KING GILGAMESH & THE MAN OF THE WILD World Premiere to be Presented by La MaMa & Under the Radar Festival

La MaMa and The Public's Under the Radar Festival will present King Gilgamesh & the Man of the Wild, bringing to New York audiences a moving one-act production that fuses live music with storytelling to share co-creator's Ahmed Moneka's personal journey as an Iraqi actor-refugee in North America.

King Gilgamesh & the Man of the Wild, a Soulpepper Theatre and TRIA Theatre production, is a one-act theater-music production starring actor-musicians Ahmed Moneka and Jesse LaVercombe and created with Chicago-based director Seth Bockley, accompanied by acclaimed Arabic-maqam / jazz band, Moneka Arabic Jazz. A present-day story of friendship interweaves with the ancient Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh, along the way tracing Ahmed's real-life journey from an actor-refugee in a new country to an acclaimed musician at the top of his game. Featuring themes of art, ambition, sex, fatherhood, mortality and identity, this two-man epic spans centuries, cultures and continents, illuminating the mysteries of love, death and friendship in a moving, funny, tragic and ultimately celebratory performance.

The play's structure traces the friendship of "Ahmed" and "Jesse." The characters mirror their real-life counterparts as they forge a bond while confronting their differences - each born in the shadow of the first Gulf War on either side of that conflict. This story of friendship ricochets off of the wild Mesopotamian narrative (written circa 2100 BCE), known as the Epic of Gilgamesh. It tells of a tyrannical king (played by Ahmed) and his best friend, the beast-man Enkidu (played by Jesse), as they search for adventure and instead encounter mortality. The epic is a well-known story in Iraq and the Middle East but is rarely told or studied in North America. The play, adapted by the show's three creators, also shares the true story of Ahmed's exile from Baghdad for playing a gay person in the first film made in Iraq about homosexuality.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Ahmed Moneka

(co-creator, performer) is a celebrated actor and musician, who since his arrival in Toronto from Baghdad seven years ago, has made significant contributions as a performing artist in music, film and theatre. The arts community has warmly embraced and celebrated his Iraqi artistic heritage - his stories and songs - and welcomed him into the city and nation's growing cultural narrative. He has enriched himself through many collaborations, including with the Canadian Opera Company, Soulpepper Theatre, Aga Khan Museum, Tafelmusik, Driftwood Theatre Group, TD Toronto Jazz festival, Kroner Hall, Modern Time Stage, Aluna Theatre, Jabari Dance Theatre, and Small World Music. He is one of the founders of Moskitto Bar and the creator and leader of Moneka Arabic Jazz. He has been an artist-in-residence with Driftwood Theatre Group, a member of Soulpepper Academy, and one of the Stingray Rising Stars finalists in 2019 at the TD Toronto Jazz festival and Stingray Rising Stars winner 2022 at Mundial Montreal. ahmedmoneka.com

Jesse LaVercombe

(co-creator, performer) is an award-winning writer and actor who works across film, TV, and theater, splitting his time between the U.S. and Canada. As a screenwriter, he worked on two feature films coming out in 2023, Float (Lionsgate/Collective Pictures) and Code 8: Part ll (Netflix/Collective Pictures), and he continues to write upcoming films with Collective Pictures. He also won the Playwrights Guild of Canada Emerging Writing Award for his three-act play, Hallelujah, It's Holly. As an actor, he won the 2021 Toronto ACTRA Award and received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for his work in Violation (TIFF, Sundance, SXSW, New York Times Critic's Pick). He's also known for portraying Jack Walker for four seasons on Murdoch Mysteries (CBC) and has performed on stages across the U.S. and Canada. Training: National Theatre School of Canada, Canadian Film Centre Actors Conservatory. www.jesselavercombe.com.

