Two angry young men sit outside a Vermont coffee shop and discuss music and Bukowski. When a lonely high school student arrives on the scene, they decide to teach him everything they know. A play with music and shrooms.
Annie Baker has just concluded a highly successful run of her play, Circle Mirror Transformation, at Playwrights Horizons. Her first play, Body Awareness, was produced at the Atlantic Theater Company this past year.
The Theatre @ Boston Court and Rattlestick Playwrights Theater present Everything You Touch, by Shelia Callaghan, directed by Jessica Kubzansky. Opening night is Saturday, April 12, 2014 on the Main Stage at Boston Court Performing Arts Center, 70 North Mentor Avenue.
Broadway stars might boast the biggest fan-bases, but without their directors, the vehicle driving their talents could easily swerve off the tracks. Keeping the runaway train at bay are season's bold Broadway 'conductors'. Scroll down to learn more about this season's intrepid and imaginative leaders!
Annie Baker takes live theater to the movies in THE FLICK, set in a rundown, second-run Worcester movie house. The audience gets to be like a fly on the wall as the ushers sweep up the detritus and muddle through their existential struggles between shows. Not much happens, but everything changes over the course of three hours.
Shah Peerally is more than a just a renowned lawyer. He is a humanitarian and an expert in United States immigration. Being himself an immigrant, he understands the hardship faced by new immigrants aka arriving aliens. At an early stage Shah realized that most new immigrants aren't fully aware of their legal rights which render them vulnerable to abuses. As a result, Shah spent much of the beginning of his career speaking about 'Know Your Rights' in mosques, churches and temples.
After working for two prestigious law firms, in 2005, he opened the Law Offices of Shah Peerally which will ultimately become the Shah Peerally Law Group PC. In 2010, Shah started a radio show on AM radio KLOK 1170 AM and an online radio at www.AttorneyOnAir.com. His radio shows are a praised for helping thousands understand the law and making a good decision on their cases. In the same spirit of helping the community, in 2011 Shah started a small production company (Shah Peerally Productions Inc). The company gained momentum by releasing three movies including one full feature film and two short dramas, two of which were selected for the movie festivals. All the movies tackle immigration law problems and other socially sensitive issues such as domestic violence, INA 221g Administrative Processing and Immigration Fraud.
Today Shah is considered one of the most respected attorneys of his time. He has been featured as an expert on major TV networks such as NDTV, Times now and his work published several major newspapers. He has been rated by Avvo.com as a Superb attorney with a perfect 10/10 score, and in 2013 was selected as a Rising Star by Superlawyers.com. With his social activism, Shah hopes to better the lives of the immigrants through education and advocacy. Recently Shah has been focusing on writing books as a means to educate the community.
Shah's new book, "The Immigration Lawyer Asylum," seems to have all the ingredients to keep the reader captivated including how a US immigration court functions. Being an attorney author, he wants to use his book to assist the average US citizen and immigrants to understand the realities of being a new immigrant. In this book, he covers immigration law, hate crimes and other sensitive issues and their implication on society.
Reading this book will fascinate you, especially because it has realistic law notions embedded into a fiction novel. "The Immigration Lawyer Asylum" was written from the attorney author's perspective, and all the US immigration issues found between the lines have been experienced by Shah Peerally. From his immigration and visa lawyer experience, he managed to create an amazing work of fiction which will guide many who plan to go to America. The American dream is not the same for everybody, and the land of opportunities comes with its difficulties and can sometimes be an American nightmare. The situation is worse when there is nobody to explain the law and most of the things one should know about the United States of America. This book is recommended to all the American natives who are unaware of the struggle of the immigrants. It also gives an overview of the operations of agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security including its subdivisions such as the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the Immigration Custom Enforcement (ICE) and the Custom Border Patrol (CBP).
Immigration lawyer Shah Peerally is definitely a person with substantial experience. In his eagerness to educate the public, he wrote the book which is both entertaining and useful. Inspired by his real experiences, he created an amazing educational work of fiction which is not only captivating but illustrates the process of present US immigration system.
The main character in the book is Sarah, a corporate lawyer turning into an immigration lawyer. She is married to a Caucasian Muslim immigrant from Bosnia. Not happy with the corporate world, she decides to become an immigration lawyer and decides to fight for immigrants' equal rights to justice. As a result, she joins SPLG, an immigration law firm in California and ultimately ends up with the case of Ahmad. Ahmad is a visitor from Iraq, who despite having a valid entry visa is apprehended at that San Francisco airport on pretext of immigration violations. In fact, the actual motive of his arrest was that he was suspected of being a terrorist. While Ahmad's tale is not the usual situation of most immigrants, it is still a reflection of the misfortune of many Muslims and Middle Easterners trying to enter the US post September 11, 2001. The book not only shows the hardship of these individuals and their lawyers but also the challenges faced by American Muslims or people who look like Muslims.
