling autobiographical production, written and performed by Brian Quijada, examines what it means to be Latino through the eyes of a child, turned teenager, turned adult.

WHERE DID WE SIT ON THE BUS? began as a compilation of rap songs and spoken word poems recited at the Nuyorican Poets Café in NYC, further developed at TerraNOVA Collective's SoloNOVA festival, Victory Garden's Ignition Festival in Chicago, and on The Millennium Stage at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. WHERE DID WE SIT ON THE BUS? had its world premiere earlier this year in Chicago, produced by Teatro Vista/ Victory Gardens.

Tickets are on sale now, ranging from $25 to $40 and can be purchased in advance at www.ensemblestudiotheatre.org or by calling (866) 811-4111. For a limited time through September 9, tickets can be purchased for a special discounted rate of $22, valid for all performances. The performance scheduleis as follows: Monday at 7pm, Wednesday - Saturday at 7pm, Saturday at 2pm, Sunday at 5pm.

EST's 2015/2016 season recently concluded with the world premiere of KENTUCKY, a co-production by EST/The Radio Drama Network and Page 73 Productions.Written by Leah Nanako Winkler and directed by Morgan Gould, KENTUCKY began performances on April 20, 2016, and opened on May 1 2016, for a limited run through May 22, 2016. Additional programming for the 2016/2017 season will be announced soon.

Ensemble Studio Theatre - commonly known as EST- was founded in 1968 by Curt Dempster on the belief that extraordinary support yields extraordinary work. They are a dynamic and expanding family of member artists committed to the discovery and nurturing of new voices and the continued support and growth of artists throughout their creative lives. Through their unique collaborative process they develop and produce original, provocative, and authentic new plays that engage and challenge their audience and audiences across the country.

Now with nearly 600 ensemble artists, EST has been under the artistic direction of William Carden since 2007. The company received two 2013 Drama Desk Award nominations for Finks by Joe Gilford and one 2014 Drama Desk nomination for Bobby Moreno in Year of the Rooster by Eric Dufault, who won the 2014 NY Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award for a new playwright debut. Hand To God, which originated at EST, was nominated for five Tony Awards for its Broadway run. EST received a special Drama Desk Award for its "unwavering commitment to producing new works" in May of 2015.

The Radio Drama Network (Melina Brown, President) was founded by legendary audio drama director and producer, Himan Brown, to support art forms that use the spoken word to enrich our culture. Himan was a champion of all storytellers, from the tradition of the earliest stranger who wandered from town to town with tales of the latest news, to Academy Award winning writers that contributed for his thousands of radio dramas, to the writers silenced by the Red Scare who were just trying to feed their families; Himan strove to keep them working, telling tales that spun out in the grandest oral traditions of history. Himan was the son of immigrants and became an actor, a director/producer and a gifted orator early in his life. His medium was a new discovery called radio. He began his career reading Yiddish stories over the airwaves from hotel bathrooms, and quickly moved to packaging and creating his own shows. During the height of radio, he created hundreds of radio series such as Inner Sanctum, Little Italy, Grand Central Station, Dick Tracy, Bulldog Drummond, and The Thin Man. Following television's rise, he resurrected audio drama on the airwaves with CBS Radio Mystery Theater and Adventure Theater. Himan Brown lamented the dearth of dramatic and interesting programming on today's airwaves, and he continued to create shows and series well into his 90s. Himan created the Radio Drama Network as a family foundation to continue his philanthropic work. He was a husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather who doted on his great-grandchildren. Himan Brown died three weeks' shy of 100 years old in 2010.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Brian Quijada (Playwright/Performer)is a Chicago-born, New York-based actor, musician, and playwright. As an actor, Brian has helped develop new work across the country. New York collaborations include: Ensemble Studio Theatre, Repertorio Español, The Lark, The Brick, Page 73, Atlantic Theatre Company, Up Theatre, Astoria Performing Arts Center, Primary Stages, TerraNOVA Collective, LAByrinth, New Georges, The Public, and Playwright's Realm. Regional: How We Got On (Actor's Theater of Louisville's Humana Festival), Beat Generation by Jack Keroac (Merrimack Rep), The Solid Sand Below by Martin Zimmerman (The Eugene O'Neill's National Playwright's Conference), No More Sad Things by Hansol Jung (Boise Contemporary Theatre), and Informed Consent by Deborah Laufer (The Baltic Playwright's Conference in Estonia). Most recently, Brian was seen performing in his newest play development, Kid Prince and Pablo (a Digital Age, Hip Hop, American retelling of Mark Twain's The Prince and The Pauper) at Ars Nova's Ant Fest.

Chay Yew (Director) New York credits include The Public Theater, Playwrights Horizons, New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Realm, National Asian American Theatre Company and Ma Yi Theatre. His regional credits include Humana Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Kennedy Center, Mark Taper Forum, Goodman Theatre, American Conservatory Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theater, Denver Center Theater, Huntington Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Cincinnati Playhouse, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Northlight Theatre, Empty Space, Roundhouse Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Cornerstone Theatre, Geva Theater Center, East West Players, Teatro Vista, Playmakers Rep, Singapore Repertory Theatre, amongst others. Upcoming productions include the world premieres of Hannah and the Dread Gazebo at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Roz and Ray at Seattle Repertory Theatre, The Lady in Denmark at the Goodman and A Wonder In My Soul at Victory Gardens. His opera credits include the world premieres of Osvaldo Golijov and David Henry Hwang's Ainadamar (co-production with Tanglewood Music Center, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and Los Angeles Philharmonic) and Rob Zuidam's Rage D'Amors (Tanglewood). He recently edited a new anthology of Asian American plays, Version 3.0, for TCG Publications. He is a recipient of the OBIE Award and Dramalogue Award for Direction. An alumnus of New Dramatists, he also serves on the Executive Board on the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. He is the Artistic Director of Victory Gardens in Chicago.