David Greenspan & Jennifer Ikeda Head Ma-Yi Theatre Company's RESCUE ME

Ma-Yi Theater Company - the Off-Broadway, Obie Award-winning company dedicated to producing new works about the Asian-American experience - will present the world-premiere of Michi Barall's play "RESCUE ME (A Post-modern classic with snacks)", an adaptation of Euripides "Iphigenia in Taurus," previewing March 23 and opening March 30 at the Ohio Theatre (66 Wooster St.) in Manhattan.

The cast of eight includes the Obie Award-winning actor and playwright David Greenspan ("Myopia," "She Stoops to Comedy," "Boys in the Band"), Jennifer Ikeda ("Top Girls," "Seascape"), Julian Barnett, Leon Ingulsrud, Postell Pringle, Paco Tolson, Oni Monifa Reneee Brown and Katherine Partington.

Directed by Loy Arcenas and choreographed by Julian Barnett, RESCUE ME finds Euripides' heroine Iphigenia - here known as Iph - at age 34, stuck in a dead-end job. Haunted by the past, her present situation offers little consolation: she's at the mercy of both a tempermental goddess and a barbarian king with a fondness for human sacrifice. Beginning to lose all hope of rescue, hers is a contemporary story about loss, redemption, and the struggle for individual agency.

Well-known as an actress on numerous stages in New York and elsewhere in works by John Guare, Jose Rivera, Sung Rno, Paul Rudnick, Anna Deavere Smith and Chay Yew, Ms. Barall recently began playwriting, as well. RESCUE ME marks her professional playwriting debut. A member of Ma-Yi Theater's popular Writers Lab and a Lark Playwriting Fellow, she is also at work on a new piece with Fluid Motion Theater &Film, "How We Became Nomads" about Genghis Khan. Her performance credits in NY include "Oresteia" at CSC, "Hotel Cassiopeia" at BAM, "Queens Boulevard," "A Few Stout Individuals" at Signature Theatre, "Saved or Destroyed" at Rattlestick, "Tartuffe" with NYSF, "American Hwangap," "wAve" and "Middle Finger" with Ma-Yi and "Ivanov" and "Bernarda Alba" with National Asian American Theatre Company.

Loy Arcenas' directing credits include David Henry Hwang's GOLDEN CHILD, Carlyle Brown's A BIG BLUE NAIL, HEDDA GABLER, STOP KISS, BLIND MOUTH SINGING and FLOATING WEEDS. He received an Obie for his direction for Ma-Yi's production of THE ROMANCE OF MAGNO RUBIO. He also directed Ma-Yi's productions of Warren Leight's NO FOREIGNERS BEYOND THIS POINT, Han Ong's WATCHER, MIDDLE FINGER and SWOONY PLANET, and Ralph Pena's FLIPZOIDS. Design credits include the Broadway-bound Chita Rivera: THE DANCER'S LIFE, the American/and or New York premieres of Dessa Rose, LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION!, PRELUDE TO A KISS, ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, HIGH SOCIETY, A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE, THE INVENTION OF LOVE (ACT), CORPUS CHRISTI, SPUNK, THE BALTIMORE WALTZ, THE LONG CHRISTMAS RIDE HOME (Trinity), and the Off-Broadway and national productions of THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES.

Founded in 1989, Ma-Yi Theater Company is an Obie Award-winning, Off-Broadway not-for-profit organization whose primary mission is to develop new plays and performance works that essay Asian American experiences. Its numerous acclaimed productions include Lloyd Suh's AMERICAN HWANGAP last year, SOUL SAMURAI, THE ROMANCE OF MAGNO RUBIO, THE CHILDREN OF VONDERLY and wAve. Through successful programs such as the Writers Lab, Ma-Yi emboldens a new generation of Asian American artists to voice their experiences, while developing a steady stream of quality new works by Asian American Playwrights for its own performing repertory. Ma-Yi Theater Company productions have earned nine Obie Awards, numerous Henry Hewes Award nominations, and a Drama Desk nomination.

This production of RESCUE ME is part of Ma-Yi Theater's commitment to produce plays generated by its Writers Lab.

Ralph Pena is Artistic Director of Ma-Yi Theater; Jorge Ortoll is Executive Director; Suzette Porte is Producer.

Scheduled through April 18, RESCUE ME will perform Tuesday through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30 p.m., with the following exceptions: added performance on Monday, March 29 at 7:30 p.m. and no performances on 3/28 and 4/4.

From March 23 to March 29, all seats are $20. Starting March 30, all seats are $25 Regular, available online at www.ma-yitheatre.org or Theatermania by phone at 212-352-3101.