“Extraodinary Chambers”
Left to right are Erika Beth Phillips, Manny Fernandes and Seema Sueko discussing the production. Photo is courtesy of Samantha Howell.
Mo`olelo Performing Arts Company Announces Cast and Creative Team
Mo`olelo Performing Arts Company announced the cast and creative team of its upcoming production of “Extraordinary Chambers” by playwright David Wiener. The show will begin previews on Thursday, June 6, 2013 and run to Sunday, June 30, 2013 at The 10th Avenue Theatre in downtown San Diego.
“Extraordinary Chambers” is the story of an American couple who travel to Cambodia to set up a contract for telecommunication centers. Their innocent business trip is derailed as they realize they’ve become personally entangled with Khmer Rouge victims and survivors. They face a moral dilemma, pitting their personal needs and greed against questions of justice and complicity. Shining a light on Cambodian history, “Extraordinary Chambers” brings to question how far one is willing to go to survive.
Mo`olelo’s Executive Artistic Director Seema Sueko briefly returns to direct this play from Washington, DC, where she has been in residence at Arena Stage through the TCG Leadership University grant, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Molly Smith, the artistic director of Arena Stage and Ms. Sueko’s mentor through the TCG program, will join Mo`olelo during the previews of “Extraordinary Chambers.”
The cast is led by Greg Watanabe, who returns to Mo`olelo following his Off-Broadway run in David Henry Hwang’s “Golden Child” at Signature Theatre to tackle the role of Dr. Heng. Watanabe had previously appeared at Mo`olelo in “Yellow Face” and “How I Got That Story.”
Esther K. Chae, Yale MFA graduate and solo show artist, portrays the complex wife of Dr. Heng, Rom Chang. Local actors, Manny Fernandes, Erika Beth Phillips, and Albert Park play the American couple Carter and Mara and their Cambodian driver.
The creative team includes David F. Weiner (scenic design), Jeannie Galioto (costume design), Jason Bieber (lighting design), Joseph Huppert (sound design), and Elizabeth Stephens (stage manager).
“While this play is set against the backdrop of a country that is still recovering from genocide, it is, in a strange way, a love story. It is love that motivates many of the characters in this play to make the difficult and sometimes brutal choices that allows them to survive,” says Sueko.
This production and its accompanying Consensus Organizing work is supported in part by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, Qualcomm Foundation, Nordson Foundation, Wells Fargo, and Mandell Weiss Charitable Trust.
Concurrent to Mo`olelo’s production of “Extraordinary Chambers,” 10th Avenue Arts Center resident artist Gerald Montoya will curate an exhibit of works by local emerging artists in the 3rd floor gallery of The 10th Avenue Theatre. The exhibit will run from Monday, June 3 through Sunday, June 30 and open one hour prior to each performance of “Extraordinary Chambers.”
For tickets and information on “Extraordinary Chambers,” visit www.moolelo.net or call 619-342-7395.
Category: Entertainment, Local News
