Bay Area Children's Theatre to Premiere RICKSHAW GIRL

In Naima's Bangladeshi village, boys can work for pay, but girls are expected to stay home and help with the cooking and the cleaning. Naima is smart and artistically gifted, but her family is so poor that she can't go to school anymore, and she worries that her younger sister will have to leave school next. Her hard-working father is exhausted, and she desperately wants to help him earn more money. But how?

Bay Area Children's Theatre (BACT) brings Naima's daring adventure to the stage with its world premiere of Rickshaw Girl by playwright Aditi Kapil, adapted from the award-winning novel of the same name by local author Mitali Perkins.

Directed by Vidhu Singh, with live percussion by Amit Sharma, Rickshaw Girl opens Saturday, April 2, at the Front Row Theater, 17011 Bollinger Canyon Road, San Ramon, CA, and plays weekends at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. through April 10. Recommended for age 6 and up.

TICKETS: $22 adults, $20 seniors, $18 children, $13 groups (minimum 15)

BOX OFFICE: www.bactheatre.org or call (925) 973-3343

Production Moves to San Francisco, Berkeley

San Francisco: From San Ramon, Rickshaw Girl travels to San Francisco, where it will play weekends, April 16 - May 1, at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Children's Creativity Museum Theater, 221 4th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103. The BART Powell Street Station is located 3 blocks away. BART is a BACT Community Partner.

Berkeley: The production completes its run in Berkeley at the Osher Studio, 2055 Center Street, Berkeley, CA 94704. In Berkeley, Rickshaw Girl will be presented weekends May 7 - 22, with performances at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. The BART Downtown Berkeley Station is just blocks away.

Author Mitali Perkins to Sign Books in San Francisco, Berkeley

After attending an early workshop of the new play, Perkins wrote: "When you create a story in your head and people it with characters who exist only in your imagination, it is otherworldly to see them come to life. As I listened in wonder, I found myself moved by the plight of a young Bangladeshi girl who wants so desperately to help her family. I had written the darn thing, but last night Naima's story was presented to me in a fresh and sweet form. It was the same; it was completely different. It was magic."

Perkins will sign books in San Francisco at both performances of Rickshaw Girl on Saturday, April 16, and in Berkeley on Sunday, May 22.

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