Seth Bockley

(co-creator, director) is a writer of stories, plays, and screenplays, and a theater artist specializing in literary adaptation (two stories by George Saunders, the novel '2666' by Roberto Bolaño). New York credits include the musical 'February House' at The Public as book writer, and as a director En Garde Arts' NYT Critics' Picks "Basetrack Live" and "Wilderness," as well as projects with Clubbed Thumb, Foundry, St. Ann's Warehouse and The Tank. His stage works have been seen in Mexico City, Singapore, rural Ireland, Canada and all over the United States. An inaugural member of Chicago's Goodman Theater Playwrights' Unit, for three years he served as Writer in Residence at Goodman Theater. He is Director of Creative Engagement at the Amsterdam-based environmental nonprofit Sovereign Nature Initiative, and his first film, "The Cartographer," premiered in 2022 at the Berlin Short Film Festival. His story "Repertorio" in Boulevard magazine was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He teaches performance and literary adaptation for the stage at the University of Chicago. sethbockley.com

About La MaMa:

La MaMa is dedicated to the artist and all aspects of the theatre. La MaMa's 61st "Remake A World" Season believes in the power of art to bring sustainable change over time and transform our cultural narrative. At La MaMa, new work is created from a multiplicity of perspectives, experiences, and disciplines, influencing how we think about and experience art. The flexibility of our spaces, specifically the newly reimagined building at 74 East 4th Street (La MaMa's original permanent home), gives our local and remote communities access to expanded daytime programming. The digital tools embedded in the space allow artists to collaborate remotely, and audiences worldwide to participate in La MaMa's programming.

A recipient of the 2018 Regional Theater Tony Award, more than 30 Obie Awards and dozens of Drama Desk, Bessie, and Villager Awards, La MaMa has been a creative home for thousands of artists, and resident companies, many of whom have made lasting contributions to the arts, including Blue Man Group, Bette Midler, Ed Bullins, Ping Chong, Jackie Curtis, André De Shields, Adrienne Kennedy, Harvey Fierstein, Diane Lane, Playhouse of the Ridiculous, Tom Eyen, Pan Asian Rep, Spiderwoman Theater, Tadeusz Kantor, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, Mabou Mines, Meredith Monk, Peter Brook, David and Amy Sedaris, Julie Taymor, Kazuo Ohno, Tom O'Horgan, and Andy Warhol. La MaMa's vision of nurturing new artists and new work from all nations, cultures, races and identities remains as strong today as it was when Ellen Stewart first opened the doors in 1961.

About The Public Theater:

The Public Theater continues the work of its visionary founder Joe Papp as a civic institution engaging, both on-stage and off, with some of the most important ideas and social issues of today. Conceived over 60 years ago as one of the nation's first nonprofit theaters, The Public has long operated on the principles that theater is an essential cultural force and that art and culture belong to everyone. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Oskar Eustis and Executive Director Patrick Willingham, The Public's wide breadth of programming includes an annual season of new work at its landmark home at Astor Place, Free Shakespeare in the Park at The Delacorte Theater in Central Park, the Mobile Unit touring throughout New York City's five boroughs, Public Forum, Under the Radar, Public Lab, Public Works, Public Shakespeare Initiative, and Joe's Pub. Since premiering HAIR in 1967, The Public continues to create the canon of American Theater and is currently represented on Broadway by the Tony Award-winning musical Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Their programs and productions can also be seen regionally across the country and around the world. The Public has received 60 Tony Awards, 184 Obie Awards, 56 Drama Desk Awards, 59 Lortel Awards, 34 Outer Critic Circle Awards, 13 New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards, 58 AUDELCO Awards, 6 Antonyo Awards, and 6 Pulitzer Prizes. publictheater.org

About Under the Radar:

The Public Theater's UNDER THE RADAR FESTIVAL has grown into a landmark of the New York City theater season and is a vital part of The Public's mission, providing a high-visibility platform to support artists from diverse backgrounds who are redefining the act of making theater. Widely recognized as a premier launching pad for new and cutting-edge performance from the U.S. and abroad, UTR has presented works by such respected artists as Guillermo Calderón, Tania El Khoury, Lola Arias, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Belarus Free Theatre, Ahamefule J. Oluo, Nature Theater of Oklahoma, 600 HIGHWAYMEN, and Elevator Repair Service. These artists provide a snapshot of contemporary theater: richly distinct in terms of perspectives, aesthetics, and social practice, and pointing to the future of the art form.

About TRIA Theatre & Moneka Arabic Jazz

TRIA Theatre is a collective committed to making risk-taking and cross-cultural performance works. We believe in the fusion of music, theater and conversations across national, racial and religious differences. Moneka Arabic Jazz is an acclaimed Toronto-based world-music ensemble that includes members from across the globe.

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