CHILDREN OF THE SEA By Comes to Z Below Next Month

Word for Word's Off the Page Staged Reading Series 2022 continues on August 8, 7pm with Children of the Sea, by Edwidge Danticat, Directed by Margo Hall on the Z Below Stage in San Francisco. Word for Word's Off the Page staged reading series is the public's first look at pieces Word for Word is considering for upcoming productions. In Edwidge Danticat's Children of the Sea a young man on a boat flees to America for asylum while a young woman, his lover, stays behind in Haiti trying to survive increasing violence and chaos. In the face of senseless brutality and adversity, the two write letters to each other they can never send.

Edwidge Danticat (author) was born in Haiti and moved to the United States when she was twelve. She is the author of several books, including Breath, Eyes, Memory, an Oprah Book Club selection; Krik? Krak!, a National Book Award finalist; and The Farming of Bones, an American Book Award winner. She is also the editor of The Butterfly's Way: Voices from the Haitian Dyaspora in the United States and The Beacon Best of 2000: Great Writing by Men and Women of All Colors and Cultures.Danticat earned a degree in French Literature from Barnard College, where she won the 1995 Woman of Achievement Award, and later an MFA from Brown University. She lives in Miami with her husband and daughters

Margo Hall (director) is an award winning actor, director, activist, educator, and newly appointed Artistic Director of the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. She has graced Bay Area stages for 30 years as a performer and director. She recently appeared in the hit film BLINDSPOTTING with our own Oakland native Daveed Diggs and All Day and a Night on Netflix. She was last seen onstage in Exit Strategy at The Aurora Theater.

She recently directed How I Learned What I Learned at Marin Theatre Company, BARBECUE (which she also starred in) and Red Velvet for SF Playhouse and Brownsville, b-side for tray for Shotgun Players. Other acting credits include: Marin Theater Company- JAZZ, Skeleton Crew, Gem of the Ocean, Fences and Seven Guitars. California Shakespeare Theater- God Person of Szechwan, Black Odyssey, Fences, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night's Dream, A Raisin in the Sun, A Winter's Tale, American Night: the Ballad of Juan Jose and SPUNK. American Conservatory Theater- Ah, Wilderness!, Once in a Lifetime and Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet. Aurora Theater- Trouble in Mind. Shotgun Players- A World in a Woman's Hands, and Word for Word-All Aunt Hagar's Children and The Blues I'm Playing.

.A public staged reading of a short story, invites audiences to see the first steps in the of process of bringing a work from the page to the stage in the Word for Word style. After the reading, the audience is encouraged to engage in a conversation with the company, which gives valuable feedback as they decide on the next steps of a work's development. Readings are at 7 pm for info: http://www.zspace.org/offthepage

Word for Word Performing Arts Company, a program of Z Space, is an ensemble whose mission is to tell great stories with elegant theatricality, staging performances of classic and contemporary fiction. Founded in 1993 by Susan Harloe and JoAnne Winter, Word for Word believes in the power of the short story to provide solace, compassion, and insight into our daily lives.

Word for Word's Off the Page Staged Reading Series 2022

August 8: Children of the Sea, by Edwidge Danticat, Directed by Margo Hall

September 4: Eternal Love, by Karen Bender, Directed by Amy Kossow

October 3: The Second Bakery Attack and Bakery Attack, by Haruki Murakami,

Directed by Keiko Shimosato Carreiro