DORUNTINE to be Presented October 9-26 at The Interart Theatre

Blessed Unrest of New York and Teatri Oda of Kosovo present their ground-breaking collaboration
DORUNTINE at The Interart Theatre, 500 West 52nd Street , NYC from October 9-26, 2008 on Wednesdays-Saturdays at 8 PM , Sundays and Mondays at 7 PM.

General admission is only $18. Tickets can be purchased securely in advance at www.blessedunrest.org. For more information, contact info@blessedunrest.org or call 212-631-8789.

A marriage that spurns tradition, an impossible journey on horseback, a brother who defies the grave. Inspired by the Albanian legend as written by Ismail Kadare, DORUNTINE is the mythical tale of a forbidden love and the danger of a promise that can never be broken.

The first-ever Kosovar-American theatre collaboration to perform in the USA.

Blessed Unrest of New York and Teatri Oda of Prishtina, Kosovo bring a ground-breaking, first ever US-Kosovar bilingual theater collaboration to New York City with DORUNTINE, written by Matt Opatrny and Lirak Celaj, and directed by Florent Mehmeti and Jessica Burr. DORUNTINE will run for three weeks at the Interart Theatre located at 500 West 52nd Street, just west of Tenth Avenue in Manhattan (Subways: 1, C, E to 50th Street; N, R, W to 49th Street; B, D, E to 7th Avenue) from Thursday, October 9th through Sunday, the 26th. Press opening is Saturday, October 11th at 8 PM . Performances are Wednesday through Saturday at 8 PM and Sunday and Monday at 7 PM . Tickets are $18. Group discounts are available. For tickets, the general public can visit www.blessedunrest.org or call 212-631-8789.

"After seeing a Blessed Unrest production for the first time last evening, I thought about how appropriate the company's name is... Jessica Burr's vigorous and imaginative direction really shines... Overall, this production is truly an original and strong one. I highly recommend it." - Alyssa Simon · NYtheatre.com · February 19, 2007

The Collaboration
Blessed Unrest will be the first American theatre company to host a Kosovar theatre company in the United States. In May 2006, Blessed Unrest traveled to Kosovo to perform their original play Lying, into which they integrated a bilingual Teatri Oda actor. The success of this endeavor led the companies to plan for a more intense collaboration in New York City.

DORUNTINE will be co-directed by Blessed Unrest Artistic Director Jessica Burr and Teatri Oda Artistic Director Florent Mehmeti, and will feature both American and Kosovar actors. The text is in English and Albanian, written by Matt Opatrny of Blessed Unrest and Lirak Celaj of Teatri Oda.

The arts have the power to break down cultural barriers, and play a critical role in establishing a country's identity. By coming to New York and shedding light on Kosovar and Albanian culture, history, and language, Teatri Oda becomes a proud cultural ambassador for their new nation which declared independence from Serbia last March.

This project has been made possible in part by grants from Trust for Mutual Understanding, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council/NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Theatre Communications Group/International Theatre Institute, The Kosovar Ministry of Culture, The US Embassy in Kosovo, with additional funding from New York State Council on the Arts and the generosity of individual donors.

The Companies
Teatri Oda is committed to the development of the theatrical arts, building a strong cultural foundation for coming generations, and powerfully influencing the building of a democratic and open Kosovo. The founding of Teatri Oda, the only independent arts organization in a region where all arts are traditionally government funded, was unprecedented. They are an extremely motivated and bold group of artists making strides towards defining the future of independent arts in the Balkans.

Blessed Unrest is committed to producing dynamic, disciplined, and exuberant new works for the stage by training and collaborating as an ensemble of artists, building original pieces, and reconstructing established texts. A 501(c)3 non-profit, experimental theatre company, Blessed Unrest has been generating original plays since 1999 and has performed in New York, San Francisco, and Prishtina, Kosovo. Last season's production of Burn, Crave, Hold received nine Innovative Theatre Award nominations (winners to be announced September 22). The company has received funding from New York State Council on the Arts, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council/New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Trust for Mutual Understanding, A.R.T. New York/The Nancy Quinn Fund, The Andrew Mellon Foundation, Theatre Communications Group/International Theatre Institute, The Puffin Foundation, U.S. Department of State/Office in Kosovo, and by contributions from individual donors.

The design team includes sound by Obie and Drama Desk Award-winning Aural Fixation Sound & Music, lighting by Jeffrey E. Salzberg, and costumes by Anna-Alisa Belous.

For more information, visit www.blessedunrest.org