FINN Closes 3/7 at NYU Skirball Center

Internationally acclaimed theater ensemble Mabou Mines celebrates 40 years of creating groundbreaking theater with the world premiere of "FINN", a digital and live-action adventure based on the ancient Celtic legend of Finn McCool opening on Thursday, March 4th (8PM) at Skirball Center for the Performing Arts (566 LaGuardia Place). Conceived & directed by Mabou Mines Co-Artistic Director Sharon Fogarty, and written by Jocelyn Clarke, this original theatrical work blends traditional storytelling and music with large-scale digital technology. Finn McCool, part mortal, part magical, battles his boyhood demons and emerges a young man ready to lead his band of men. Live performers interact with digital animation in a 21st century adaptation of a timeless legend. FINN is produced by Mabou Mines in association with Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, New York University.

In keeping with the Mabou Mines tradition of adapting classics such as Peter & Wendy, Mabou Mines Dollhouse, and Gospel at Colonus, FINN offers a sophisticated and engaging interpretation of the Celtic legend of Finn McCool re-imagined for a new generation of theatergoers. FINN follows a boy's coming of age quest to avenge his father's death and seize leadership of the clan. Through his journey, he encounters a series of trials testing his moral fortitude. By employing digital animation for a technologically savvy audience, FINN explores the nature of violence in the minds of boys. Large-scale digital imagery transports the audience from forest to a battlefield as our hero learns the lessons of leadership. The FINN legends are among the oldest in Western culture and as with ancient mythological cycles, these enduring tales remain vibrant and relevant today.

Director Sharon Fogarty, Irish writer Jocelyn Clarke, Czech digital artist Misha Zabranska and Misha Votruba (Misha Films), and traditional Scottish composer Phil Cunningham with Irish composer Manus Lunny construct an environment in which live actors co-exist and interact with animated characters and settings creating an epic fantasy adventure.

Robbie Collier Sublett will play the title role joined by storyteller cast members Jarlath Conroy, Carlton Byrd and Dion Mucciacito. The production will also feature a set by Milan David, costumes by Meganne George, lighting by Mary Louise Geiger and sound by John Plenge.

Mabou Mines is a collaborative theater ensemble founded in 1970, based in New York City. The current Co-Artistic Directors are Julie Archer, Lee Breuer, Sharon Fogarty, Ruth Maleczech, Fred Neumann & Terry O'Reilly along with Artistic Associates Honora Fergusson Neumann, Karen Kandel, Clove Galilee and David Neumann. The company has created more than 60 original works and adaptations of classics and is widely regarded as among the most influential and respected American experimental theatre ensembles. Mabou Mines' work has been presented throughout the United States, North and South America, Europe, Asia & Australia. The company has received over 100 awards & citations, including a Village Voice OBIE for Sustained Achievement, the 2007 Edwin Booth Award as well as two 2009 Drama League nominations.

FINN runs through March 7th at 2PM. NYU Skirball Center is conveniently located at 566 LaGuardia Place near the corner of Washington Square South. BY SUBWAY A, B, C, D, E, F, V to West 4th Street From West 4th Street Station, walk four blocks east on West 4th Street to LaGuardia Place. Tickets are $30-$55 and may be purchased online at www.skirballcenter.nyu.edu/calendar/finn, by calling 212.352.3101, or by visiting the Skirball Center box office in person. The box office is located in the Skirball Center lobby at 566 LaGuardia Place (at Washington Square South) and open Tuesday-Saturday, 12pm-6pm.

SHARON FOGARTY, (conceiver/director) has been a Co-Artistic Director of Mabou Mines since 1999. Sharon wrote and directed Cara Lucia, a music theater piece, inspired by the life of James Joyce′s daughter featuring Ruth Maleczech in the title role, music by Carter Burwell and designed by Jim Clayburgh. Developed at the Audrey Skirball Kenis Common Ground Festival at UCLA and at The Tyrone Guthrie Center in Ireland, the production premiered at HERE Arts Center in New York City and was nominated for five American Theater Wing Design Awards. A touring version of the production, Lucia's Chapters, traveled to The Kilkenny Festival in Ireland as well as venues in California and New England. The production was nominated for Boston's Elliot Norton Theater award for Outstanding Visiting Production. Previously, Sharon served as Artistic Director of New York City-Based Daedalus Theater Company and directed many of the company's productions including Sebastian Barry's White Woman's Street and Brighde Mullins' Fire Eater. Sharon has produced many of the company's work in the last decade including such award-winning productions as An Epidog, Ecco Porco, Mabou Mines DollHouse, Red Beads, Belén - A Book of Hours and Song for New York. Sharon holds an MA from University College Dublin's Drama Centre.

