Piehole Presents 2 STORIES THAT END IN SUICIDE 8/31-9/4

Piehole presents their newest multimedia production, 2 Stories That End in Suicide. Piehole's story of repression, censorship and rebellion in the Internet age opens at SoHo's HERE Wednesday, August 31 and runs through Sunday, September 4, 2011.

2 Stories That End in Suicide is a multimedia theater piece that draws from Sadegh Hedayat's The Blind Owl and Cesare Pavese's Among Women Only to investigate censorship and teenage rebellion in Iran. A young Iranian disguises herself as a bespectacled male writer in order to write a story using a fantastical blogging device. The intrusions of her mysterious "uncle"--and a history of cultural repression--cause her to censor and sanitize the resulting story. She resorts to a juggling act of codes and disguises in an attempt to express herself through the unique language of censorship. Using puppetry, animation, and live actors, 2 Stories That End in Suicide sheds an unsettling and humorous light on public and private suffering, and the impossibility of identity in a climate of repression.

2 Stories That End in Suicide was devised and created by Piehole. Formed in 2007, Piehole is a collective of Brooklyn-based theater artists that have developed a unique, handmade aesthetic fusing traditional and contemporary modes of performance. Using diverse puppetry styles, Toy Theater, found objects, interactive animation and projections, along with heightened, clownish performance, Piehole revels in a mix of tones and styles to devise a theatre of lavish strangeness. 2 Stories that End in Suicide was inspired from the company's exploration of Hedayat's and Pavese's works, in addition to co-director/performer Tara Ahmadinejad's personal experience with Iranian culture.

"We hope the audience will draw connections with the experience of those living in repressive societies," say directors Tara Ahmadinejad and Elliot B. Quick. "We perform the act of encoding as a process of double failure: one that is impenetrable at times for the viewer, and insufficient as a means of expression for the performer. Within our own fantastical version of the Internet, blogging emerges as a simultaneously public and private medium that twists truths and identity into absurd, goofy knots. The experience of watching this show will be one of familiar strangeness and a game of deciphering."

2 Stories That End in Suicide was work shopped at Brooklyn's Zora Space and Brooklyn Arts Exchange, then developed to a full-length piece for The Brick Theater's Iranian Theater Festival in spring 2011, where it received a sold out run to much acclaim. This current production is a part of HEREstay, HERE's curated rental program, which provides artists with subsidized space and equipment, as well as technical and administrative support.

The cast of 2 Stories That End in Suicide features: Tara Ahmadinejad, Jessie Hopkins, Allison LaPlatney, Alexandra Panzer (Death Valley, Antimatter Collective), Alice Winslow (The Miser, Piper Theatre Productions) and Jeff Wood.

Tara Ahmadinejad and Elliot B. Quick co-direct 2 Stories That End in Suicide. Lighting Design is by Anna Carhart, Costume Design is by Vlada Kaganovskaya and Animation is by Emily Friend Roberts (Sesame Workshop). The Set is designed by Alexandra Panzer and Jeff Wood, and developed by Anika Schwarzwald. Puppet Design is by Alexandra Panzer, Jeff Wood, Allison LaPlatney, Alice Winslow and Tara Ahmadinejad. The Sound Design is by Josie Holtzman (producer/contributor: Where We Live; NPR's Morning Edition) and Rachel Quimby.

2 Stories That End in Suicide features additional sound design by Laura Vitale (Transitions, WNYC's Greene Space) and original music by Gocha Tsinadze (Droneclone) and Ben Cohen. Alex Lubensky (Death Valley, Antimatter Collective) is the Stage Manager, Sara Wentworth (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Untitled Theater #61) is the Video Technician, and Michelle Snow is the Graphic Designer.

2 Stories That End in Suicide opens Wednesday, August 31 and runs Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7pm, Saturday and Sunday at 2pm through Sunday, September 4. All performances take place at HERE, located at 145 6th Avenue (Enter on Dominick, 1 Block South of Spring).

Tickets to 2 Stories That End in Suicide are $15, and are available online at here.org, or by calling 212-352-3101. The Box Office opens after 5pm on show days or 2 hours before any performance.

Piehole is a Brooklyn-based collaborative theater group that draws from puppetry, video, and physical theater. Their debut show Tod & I premiered at the Brick Theater in 2008 to an extended run and praise from The Village Voice, followed by a critically lauded show in the Philly Fringe. That year Piehole produced Tara Ahmadinejad's solo show S.H.A.V.E.D. at Philly Fringe, garnering a "Best Bet" pick from City Paper. Piehole next created Tenticle: A Canticle for Electric Pear's Synesthesia 2009 at The Wild Project. In Fall 2009, Piehole's (The American Museum of) Love & Geography wowed audiences at HERE Arts Center and the Philly Fringe. In January 2011, Piehole brought fairies made of tools and clownish Mechanicals, along with a show-stopping Pyramus and Thisbe to James Rutherford's take on A Midsummer Night's Dream at Columbia Stages. In March 2011, a draft of 2 Stories That End in Suicide enjoyed a sold-out run as part of The Brick Theater's Iranian Theater Festival. Piehole's work was recently presented to a panel at Puppetry and Postdramatic Performance: an International Conference on Performing Objects of the 21st Century at the University of Connecticut. Piehole is Tara Ahmadinejad, Danny Cannizzaro, Allison LaPlatney, Michelle Oing, Alexandra Panzer, Elliot B. Quick, Emily Friend Roberts, Anika Schwarzwald, Laura Vitale, Kathryn Wallem, Jamie Wilber, Alice Winslow and Jeff Wood.

2 Stories That End in Suicide is sponsored by Artspire, a project of the New York Foundation of the Arts, has received a Space Grant from Brooklyn Arts Exchange as well as a grant from the Puppeteers of America Endowment Fund.

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