FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Slam poetry Medea hits the stage in Yubelky Rodriguez's PIOUS POETIC PIE
World premiere May 21-30, 2009, at the Hudson Guild Theater
Fluid Motion Theater & Film presents the world premiere of PIOUS POETIC PIE, a new spoken word play adapted from Euripides' Medea by Latina slam poet Yubelky Rodriguez. Directed by Denyse Owens, previews begin May 21 at the Hudson Guild Theater. Opening night is set for Saturday, May 23.
PIOUS POETIC PIE uses the explosive nature of slam poetry to adapt Medea's timeless journey of love, loss, and revenge to the multicultural community of a rapidly gentrifying Brooklyn, recasting Medea as Melinda, a Dominican immigrant who finds power in words. Yubelky Rodriguez's poetry recalls the heightened language of Greek tragedy while adding a contemporary urban vibe: "It's happening now / never trust the eyes that see blindly / because it... felt right.... / to reveal simple verses... my heart.... / exposing cuts, now strategic plans... / a vendetta to heal internal wounds / injuries that will bleed eternally seeping slowly through my skin."
PIOUS POETIC PIE features a multiethnic cast of actors and poets, including Mia Bankston, Athena Colón, Darian Dauchan, Jose Joaquin Perez, Mia van de Water, and Rick Younger, with sets by Tim McMath, costumes by Deborah J. Caney, lighting by Christopher Brown, and sound by Dave Morreale.
Playwright Yubelky Rodriguez is a New York City-based slam poet/spoken word artist who has performed her poetry at the Cornelia Street Cafe, Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Culture Shock, Rabbit Hole, Sugar Shack, and Quisqueya (Dominican Association Annual Banquet). She studied Spanish and Latin American Comparative Literature at Cornell University, including a semester of theater studies at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain. PIOUS POETIC PIE is her first full-length theatrical play.
Denyse Owens most recently directed TBA for Second Generation and Bottomless at the Bowery Poetry Club. She has also worked as a director with Ma-Yi Theatre Company, Vital Theatre Company, and Classic Stage Company, and as a Teaching Artist with Women's Project and Productions. She received her M.F.A. in Theater Directing from Montclair State University.
Fluid Motion Theater & Film, whose Founder and Artistic Director Christine Simpson was named one of NYTheatre.com's "People of the Year" in 2006, commissions, develops, and produces multi-ethnic, multidisciplinary adaptations of classic western and non-western texts to explore the commonality of the human experience shared by disparate cultures. Theater projects include The Great Conjurer at The Kirk at Theatre Row Studios, Tales of Unrest: Joseph Conrad On Stage at Baruch Performing Arts Center, Arsat at FringeNYC, wAve at The Public Theater, and the upcoming Gone by Katori Hall. For more info visit www.fluid-motion.org
PIOUS POETIC PIE runs May 21-30, 2009, Tuesday - Sunday at 7:00pm with additional matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 3pm. The Hudson Guild Theater is located at 441 West 26th Street between 9th and 10th Avenues. Tickets are $18. For information or reservations call 212-868-4444 or visit www.smarttix.com.
