NDEBELE FUNERAL Transfers to 59E59 Theaters Today

59E59 Theaters welcomes Smoke & Mirrors Collaborative with NDEBELE FUNERAL, written by Zoey Martinson and directed by Awoye Timpo. NDEBELE FUNERAL begins performances tonight, September 11 for a limited engagement through Sunday, October 5. Press opening is Tuesday, September 16 at 7:30 PM.

The performance schedule is Tuesday - Thursday at 7:30 PM; Friday at 8:30 PM; Saturday at 2:30 PM & 8:30 PM; and Sunday at 3:30 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Tickets are $25 ($17.50 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org.

Winner of the Overall Excellence Award for Best Play and a Time Out Critic's Pick at FringeNYC 2013, NDEBELE FUNERAL pulls audiences into the music, dirt, and dreams of South Africa's past and its present. Heart breaking and hilarious, Smoke & Mirrors Collaborative's powerful production explores the struggles and hopes of the first generation of South Africans to come of age after Apartheid.

Weaving traditional American theatrical story-telling with South African township theatre style, NDEBELE FUNERAL is a poignant look at three characters struggling with South Africa's post-Apartheid legacy. Called " courageous and emotionally raw" by Theatermania and an " unequivocal gem" by Theater Is Easy, NDEBELE FUNERAL features original music from Spirits Indigenous and gumboot dancing from the mines in Jo'burg.

The cast features Yusef Miller as Thabo, Zoey Martinson as Daweti, and Jonathan David Martin as Jan.

The design team includes Jason Sherwood (set design), Lara de Bruijn (costume design), Justin W. King (lighting design), and John Emmett O'Brien (sound design). The original music is by Spirits Indiginous, with musical direction by Tuelo Minah. The choreography is by Sduduzo Ka-Mbili and Cuereston Burge. The production stage manager is Josephine Ronga.

Zoey Martinson (playwright) is co-Artistic Director of Smoke & Mirrors Collaborative and an Artistic Mentor Fellow Lincoln Center. As a writer her play Ndebele Funeral was workshopped in South Africa. She has written short plays for The Fire This Time Festival, and 48 Hours in Harlem, NYC. She is the writer and director of the Web Series A MINORITY REPORT. Skype Duet, which she co-created and directed, won the 100 Grand Award at the HAU2 Theater in Berlin, Germany. As an actress she has performed at The Public Theater, Cleveland Playhouse, Repertory Theater of St. Louis, the Guthrie, Shakespeare On The Sound, Purchase Repertory Theatre, Signature Theatre, Penobscot Theatre, The Flea Theatre, Broom Street Theatre, Theatre in the Muz, South Africa, the National Theatre of Ghana, and the Diorama theatre in London. Film/TV: Are We There Yet, Restless City, Law & Order. She has directed theatre in Ghana, South Africa, Berlin Germany, Los Angeles, New York City, Los Angeles and at NYU Grad Acting. BFA SUNY Purchase College, MFA NYU Grad Acting.

Awoye Timpo's (director) select credits include: The Libation Bearers (Shakespeare Theatre NJ), 1/13/94 (Studio Tisch), Chasing the Bird (Joyce Theater), Araby (La MaMa), In the Continuum (Juilliard), Tears of Anatolia (Columbia), The Vanished (Novisi). Regional: Clybourne Park (Farmers Alley), Ruined (WMU). Assistant Director: Public Theater, Signature, Two River, Royal Shakespeare Company. Other previous work: Artistic Associate (August Wilson American Century Cycle Celebration - WNYC/The Greene Space), Associate Artistic Director (Shakespeare on the Sound), Van Lier Directing Fellow (Public Theater), Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, Cherry Lane Mentor Project, Lincoln Center Directors Lab. ###

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