STRANGERS Brings Film Noir & Immigration To The Ontological Theater 5/28-6/13

Immigration and Film Noir Collide in The Shalimar's STRANGERS May 28 - June 13 at The Ontological Theater

"The most exciting young American company I have seen up here so far this century." - The Financial Times

The Ontological-Hysteric Incubator presents the World Premiere of The Shalimar's STRANGERS. Written by Nastaran Ahmadi and directed by Shoshona Currier, previews begin May 28 at The Ontological Theater. Opening night is slated for Thursday, June 4.

In STRANGERS, Ella wants to throw a party celebrating the 5-year anniversary of her "green card marriage" to Wes. When unease about the relationship surfaces, the lovers separately seek advice on how to handle their growing anxieties. This sets off a chain reaction that forces their friends -- and even some complete strangers -- to confront their fears about how they choose to live and love in this age of paranoia. The era of American Film Noir serves as an allegorical backdrop for Wes and Ella's ill-fated love story with periodic appearances from iconic femme fatales and detectives. Inspired by real green card marriages and interviews with expats, Americans and immigration lawyers, STRANGERS employs live music and video to explore the romance of "another" -- another person to love, another country to call home.

Since 2004 The Shalimar has produced new plays, short play festivals, readings, and other events at venues including PS 122, 59e59 Theater and The Brick Theater. Their contemporary musical adaptation of Phaedra - LA FEMME EST MORTE or Why I Should Not F%!# My Son premiered at the 2006 New York Fringe Festival and won The Stage Award for Best Ensemble at the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Their original play stirring - devised from online personal ads - played all over New York, and at the 2005 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Other world premiers include Bad Girls Good Writers by Sibyl Kempson; Clarisse and Larimon and The Rich Silk of It by Deb Margolin; tostitos, over-exposed, and mmmmmmm by Michael John Garcés; Skirt by Katie Douglas and Les Carabiniers; and The Recovery by Kirk Lynn. For more information on The Shalimar, visit www.shalimarproductions.org

STRANGERS stars Joey Williamson, Jen Taher, Kim Gainer, and Franny Silverman, Daniel Popa, Brad Love, and Peter Stone with original music by Anthony Gabriele; choreography by Pavel Zustiak (Palissimo), video by Miklos Buk (Untitled Mars by Jay Scheib), lighting and set design by Ben Kato (Chautauqua! with National Theater of the United States of America) and costumes by Sydney Maresca (The Debate Society's Cape Disappointment).

In 2005, the Ontological-Hysteric Theater thoroughly revamped and updated its programs for emerging artists by starting the Ontological-Hysteric Incubator. The Incubator is programming which guides artists from workshop phases to fully realized productions. The Incubator houses artists, who follow in the compositional theater footsteps of Richard Foreman, but have their own unique visions and aesthetic strategies for tracing out the Ontological-Hysteric Theater's aim of unsettling perception and disorienting understanding. The Incubator programming provides these artists with aesthetic and practical mentorship and support on their way towards self-sustaining and more rigorous productions. Ontological-Hysteric Incubator is long-term development and process oriented programming for emerging artists. Ideally artists begin in one of its work-in-progress programs and grow towards fully realized and self-produced performances beyond the Incubator.

STRANGERS runs May 28 - June 13, Thursday - Saturday at 8pm with additional performances June 7 & 9 at 8pm. The Ontological Theater at St. Mark's Church is located at 131 East 10th Street (at 2nd Ave. -- accessible from the #6 train at Astor Place, the N/R trains at 8th Street or the L at 1st Ave.) Tickets are $17 adult/$12 student, available at 212-352-3101 or www.ontological

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