JOCELYN CLARKE (writer) is a writer and dramaturg. He has written four adaptations for the SITI Company: BOB adapted from interviews with director Robert Wilson, ROOM from the writings of Virginia Woolf, and SCORE, based on the writings of Leonard Bernstein and REUNION based on The Group Theater. For the Blue Raincoat Theatre Company in Sligo, Ireland he has written adaptations of Carroll's Alice's Adventures In Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass, and for The Ark, an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's THE DAY I SWAPPED MY DAD FOR TWO GOLDFISH. His site-specific adaptation of William Shakespeare's THE MERCHANT OF VENICE for Corcadorca opened in July, 2005 as part of the European Capital of Cultural celebrations in Cork. He was resident dramaturg at The Sundance Theater Lab and a playwright Fellow at the Sundance Theatre Lab at White Oak. Jocelyn was a former Commissioning Manager of The Abbey Theatre, Dublin, and a lead theatre critic with The Sunday Tribune.

MISHA ZABRANSKA From 1997 to 2001, Misha was a Lead Animator at Industrial Light and Magic. Previously she was an Artist in residence at the ATR Research Facility in Kyoto, Japan designing and directing a short film demonstrating the Gaitor human motion simulator. She also he directed and animated a number of episodes on 3D animation television series "Reboot" and "Beast Wars" in Vancouver, Canada. In 1998, the series received (among other awards) the Smithsonian Institute Innovation Collection Award. "The First Political Speech", an animation short Misha created at the Simon Fraser University Computer Lab won invitations to prestigious international festivals including the Hiroshima, Ottawa and Hong Kong Animation Film Festivals. Misha was also the designer of opening and closing title sequences for Nova TV, the first commercial television station in the Czech Republic. Misha also served as professor at the Center for Advanced Digital Applications, NYU.

MISHA VOTRUBA has extensive creative and leadership experience in the media. Misha has directed several documentary films shot on locations in the Czech Republic, Canada, Japan and the US. For a number of years, he worked as a story editor in Los Angeles, CA. Misha was the Media Producer for NBC Olympics.com's online coverage of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. From 1996 to 1999 he worked as a writer/story editor for different film production companies in Hollywood, CA. Most notable is his collaboration with the director Agnieszka Holland (Europa, Europa; The Third Miracle). The documentary film "The Fighter" (director Amir Bar-Lev) was named one of the best films of 2001 by the New York Times.

Together with Misha Zabranska; he formed a company, Misha Films, producing original films, animation and multimedia presentations. In May of 2001 Misha Films, in collaboration with choreographer David Parsons, designed and produced large-scale projections for American Ballet Theatre performance of the "Pied Piper" at the Metropolitan Opera. Recently Misha Films has focused on the emerging mixed-media arena developing a number of performance art concepts. Misha Films, in collaboration with the Envision Center at Purdue University, created large-scale projected animations for New Century Saxophone Quartet's touring performance of "J.S. Bach: Art of Fugue".

PHIL CUNNINGHAM (composer) was awarded the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for services to Scottish music in 2002. Phil played accordion with the highly acclaimEd Scottish band ‘Silly Wizard' from 1976 to 1983. Since then Phil has pursued a solo career as a composer and performer, producer for television, radio, film and stage. Between 1985 and 1987 Phil toured with super-group ‘Relativity,' comprising Phil, his brother Johnny, and Irish brother and sister, Michael and Triona O'Domnaill. Since then Phil has toured Scotland as well as internationally with fiddler Aly Bain. Phil's credits include numerous commissions for TV and Film including BBC television series Scotland's Music as well as Music Director for BBC Scotland's annual Hogmanay Live. He performs regularly on Transatlantic Sessions and Celtic Connections. He was winner of the 2007 Composer of the Year - Scots Traditional Awards 2007. Most recently he was named Artistic Director at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

The Skirball Center is the premier venue for the presentation of cultural and performing arts events for NYU and lower Manhattan. The programs of the Skirball Center reflect NYU's mission as an international center of scholarship, defined by excellence and innovation and shaped by an intellectually rich and diverse environment. Since 2003, the 860-seat Center has provided a unique venue for enhancing a sense of community while continuing the Greenwich Village traditions of creativity and artistic discovery with a broad range of compelling performance events at affordable ticket prices. Led by Executive Producer Jay Oliva (President Emeritus, NYU) and Director Michael Harrington, a natural and vital aspect of the Center's mission is to build young adult audiences for the future of live performance. www.skirballcenter.nyu.edu

 

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