LaGuardia Performing Arts Center Will Present Work-in-Process Presentation of the New Verbatim Play MEMORIAL

This March, LaGuardia Performing Arts Center will present a work-in-process presentation of the new verbatim play Memorial from March 23 - March 25, 2020 at The LaGuardia Performing Arts Center's MainStage Black Box, 31-10 Thomson Ave, Long Island City, NYC. Tickets are $8-$15 and can be purchased online here. For press and industry comps, please reach out to the producer here.

Conceived by Arianna Stucki, and co-written by Stucki and playwright Adam Ashraf Elsayigh, Memorial is a verbatim play that centers the experience of survivors of the mosque shootings that occurred on March 15, 2019 in Christchurch, New Zealand. Memorial is based on interviews Stucki conducted in Christchurch during a research trip June 2019, three months after the atrocious attack on the Muslim community. Using embodied rituals and practices, Memorial chronicles the impact of the shootings, and systems of violence, through the words and experiences of seven citizens and immigrants of Christchurch, New Zealand. The play engages themes of migration, Islamophobia and gun violence.

Stucki described her impulse for conceiving this project saying, "Theatre is a constant act of remembrance, and this play will give a space to remember those lost to the tragedy, as well as ask those who witness it to remember why this tragedy took place. It is essential because the community of Christchurch has united through love in a moment of deep loss, and this play captures how they managed to do so."

This presentation, produced by LPAC and Elsayigh, will be directed by the innovative director-creator Éamon Boylan. The cast of Memorial includes Nicole Ansari*, Christina Farah, Noor Hamdi, Anton Obeid*, Francesca Sales, Imran Sheikh*, and Stephen Stocking*. Light and Sound Design is by Leslie Gray, and Projection Design is by Attilio Rigotti. Uma Paranjpe is the Production Stage Manager. Memorial is being presented as an Equity-approved Showcase.

Memorial will be part of LaGuardia Performing Arts Center's annual Rough Draft Festival. Since 2013, the Rough Draft Festival has celebrated the development of exciting, new work from fresh voices in the theatre community, providing innovative and boundary-pushing artists with space and resources to develop their works-in-progress. Learn more about this iteration of the festival's programming here.

(*) Cast members named above designated by an asterisk are appearing courtesy of Actors' Equity Association.

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