410[GONE] to Play Rorschach Theatre

Rorschach's dark wit and visionary approach to design have met their match in Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig's sharp, fantastical adventure through the Chinese Land of the Dead - coming to Atlas Performing Arts Center March 23 - April 15.

The Goddess of Mercy and the Monkey King think they control the Land of the Dead until their newest arrival, a Chinese-American boy, defies the system. Can an arcade dance game be the only thing that stands between the boy and his transmigration? Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig's dark and dazzling play about the afterlife explores identity, love, loss and what it takes to forge a new path.

Led by director and DC newcomer Gregory Keng Strasser, the cast and production team of 410[GONE] showcases Rorschach's unique prowess at pairing seasoned company members with outstanding emerging talent.

THE PLAY

"410[GONE] re-organizes and layers familiar Asian American dramatic elements (traditional folk elements, etc.) and typical American experiences (fast food, etc.) to expose, but never define... Frances' bricolage of imagery creates a cultural frame that is so emotionally accurate one forgets its critical role in creating the experience...If you cry at this play, don't worry. It's just because it hurts so good." -Hyphen Magazine.

Written in 2009 in the wake of her own brother's suicide, Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig's 410[GONE] thrusts audiences into a electric universe under a remote chinese mountain. A young chinese-american boy enters the Land of the Dead where the Goddess of Mercy plays the arcade sensation Dance Dance Revolution to transmogrify souls into their next life. Meanwhile, the young man's sister haunts the land of the living searching for a way to bring back to her lost brother.

Dark, hilarious and moving, 401[GONE] explores loss and the impossible search for resolution in a way that is unique and surprising. Designed for Rorschach's singular aesthetic voice by Helen Hayes Award Nominee Debra Kim Sivigny (FORGOTTEN KINGDOMS) and a team of remarkable designers, audiences can expect to be enveloped in the world of the play from their first encounter with the Ox-God, to the last swish of the Monkey King's tail.

The cast includes company members Yasmin Tuazon (VERY STILL & HARD TO SEE, 1001) and Linda Bard (A BID TO SAVE THE WORLD) as well as Sebastian Amoruso, Andrew Quilpa and Jacob Yeh. Company member Debra Kim Sivigny's set design is illuminated by company member Katie McCreary's lighting design and brought to life with original compositions by sound designer Roc Lee. Costumes will be designed by Rhe'a Roland and projections will be created by AU professor and frequent 9:30 Club VJ Kylos Brannon.

[410]GONE will be directed by Gregory Keng Strasser, an exciting new voice in the Washington community. A young Chinese-American director from Michigan, Strasser's award winning productions of TRIBES and THE WHITE SNAKE won him much acclaim before joining Steppenwolf Theatre Company's Professional Leadership Program in 2016. He was an affiliate artist with the Lime Tree Theatre in Limerick, Ireland and studied Wayang Kulit puppetry, Gambuh dance, and gamelan as a resident artist of Yayasan Bali Purnati in Indonesia. Strasser moved to Washington to work in television at the Shanghai Media Group.

Strasser says about the show, "These are characters I've known since childhood and it explores an incident that feels very close to home. I relish the challenges of the play and I am honored that Rorschach has trusted me with this beautiful, unnervingly funny and deeply intelligent production."

Says Producer Randy Baker, "410[GONE] is the perfect expression of our devotion to impossible theatre. It's a mad and hilarious playground that combines gods, pop culture and the metaphysical while still telling a heartbreaking human story."

THE PLAYWRIGHT

"Cowhig is a distinctively original writer with a brash, provocative style and a wit that can sneak up and catch you off-guard."

-- SFGate.com (about Crowded Fire's production of [410]GONE)

Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig is an internationally produced playwright whose work has been staged at the Royal Shakespeare Company, The National Theatre of Great Britain, Manhattan Theater Club, The Goodman Theatre, Trafalgar Studios 2 on the West End and the József Katona Theater in Budapest. In 2018 her most recent work, SNOW IN MIDSUMMER, a contemporary adaptation of the Yuan play by Guan Hanqing, will receive its North American premiere at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, in a production directed by Justin Audibert.

Frances' plays have been awarded the Wasserstein Prize, the Yale Drama Series Award (selected by David Hare), an Edinburgh Fringe First Award, the David A. Callichio Award and the Keene Prize for Literature. She has held year-long playwright residencies at Manhattan Theater Club and Marin Theater Company, and is currently under commission from South Coast Rep, The Goodman Theatre and the National Theatre. In addition to [410]GONE, her plays include LIDLESS, THE WORLD OF EXTREME HAPPINESS and SNOW IN MIDSUMMER.

She has benefited from artist residencies at Yaddo, Macdowell, Hedgebrook, Ragdale, the Sundance Playwright Retreats at Ucross and Flying Point, and the Santa Fe Art Institute. Her work has been published by Yale University Press, Glimmer Train, Methuen Drama, Samuel French and Dramatists Play Service.

Frances was born in Philadelphia, and raised in Northern Virginia, Okinawa, Taipei and Beijing. She received an MFA in Writing from the James A. Michener Center for Writers at UT Austin, a BA in Sociology from Brown University, and a certificate in Ensemble-Based Physical Theatre from the Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre. She is currently a member of the Theater and Dance faculty at UC Santa Barbara, where she has the pleasure of mentoring undergraduate playwrights and directing the Dramatic Writing Concentration.

THE SPACE

A landmark of the newly revitalized H Street, NE neighborhood, the Atlas stood vacant for years until it was re-opened as the Atlas Performing Arts Center in November, 2006 following an extensive four-year renovation. Its 60,000 square foot complex includes four theatres, three dance studios, administrative offices, dressing rooms, lobbies, a café and production and rehearsal spaces. The center is home to a diverse group of locally renowned theatre and dance companies, symphony orchestras, choral groups and arts education programs. Its mission includes serving the greater metropolitan DC area as well as being the artistic heart of its immediate community.

In the past Rorschach Theatre has performed in a greenhouse, a back-alley art gallery, the lobby of 16th Street JCC, the former sanctuary of a Methodist Church in Columbia Heights, Georgetown University's Performing Arts Center and in the basement of a Lutheran Church in Georgetown.

ABOUT RORSCHACH THEATRE

Through uncommon uses of environment and intimate passionate performances, Rorschach Theatre seeks to lure its audiences beyond the limits of ordinary theatrical experience so that they may discover new elements of their own humanity.

Rorschach Theatre tells stories that allow for innovative design and visceral performances. The company treats productions as "installations" that surround the audience with the world of a play. Our work centers on the intersection of magic or impossible moments and relatable human experience. Without proselytizing, it provides a complex, intellectual catalyst for self-exploration of challenging subjects. Rorschach is also a vital launching pad for emerging artists. By trusting early-career actors, directors, playwrights and designers with substantive artistic responsibilities, and surrounding them with established professionals and ample resources, the company has become an essential showcase for new talent.

Rorschach has produced more than fifty plays seen by tens of thousands of people in the Washington area. The company has been nominated for over a dozen Helen Hayes Awards; won a Mary Goldwater Award; been a finalist for the Mayor's Arts Award; and have been the recipients of multiple grants and awards from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. The company's work has garnered the attention of The New York Times, The Washington Post, American Theatre magazine and National Public Radio, as well as countless local publications.

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