On a positive note the book praises the triumph of the American legal system and the US Constitution over arbitrary and capricious abuses of power. So one might think that Shah Peerally is trying to put all his hopes and dreams about a better world into a work of fiction. But in fact, through this he is actually trying to depict an a lesser known unique facet of the post 9/11 US immigration system including its strength and its flaws.
The editorial reviews of the book say it all:
Simon Barett From Blogger News review: "...I will however make some general observations. The author clearly understands the subject, and that makes this a great, if too short read. What I enjoyed are some of the nuances, the minor asides. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the life of being a refugee is not an easy one. Ahmad is lucky, he has people to help him, even better, people from other cultures that join for the common good..." ; and Jack Magnus from Readers' Favorites gives it a 5 Stars: "...I am so impressed by The Immigration Lawyer. This legal thriller by Shah Peerally is entertaining and highly inspirational and not only for young adults. I'd recommend it for anyone who wants to make a difference, especially law students and young lawyers who aren't quite sure about their career plans. Peerally sets out the procedural steps by which Sarah helps Ahmad simply and eloquently, and he makes accessible what has always seemed to me to be a very complicated branch of law. 'The Immigration Lawyer' also explores the all-too-real plight of immigrants in the U.S. after the 9/11 attacks who have been the victims of hate-crimes, and it does all this in an entertaining graphic novel format. The Immigration Lawyer is remarkable and a definite must-read."
For those who want to curl up with a good book, "The Immigration Lawyer Asylum" has something for everyone including romance, suspense, and drama while keeping its educational nature. This makes "The Immigration Lawyer Asylum" a book which is a "definite must-read" or it can be listened to on audio.
Series: The Immigration Lawyer
Paperback: 72 pages
Kindle Version: 74 pages
Publisher: Shah Peerally Productions Inc.; 1 edition (February 7, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0615783783
ISBN-13: 978-0615783789
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.2 inches
"The Immigration Lawyer: Asylum" is available in print priced just $9.99 from http://www.amazon.com/The-Immigration-Lawyer-Asylum-Volume/dp/0615783783/ and is also available as a Kindle download priced $3.07 (Free on KDP Select on specific days)
An audio version will soon be available on www.audible.com.
The 24-Hour Play Festival is an annual tradition at South Kingstown's Contemporary Theatre Company, where for 9 years, 6 plays are written, cast, staged, teched, and put in front of a live audience in a 24 hour span. I tagged along with one of the productions during this year's festival on January 11th, 2014, to see how it's done.
Theatre Horizon continues its season with the Philadelphia area premiere of Annie Baker's Circle Mirror Transformation. This Obie Award winning play runs February 20-March 16. Opening night is February 27 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $20-$35. Theatre Horizon is located at 401 DeKalb St. More information can be found at www.theatrehorizon.org or by calling 610.283.2230.
The Hub Network, a destination for kids and their families, is ushering in the New Year, with the world premiere of the Hub Network Original Family Movie, 'Stan Lee's Mighty 7,' on Saturday, February 1 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.
After the critical success of its most recent Lucille Lortel Award winning Off-Broadway production of Martin Moran's All the Rage (produced with piece by piece productions), acclaimed company Rising Phoenix Repertory returns to its longtime downtown home with the world premiere of RPR Artistic Director Daniel Talbott's new play Extraordinary Things.
The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust honors playwrights Annie Baker and Rajiv Joseph at the Sixth Annual Steinberg Playwright 'Mimi' Awards tonight, Monday, November 18, 2013 at the Lincoln Center Theater in New York. The 'Mimi' Awards are presented biennially to honor the accomplishments of some of the most gifted up-and-coming American Playwrights and to recognize the promise they hold for the future of American theater.
A Red Orchid Theatre (AROT) welcomes award-winning actor Kamal Angelo Bolden, director and long-time AROT artistic associate Shade Murray, and lighting designer Mike Durst into its storied Ensemble. Bolden, Murray and Durst are the most recent additions to the A Red Orchid Theatre Ensemble, which includes Lance Baker, Dado, Jennifer Engstrom, Kirsten Fitzgerald, Joseph Fosco, Steve Haggard, Mierka Girten, Larry Grimm, Karen Kawa, Karen Kessler, Danny McCarthy, Brett Neveu, Michael Shannon, Guy Van Swearingen, Doug Vickers, Natalie West and Craig Wright.
AMC announces the launch of its annual AMC FEARFEST, the biggest annual horror and thriller movie marathon of the Halloween season, starting Sunday, October 13.
