Halfway through the Story of Our Life

Arte Institute suggests “Halfway through the Story of Our Life” by Alexandra Zelman-Doring in collaboration with Benedita Pereira and Emma Meltzer.

 

Three actors, three musicians, three composers. A dark comedy inspired by Spalding Gray.

 

Three actors, three composers, three musicians come together in this comic investigation of identity.  Why are we as we are? Who is the ‘persona’ that builds up in and around us? A dark comedy inspirited by Spalding Gray.

 

AT THE ACCESS THEATER, MAY 15- June 8th

THROES THEATER 

 

Access is one of New York’s Premier Producers of New Works in the Off Off Broadway Scene.  Its nineteen-year history is rich with the early works of then-unknown theater artists, artists now recognized for the contributions they have made to modern theater. 

 

Written by Alexandra Zelman-Doring in collaboration with Benedita Pereira and Emma Meltzer.  With music by Mahir Cetiz, Ana Milosavljevic, and Jiri Kaderabek.  Musical director: Mahir Cetiz.  Starring Benedita Pereira, Emma Meltzer, Alexandra Zelman-Doring, Mahir Cetiz, Naum Goldenstein and Marc Uys. Production team: Chris Mirto and Reed Ridgley.

 

 

Three actors, three composers, and three musicians come together to wade through the inferno.“Halfway through the Story of Our Life” brings together an award-winning team of composers, actors and musicians to divulge a truthful, raw, explosive tale. Written by 2013 Financial Times/Bodley Head Prize Winner Alexandra Zelman-Doring with Benedita Pereira and Emma Meltzer, this comedy inspired by Spalding Gray brings together an international team from the US, Czech Republic, Portugal, Turkey, Serbia, Israel, and South Africa.

 

Featuring live performance of original music by renowned group of Drama Desk Awards-nominated composers Ana Milosavljevic (praised by The New York Times for her “inventive” and “graceful” works) Jiri Kaderabek (whose work the New York Times praised as “commenting acoustically on mass-media banality and whitewashed anguish”) and Mahir Cetiz (Cetiz’s works have been commissioned and played by orchestras such as BBC Philharmonic and the New York Philharmonic), music and musician meet text and actor in this truly unique collaboration. 

 

At the heart of it all lies a brave investigation of selfhood, identity, and the search that ensues when we wake to find we have been living in a dream we chose to call “reality.” Through ridicule and total abandon, mundane truths and deep torments surface as three lives open up to the anecdotal, outrageous, and performative act of seeking to understand our place as artists and grandchildren. Why are we as we are? Can we be otherwise? How do we engage or escape our society, our freedom, and our calling?Who is the “persona” that builds up in and around us? Can we crack its shell? The cast features award-winning actor Benedita Pereira (Pereira’s portrayal of a man trapped in a woman’s body in “Ele e Ela” earned her Best Actress at the 2010 Portugal TV7 Dias awards) Emma Meltzer (who has appeared in numerous productions all over New York, most recently Lost Tribe at Abrons Arts, Ghost Stories at HERE, and Best Ensemble Winner What Every Girl Should Know at The New York Fringe Festival) and Alexandra Zelman-Doring, whose recent performances at the Edingburgh Fringe, The Flea Theater, and 59E59 have all been widely praised. Also Featuring an all-star cast of musicians Naum Goldenstein (Clarinet) Marc Uys (Violin) and Mahir Cetiz (Piano.) 

 

For more information, visit www.throestheater.com.

Buy your tickets here.