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Obie Award winning Immigrants' Theatre Project in collaboration with John Stark Productions presents the New York Premiere of Jovanka Bach's MARKO THE PRINCE. The play is part of The Balkan Trilogy, three plays by Bach about Yugoslavians and Serbian-Americans during the rise and fall of Yugoslavia under Tito and the Communists. The trilogy was nominated for a PEN West Award. Directed by Marcy Arlin, previews begin June 20th at Barrow Group Theater with opening slated for Thursday, June 26.
MARKO THE PRINCE is set in Sabor, a village on the border of Bosnia and Serbia, at the start the 90s Balkan War. Michael, a first-generation American, returns to Sabor bury his mother in the village of her birth. Michael's plans are derailed when he discovers smoldering religious and ethnic resentments surrounding the ownership of Sabor's tiny village cemetery. Gossip, innuendo, passion, and politics cause uneasy alliances and dangerous conflict.The multicultural production stars Trazana Beverley (Tony Award winner, For Colored Girls...) with Jelena Stupljanin, Tony Naumovski, Lanna Joffrey, Aaron Lohr, Christo Christov, Josh Clayton, Matthew Schmidt, Herman Petras, and Paul Barry with sets by Art Rotch, lighting by Lucas Krech, costumes by Carol Brys, sound by Elizabeth Rhodes. Additional staff includes production manager Karen Oughtred, assistant directorTaras Berezowsky, stage manager Kelly Sharr, musical director Nikos Brisco (Cafe Antarsia - Joe's Pub), Ryan Bartruff (Fight Coordinator) and Luba Lukova (Graphic Design).
Jovanka Bach's plays include Chekhov and Maria, O'Neill's Ghosts, Sylvie and A Matter of the Heart (two O'Neill Playwrights Conference semifinalists), Mercy Warren's Tea (Best Play winner from the American Radio Theatre), and The Balkan Trilogy (Name Day, A Thousand Smiles, and Marko the Prince). Ms. Bach, a first-gereration immigrant from Montenegro, passed away in January 2006 after a lengthy battle with cancer.Immigrants' Theatre Project, Inc. (ITP) was founded in 1988 by Artistic Director Marcy Arlin to present traditional and experimental plays by and about immigrants to the United States and worldwide. In 2003, ITP received the 2003 Obie Grant for Innovative Theatre and for promoting multicultural theatre and creating national interest in immigrant theatre. ITP has presented the premieres of over 250 plays include Change by Sung Rno, Happy Valley by Aurorae Khoo (winner of Kennedy Center 2000 Fund for New American Plays), and Czech Plays in Translation at The Public Theater. They also co-curated Dis-Location & Re-Discovery with the New Group and produced A Taste of Freedom which ran for 30 weeks on Ellis Island. For more info visit www.immigrantstheat.org.
John Stark Productions has staged plays in Canada, the U.S. and London including the LA and NYC premiere of Bach's Chekhov and Maria and a co-production of Name Day with ITP. They are currently working on the film Sons of Freedom, starring Leelee Sobieski, Genevieve Bujold and Christopher Plummer. Stark's solo show An Evening With Stephen Leacock was filmed by RCA at the National Arts Center in Ottawa and has been seen on CBC, BBC, PBS and Bravo. The company recently produced the film version of Chekhov and Maria.MARKO THE PRINCE runs June 20 - July 13, Wednesday -Saturday at 7:30pm and Sunday at 3:00pm & 7:30pm. (Please note: there is no 7:30pm show on June 22 and no performances July 4.) The Barrow Group Theatre is located at 312 West 36th Street (between 8th & 9th Avenue -- accessible from the A,C,E trains at 34th Street). Tickets are $20, available at 212-352-3101 or www.Theatermania.com.