The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust today announced it will honor playwrights Annie Baker and Rajiv Joseph at the Sixth Annual Steinberg Playwright 'Mimi' Awards on Monday, November 18, 2013 at the Lincoln Center Theater in New York. The 'Mimi' Awards are presented biennially to honor the accomplishments of some of the most gifted up-and-coming American playwrights and to recognize the promise they hold for the future of American theater.
A special open captioned performance of Miss Saigon has been announced for tonight at 7:30 pm. Seats are being held in an area of the main floor for this performance for those who are in need of this service. Tickets for this reserved section may be purchase in person at the Fisher Theatre Box Office or by phone at 313-872-1000, ext. 0.
Last week, I had the opportunity to drop in on the cast of Horse Head Theater Productions upcoming presentation of Annie Baker's THE ALIENS. Drake Simpson empathically said that the group is excited to present the Houston premiere of the play. Annie Baker is an up and coming and award winning playwright, who had her Houston premiere with Stark Naked Theatre Company's production of her first full length play BODY AWARENESS. Her second play CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION shared the 2010 Obie Award for Best New American Play with her third play THE ALIENS. Annie Baker's THE ALIENS was also a finalist for the 2010 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. In March 2013, Annie Baker was awarded the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize at Houston's Alley Theatre for her fifth play THE FLICK. Needless to say, the enthusiasm surrounding this Houston premiere is high, and the cast was thrilled to chat about Horse Head Theater Company's upcoming production of THE ALIENS.
Iconic movie star, Morgan Freeman, returns to Science Channel to host the fourth installment of television's most-astonishing franchise, the Emmy(R) nominated THROUGH THE WORMHOLE WITH MORGAN FREEMAN tonight, June 5, at 10:00 PM (ET/PT).
The full cast has been announced for Annie Baker's play Circle Mirror Transformation, which runs from 5 July - 3 August at the Rose Lipman Building in Haggerston as part of the Royal Court's Theatre Local project. The full cast will be Toby Jones, Imelda Staunton, Shannon Tarbet, Danny Webb and Fenella Woolgar.
Iconic movie star, Morgan Freeman, returns to Science Channel to host the fourth installment of television's most-astonishing franchise, the Emmy(R) nominated THROUGH THE WORMHOLE WITH MORGAN FREEMAN on Wednesday, June 5, at 10:00 PM (ET/PT).
Long Wharf Theatre concludes its 2012-13 season with Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning play Clybourne Park, by Bruce Norris, and directed by Associate Artistic Director Eric Ting. The play will take place on The Claire Tow Stage in the C. Newton Schenck III Mainstage from tonight, May 8, 2013 through June 2, 2013.
Long Wharf Theatre concludes its 2012-13 season with Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning play Clybourne Park, by Bruce Norris, and directed by Associate Artistic Director Eric Ting. The play will take place on The Claire Tow Stage in the C. Newton Schenck III Mainstage from May 8, 2013 through June 2, 2013.
The Hub TV Network, the fastest growing children's cable network, announces the return of the third and final season of the Daytime Emmy(R) Award-winning CG-animated series 'Transformers Prime Beast Hunters' from Hasbro Studios today, March 22.
The Hub Network today announced a slate of new programming for the 2013-'14 television season that includes four new series, two Hub Original Family Movies, and nine returning series.
Jesse Eisenberg and Vanessa Redgrave currently star in the world premiere of Eisenberg's The Revisionist, directed by Kip Fagan, which began its limited run on February 6 at the Cherry Lane Theatre, 38 Commerce Street. Now according to the New York Times, the show wil extend yet again, now closing on April 27. Plus, the show is looking into a possible Broadway transfer for the 2013-14 season.
Dallas Theater Center presents Neil Simon's classic American comedy, The Odd Couple, directed by DTC Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty. When two men with struggling relationships, neat and particular Felix Ungar and disheveled and rough-edged Oscar Madison, decide to live together, the results are funny and poignant. The Odd Couple opens with previews tonight, March 15 and runs through Sunday, April 14 at the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre in the AT&T Performing Arts Center.
Due to popular demand, Playwrights Horizons has announced an extension of its critically-acclaimed, sold out World Premiere production of The Flick, a new play by the heralded Obie Award-winning playwright Annie Baker (Circle Mirror Transformation at PH, The Aliens, her recent adaptation of Uncle Vanya). Originally set to play a limited engagement through Sunday, March 31, the production has extended to Sunday, April 7 at Playwrights Horizons' Mainstage Theater (416 West 42nd Street).
2010 | Off-Broadway |
Rattlestick Playwrights Theater Production Off-Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2010 | Obie Awards | Best New American Play | Annie Baker |
2010 | Obie Awards | Directing | Sam Gold |
2010 | Obie Awards | Performance | Dane deHaan |
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