HOPE, A New Drama About Women's Voices Begins Previews September 22

The Wild Project hosts the World Premiere of HOPE, written and performed by Hope Salas. Directed by Erika Latta, previews begin September 22 at The Wild Project with opening night slated for Wednesday, September 26.

HOPE is the story of three women: Rose, a prostitute in the 1950's; Alice, a spirited, yet haunted wife and mother; and Hope, an Irish-Mexican storyteller who examines the fragments of her life in order to understand how she has survived and how she will thrive in the second half of her life. It is a darkly comic play about women's voices and women's choices; addiction and abuse; healing and survival. It is about HOPE.

The production team for HOPE includes Marsha Ginsberg (set and costumes), Yuki Nakase (lighting), Yiannis Christofides (sound design), Gil Sperling (video design), Edwin Sanchez (dramaturg), and Alex Gurevich (technical director).

Hope Salas is a New York City based actress, writer, producer, educator and teaching artist. Her credits include Hamlet at The Public Theatre with Andre Serban, The Caucasian Chalk Circle at the Bertolt Brecht Theatre (Germany) with Niki & Ula Woltz, Inside Out at Lincoln Center Institute with Liz Swados, Festival Of Screen Writers at Nyorican Poets Café with Anne Bogart, The Trojan Women at En Garde Arts with Tina Landau, Henry IV (parts 1 & 2) Colorado Shakespeare Festival with Michael Addison, Tired by Chiori Miyagawa at Soho Repertory, Awakenings by Miyagawa at PS 122; Woman Killer by Miyagawa at HERE with Sonoko Kawahara, Cause for Alarm at St. Marks Theatre with Ken Rus Schmoll. Her resume also includes recurring roles on daytime TV dramas Another World and Guiding Light. She has taught theater classes in the US, Spain, South Africa, Uganda and Rwanda. While teaching in South Africa, Hope initiated a puppet program for orphaned children living at The Red Cross Children's Hospital founded by Desmond Tutu, the only orphanage in sub-Sahara Africa. Hope holds an MFA in Acting from Columbia University, an M.S.Ed. in Museum Education from Bank Street Graduate School of Education, and a Certificate of Achievement from the University of Connecticut Puppetry Program. www.hopesalas.com

Erika Latta is the Artistic co-Director and co-Founder of WaxFactory (NYC) with whom she works as an actor, director, and writer, creating new innovative work in traditional and non-traditional spaces. She is a member and Associate Director of the trans-media company Begat Theatre in Marseille, France with whom she directed, designed sound, and co-wrote La Disparition, Hidden Stories, La Traversee, Les Demeurees, and Le Jardin Aveugle. For WaxFactory she wrote and directed Delirium 27, which was performed in Ljubljana, Slovenia and premiered at Abrons Art Center in New York. She directed Eric Dean Scott's Tales From Bordertown for the undergroundzero festival at PS 122, Dixon Place and in Ljubljana, Slovenia. La Disparition is currently touring Europe after premiering in the Avignon Festival and in Chalon-Sur Saone. Her direction of Hidden Stories, supported by FACE-French American Fund for Contemporary Theater, will be presented by Boom Arts in Portland, Oregon in July 2019. In addition to working as a director and actor, she is a published photographer. She has shot film stills for the Oscar nominated film Captain Fantastic by Matt Ross with Viggo Mortensen and Bottled Up by Enid Zentelis with Melissa Leo, among others. She holds an MFA in Acting at Columbia University and a BFA in Theater from the University of Washington. She is a member of the Society of Authors (SACD) in France and an occasional contributor to Movie Maker Magazine.

HOPE runs September 22 - October 13. Performances are Tuesday-Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm & 8pm, and Sunday at 2pm with an additional performance Monday, Sept. 24 at 8pm. Also note: no performance Thursday, Sept. 27. The Wild Project is located at 195 E. 3rd Street b/w Aves A. & B. Tickets are $25, available at 212-352-3101 or www.thewildproject.com