Cutting Ball Theater Wraps 15th Season with COMMUNIQUE N°10, 4/25-5/25
Cutting Ball Theater closes its 15th season with the American Premiere of COMMUNIQUÉ N°10 by French playwright Samuel Gallet, directed by Rob Melrose. In a city engulfed by riots a young Muslim man is killed after a confrontation with a security guard. His brother vows vengeance and attempts to take control over his seemingly written destiny. Rebels, vagrants, and officers of the law all seek asylum. Their elders, who have difficulty making sense of society's radical changes, are simultaneously dead and very much alive to bear witness to the resulting devastation. All hide in fear from unseen state forces as they contemplate the consequences of action and inaction.
Exploring the tensions of the underclass in a city that is bursting at the seams, COMMUNIQUÉ N°10 was inspired by the 2005 Paris riots led by North African youth. Cutting Ball's production examines the assumptions we make about immigrants, and the connections we make with Muslim identities and violence. Melrose's translation of COMMUNIQUÉ N?10 was commissioned and developed as a part of Playwrights Foundation's 2012 Des Voix Festival, and is produced in association with Golden Thread Productions. The 2014 Des Voix Festival (May 8-11) will feature COMMUNIQUÉ N?10, in partnership with Executive Producer Playwrights Foundation, Tides Theatre, and The Consul General of France in San Francisco.
Co-founded in 1999 by theater artists Rob Melrose and Paige Rogers, Cutting Ball Theater presents avant-garde works of the past, present, and future by re-envisioning classics, exploring seminal avant-garde texts, and developing new experimental plays. The company has commissioned, developed, and produced new experimental plays, and has partnered with Playwrights Foundation, and the Magic Theatre/Z Space New Plays Initiative to commission new experimental works. In addition to producing West Coast Premieres and re-imaging various classics, Cutting Ball Theater has produced nine World Premieres and seven World Premiere translations. Cutting Ball received the 2008 San Francisco Bay Guardian Goldie award for outstanding talent in the performing arts, and was voted "Best Theater Company" in the 2010 San Francisco Bay Guardian Best of the Bay issue. The company also earned the Best of SF award in 2006 and "Best Experimental Theater Company" in 2012 from SF Weekly, and was selected by San Francisco magazine as Best Classic Theater in 2007. Cutting Ball Theater was featured in the February 2010 and 2012 issues of American Theatre Magazine. In 2012, Cutting Ball was awarded a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to fund a three-year residency for resident playwright Andrew Saito.
The show's previews are set for April 25, 26, 8pm; April 27, 5pm, and opens May 1 (Press opening: May 1, 7:30pm; Gala opening: May 2, 8pm), running through May 25, 2014. All performances Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday-Saturday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm, and Sunday at 5pm.
For season membership, single tickets ($10-50), and more information, the public may visit cuttingball.com or call 415-525-1205; group discounts available. Pay What You Can tickets are available to neighborhood residents for all productions. Free student walk-up tickets are available to students with valid student ID.
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