A Noise Within (ANW), the acclaimed classical repertory theatre company, in partnership with East West Players presents a FREE reading of Hayavadana by Girish Karnad, directed by Snehal Desai on Monday, June 16 at 7:30 PM.
Admission for all of the readings is free. Please RSVP via phone to 626-356-3100 x1 to reserve your seat.
A Noise Within is located on the corner of Foothill Boulevard and Sierra Madre Villa Avenue at 3352 East Foothill Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91107.
Hayavadana (1971) is based on a theme drawn from The Transposed Heads, a 1940 novella by
Thomas Mann, which was originally found in the 11th-century Sanskrit text Kathasaritsagara. Herein Karnad employed the folk theatre form of Yakshagana. A German version of the play was directed by Vijaya Mehta as part of the repertoire of the Deutsches National Theatre, Weimar.
Girish Raghunath Karnad (born 19 May 1938) is a contemporary writer, playwright, screenwriter, actor and movie director in Kannada language. His rise as a playwright in 1960s, marked the coming of age of Modern Indian playwriting in Kannada, just as Badal Sarkar did in Bengali, Vijay Tendulkar in Marathi, and Mohan Rakesh in Hindi. He is a recipient of the 1998 Jnanpith Award, the highest literary honor conferred in India.
For four decades Karnad has been composing plays, often using history and mythology to tackle contemporary issues. He has translated his plays into English and has received acclaim. His plays have been translated into some Indian languages and directed by directors like Ebrahim Alkazi, B. V. Karanth, Alyque Padamsee, Prasanna, Arvind Gaur, Satyadev Dubey, Vijaya Mehta, Shyamanand Jalan and Amal Allana. He is active in the world of Indian cinema working as an actor, director, and screenwriter, in Hindi and Kannada flicks, earning awards along the way. He was conferred Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan by the Government of India and won four Filmfare Awards where three were Filmfare Awards for Best Director and one Filmfare Best Screenplay Award.
About East West Players
As the nation's premier Asian American theatre organization, East West Players produces artistic works and educational programs that foster dialogue exploring Asian Pacific experiences.
Established in 1965, East West Players has been hailed as the nation's leading Asian American theater troupe for our award-winning productions that blend Eastern and Western movement, costumes, language, and music. EWP has premiered more than 100 plays and musicals about the Asian Pacific American experience and has held more than 1,000 readings and workshops. Our emphasis is on building bridges between East and West, and one measure of our success is an audience of 56% Asians and a remarkable 44% non-Asian attendance. East West Players was founded by nine Asian-American artists (Mako, Rae Creevey, Beulah Quo, Soon-Tek Oh,
James Hong, Pat Li,
June Kim, Guy Lee, and Yet Lock) seeking opportunities to take on roles beyond the stereotypical parts they were being offered in Hollywood. EWP continues to provide unique opportunities for Asian-American artists and is committed to advocating for more diverse representations of the Asian-American experience on TV and across all media.
In 1998, EWP Artistic Director
Tim Dang led the company's move from a 99-seat Equity Waiver "black box" theatre into a new 240-seat venue at an Actors Equity Association contract level. EWP's mainstage is the
David Henry Hwang Theater, housed within the historic Union Center for the Arts in downtown Los Angeles' Little Tokyo district, where it serves more than 10,000 people each year. EWP alumni include Mako,
B.D. Wong,
David Henry Hwang,
John Cho,
Kal Penn,
Daniel Dae Kim,
Parvesh Cheena, James Kyson-Lee,
Masi Oka,
Francois Chau,
Jeanne Sakata,
Greg Watanabe, Tamilyn Tomita, Dante Basco,
Philip Kan Gotanda,
Freda Foh Shen,
Roberta Uno,
R.A. Shiomi, Judith Nihei,
Alec Mapa, Wakako Yamauchi,
Amy Hill,
Sala Iwamatsu,
John Lone, and Nobu McCarthy. East West Players has also had the opportunity to work with many respected artists such as actors
Danny Glover,
Tsai Chin,
Lauren Tom, and
Nancy Kwan; directors
Lisa Peterson and
Oskar Eustis; musician
Dan Kuramoto; and instructors
Calvin Remsberg and
Fran Bennett.
About A Noise Within
A Noise Within performs and promotes classical theatre as an essential means for our community to confront the universal human experience, expand personal awareness and challenge individual perspectives. A Noise Within's mission is to produce world-class performances of the great works of drama in rotating repertory with a resident company; to educate and inspire the public through programs that foster an understanding and appreciation of history's great plays and playwrights; and to train the next generation of classical theatre artists.
A Noise Within was founded in 1991. Operating out of a former Masonic Temple in Glendale, they staged a production of Hamletthat was accessible and relevant at a time when classic theatre was not widely performed in Los Angeles. The twenty-year evolution from a small neighborhood theatre to the current acclaimed repertory company has been marked by constantly raising the bar on what great classical theatre can be. The move to a new, permanent home provides A Noise Within with expanded artistic possibilities, a greater scope of educational opportunities, and the capacity to meet demand and reach its full potential.
A Noise Within Producing Artistic Directors Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott both hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Florida and a Master of Fine Arts from San Francisco's American Conservatory Theatre. In 1991, with a mere $3,000 from their personal savings account, they set an ambitious vision for ANW: to establish a home for the classics that would present a challenging repertory, take artistic risks, and ensure accessibility to diverse audiences. Through their passion and persistence, the theatre now ranks as the leading presenter of great world drama in Southern California.
www.anoisewithin.org
