UP Theater Company Provides English-to-Spanish Translation Performances Of A BARN PLAY

For the past 10 years, Inwood's UP Theater Company has provided a creative space for new plays to be seen and heard, and to engage communities in Northern Manhattan with their work. Their latest production, the darkly comic fable "A Barn Play" presents a group of farm animals rehearsing a show. But tensions rise and their art falls apart as the mother animals realize that their young offspring are being taken away. The world-premiere of Lizzie Donahue's "A Barn Play" begins March 18 and runs through April 4, 2020, at the Good Shepherd/Inwood Academy Space at 108 Cooper Street. Directed by Melissa Moschitto, Founding Artistic Director of The Anthropologists.

UP Theater company realized it was vital to make "A Barn Play" accessible to their Spanish-speaking community, and three performances will be presented in English-to-Spanish live translation utilizing Dynamics Multilingual Services - a company founded by Washington Heights native Vicente Villalba that provides simultaneous interpreting, translation, and audio/video services with the goal of facilitating foreign language communication and eliminate multicultural communication barriers.

Artistic Director James Bosley was deeply moved by the theme of this new play. Says Bosley, "I always look for something that I'd never seen before, and 'A Barn Play' certainly fits that description. But aside from its uniqueness, I was drawn to the subversive way it approaches the issue of family separation which, for our community, is an extremely urgent concern."

"Presenting the show with translation is very important to us," says UP Founding Member and Managing Director Laura Fois Bosley. "For the first time in our 10 year history, we can be a company that speaks to our entire community, and not just our English speaking audience."

Owl (Rik Walter*) attempts to rehearse his new play with a lively and opinionated ensemble of farm animals: Chicken (April J. Barber), Pig (Sarah Kiefer*), Dog (Arisael Rivera*), Cow (Mariette Strauss), Sheep (China Pharr), and Cat (Stephanie Cha). Tensions flare when a crisis befalls the animals and the ensemble rejects Owl's arty attempt for one of their own devising - one that sheds light on our own relationships with animals, children, and art. This provocative dark comedy asks, "At a time of crisis, who will stand up and be the pig, and who will be the owl?"

*Member of Actors' Equity Association / AEA approved showcase

TICKETS: www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4492114