Brett Singer & Associates, LLC
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE
Classical Theatre of Harlem Presents
ELECTRA
April 14, 2007
The OBIE, Drama Desk and Lortel
Award-winning Classical Theatre of Harlem (CTH) will present ELECTRA, a
new version of Sophocles' classic, adapted and directed by CTH Artistic Director
Alfred Preisser. Performances will be at the HSA Theatre, 645 St.
Nicholas Avenue, and will begin on Thursday, May 24th. Opening night
is scheduled for Thursday, May 31st and the show will run through
Sunday, June 24th.
Sophocles's Electra, written around 409
B.C., is based on the legend of the House of Atreus, a story which contemporary
Greek audiences would have known from childhood. The major themes of this story
concern retribution for crimes committed within the family of Atreus, who was
Electra's grandfather. Electra's duty in the play is to avenge her father's
murder, but this involves killing her own mother, another crime that will have
consequences down the line. As with previous CTH adaptations of the Greek
classics (Trojan Women and Medea), the Classical Theatre of
Harlem’s Electra will be a visceral and harrowing meditation on the
costs of war. The text is a completely
new take on the story.
Director Alfred Preisser is the Co-Founder and
Artistic Director of The Classical Theatre of Harlem and the director of the
Theatre Division at The Harlem School of the Arts. His work with the company includes Ain’t Supposed to Die a
Natural Death and Macbeth, which toured Germany at the Bonn Biennial
and Globe-Neuss Shakespeare Festival.
His original adaptations of Euripides’ Trojan Women and Medea
were performed at CTH in 2002 and 2004, and he is the co-author of 2005’s Caligula,
which featured André De Shields in the title role. Mr. Preisser recently directed Mr. De Shields in King Lear; that
production played to sold out houses in Harlem, Miami, and at the Folger
Theater in Washington D.C. where it broke box office records.
ELECTRA features Zainab Jah (Medea, Trojan Women) in the title
role. The remaining cast will be Trisha Jeffrey (Broadway's All Shook Up
and Little Shop of Horrors), Samuel Ray Gates (Nelson at the Lion
Theatre), and Petronia Paley (The Cherry Orchard at CTH). Longtime CTH
performer Tracy Jack will play the leader of the Chorus, which includes
Khadeejah Gray, Christina Sajous and Sandra Miller.
The Classical Theatre of Harlem is a dynamic
and unique theatre company dedicated to producing the classics for a new,
young, and culturally diverse audience.
Their numerous awards and honors include a 2004 Drama Desk Award (as
well as several nominations), 12 AUDELCO Awards (along with 77 nominations) for
Excellence in Black Theatre, and five OBIE Awards, off-Broadway’s most
prestigious honor. Their production of Funnyhouse of a Negro was
nominated for three 2006 Lucille Lortel Awards, the first year they were
eligible. They were recently awarded a 2007 Lortel Award for Outstanding Body
of Work. CTH’s production of Ain’t Supposed To Die A Natural Death was
picked up by an outside producer and enjoyed a successful run at the nightclub
T New York.
ELECTRA will begin performances on Thursday, May 24th with
the opening scheduled for Thursday, may 31st and will run through
Sunday, June 24th. The schedule will be Wednesdays through Saturdays
at 8PM and Sundays at 3PM. Tickets are $25-$45 and can be purchased by calling
Smarttix at (212) 868-4444 or by visiting their web site at www.smarttix.com.
For more information about The Classical Theatre of Harlem, visit their web
site at www.classicaltheatreofharlem.org.
ELECTRA
Written
& Directed by Alfred Preisser
At
The HSA Theatre, 645 St. Nicholas Ave. (near 141st Street) in Upper
Manhattan
SCHEDULE:
Performances begin on May 24th. The show will open on May 31st
and run through June 24th
Wednesdays
through Saturdays at 8PM and Sundays at 3PM.
# # #
311 West 43rd Street, Suite #1107 Phone: (212) 307-7181
New York, NY 10036 Email:
info@brettsinger.com