Macha Monkey to Stage THE COLLABORATOR, 4/29-5/14

Macha Monkey Productions presents the world premiere of The Collaborator by award-winning playwright Yussef El Guindi, directed by Anita Montgomery and featuring Hayley Guthrie, April 29th through May 14th.

Macha Monkey is thrilled to produce the newest work by playwright Yussef El Guindi (Threesome, Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World), a one-woman show about the loneliness in intimacy and consent.

Cass, a perturbed actor in a search for truth, welcomes the audience into her bed and her psyche as she rationalizes her thirst for attention with her personal boundaries. Through intimate, intertwining stories about her experiences with men, the audience gets to know Cass and feel, as she does, the presence of the unnamed collaborator who made all this possible.

Macha Monkey is producing The Collaborator at West of Lenin. West of Lenin is an 88 seat black box theatre and studio space located literally a 5 minute walk west of the Lenin statue in Fremont. Founded in 2011, West of Lenin was created to offer a venue for Seattle's most interesting and adventurous artists, as well as the re-establishment of a permanent, live performance venue in Fremont. Since opening our doors, West of Lenin has housed many talents, both locally and from across the country within all genres of performance and visual art.

About the Playwright

Yussef El Guindi's most recent productions include Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World (winner of the Steinberg/ American Theater Critics Association's New Play Award in 2012; Gregory Award 2011; Seattle Times' "Footlight Award" for Best World Premiere Play) at ACT, and Language Rooms (Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award, as well as ACT's New Play Award), co-produced by Asian American Theater Company and Golden Thread Productions in San Francisco; as well as at the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia.

His plays, Back of the Throat, as well as Such a Beautiful Voice is Sayeda's and Karima's City, have been published by Dramatists Play Service. The latter one-acts have also been included in THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT PLAYS: 2004-2005, published by Applause Books in 2008. His play Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith, is included in SALAAM/PEACE: AN ANTHOLOGY OF MIDDLE-EASTERN AMERICAN PLAYWRIGHTS, published by TCG, 2009.

Yussef is the recipient of the 2010 Middle East America Distinguished Playwright Award.

About the Director
Anita Montgomery is a Seattle based director, dramaturg, theatre worker. From 2002-2015 she served on the artistic staff at ACT, created the Young Playwrights Program (YPP), ran the literary department and fostered several new play development partnerships. Anita teaches Dramaturgy for Directors at the University of Washington and has had the pleasure of working as dramaturg and/or director on 30 plus new plays by professional playwrights across the country. Favorite Directing credits include the world premiere of Yussef El Guindi's Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World, and Rapture Blister Burn, both at ACT, Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf at the Pendragon Theatre Company, in upstate New York, and Tracey Scott Wilson's Buzzer, in the ACTLab. Anita is proud mother of two, Hazel (15) and Gabe (9).

About the Actor

Hayley Guthrie is positively thrilled to join Macha Monkey for this project. Hayley received her BFA in Acting from WVU. From there she moved to Ohio to become a resident ensemble member of the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company for 6 years. Favorite roles include Juliet, Miss Julie, Lavinia (Titus Andronicus), Emily (Our Town), Constanza (Amadeus) and Lucy (Dracula). Other regional credits include: Howmet Playhouse (Almost, Maine and The Underpants), Valley Ridge Theatre (The Importance of Being Earnest), and Vpstart Crow (A Midsummer Night's Dream). She moved to Seattle in 2011 with her Romeo, where they have become proud parents of a "very expressive" 2 year old daughter named Ceridwyn. Mantua's turned out pretty dreamy...

Date: April 29th and 30th, May 5th, 6th, 7th, 12th, 13th and closing night May 14th. (Plus pay what you can preview on April 28th!)

Time: 8pm

Location: West of Lenin Theatre

203 N 36th Street

Seattle, WA 98103

Tickets: $18 in advance; $20 at the door

www.machamonkey.org