THE SHALIMAR'S
STRANGERS

By Nastaran Ahmadi
Directed by Shoshona Currier

May 28—June 13, 2009

photo: Yi Zhao

"The most exciting young American company I have seen up here so far this century.”
 –The Financial Times

Written in response to interviews and research on the topic of immigration, Strangers employs live music and video to explore our national identity and cultural mythology. Wes and Ella's Greencard marriage has lasted five years to date. When Ella insists on throwing a party to celebrate their successful union, Wes's unease about the relationship surfaces.  The lovers separately enlist help and advice from others on how to handle their growing anxieties. This seeking of council sets off a chain reaction that forces both their circle of friends, and complete strangers to confront some of their greatest fears about how they choose to live and love in this modern age. The age of American Film Noir serves as an allegorical backdrop for Wes and Ella's ill-fated contemporary love story with periodic appearances from iconic femme fatale and detective figures.

Since 2004 The Shalimar has produced new plays, short play festivals, and numerous readings. Their contemporary musical adaptation of Phaedra - LA FEMME EST MORTE or Why I Should Not F!%# My Son  - played to sold out houses at the 2006 New York Fringe Festival and won The Stage Award for Best Ensemble at the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Their original play stirring - devised from online personal ads  - played all over New York, and at the Smirnoff Underbelly as part of the 2005 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Their annual short play festivals have been: A Thousand Words: Short Plays on Photography featuring new plays by seven writers loosely based on Susan Sontag's book On Photography; You People (Short Plays About Those People) featuring plays and songs dealing with stereotype in America; and BINGE: Short Plays With all the Fixins! which featured video pieces by Zhenesse and short plays by various writers exploring food. World premiers include Bad Girls Good Writers by Sibyl Kempson at The Brick’s $ellout Festival, Clarisse and Larimon and The Rich Silk of It by Deb Margolin, tostitos, over-exposed, and mmmmmmm by Michael John Garcés, Skirt by Katie Douglas and Les Carabiniers and The Recovery by Kirk Lynn.

Written by Nastaran Ahmadi; Directed by Shoshona Currier; Sound and original music composed by Anthony Gabriele; Lighting and set design by Ben Kato; Costumes by Sydney Maresca; Video by Miklos Buk; Choreography by Pavel Zustiak

Performed by: Joey Williamson, Jen Taher, Kim Gainer, and Franny Silverman

For more information on The Shalimar, visit www.shalimarproductions.org

May 28--30, June 2, 4--7, 9, 11--13 at 8p.m.
Tickets: $17 adult/$12 student; buy here or by calling TheaterMania at 212-352-3101
At the Ontological Theater at St. Mark’s Church • 131 East 10th Street (at 2nd Ave.)