“Over the course of Ms. Schultz's performance, the Iraqi refugee population of New York City increased virtually by something like 10%, as she brought stories of urban refugee life into the spare rehearsal room...Ms. Schultz transformed herself...”
The New York Times

"Under Sarah Cameron Sunde's perceptive direction, Schultz gains our sympathies for a people who many people automatically suspect are our enemies. That alone is no small achievement."
The Star Ledger

"How can one person summarize so much pain, pride trauma, love and suffering like an Iraqi refugee while she is, in fact, not an Iraqi refugee herself? As a refugee myself, I gave up to the fact, that no one can hold the complexity of the crisis, it's so complicated and different. Yet I was wrong. In this event, I was captured from the first word until the end. It was brilliant."
Ibrahim, Iraqi refugee


Wednesday, February 2, 2011

VIDEO of the artists on the process, project and play

Press/ Production PHOTOS












Photo credit:
Annabel Braithwaite/Belathée Photography (production photos)
and Laurie Sales (press photos)

EXCERPTS of the play with CityDance

Prior to the NYC run, Intersections International asked Kim Schultz and IVAP artists Paul Emerson and Kathryn Pilkington of CityDance to perform excerpts of their individual pieces for a special gala evening. The artists uniquely blended their work together for this special evening. The dance is called "Wishes of the Sailor" and the text is from "No Place Called Home" performed as part of Intersections Internationals 2010 Awards Gala.



Amplifying the voices of Iraqi refugees


ChangeTheStory.net discussion on Feb 4, 2010 at Intersections International

Production HISTORY

Ondarte Artist Residency, Akumal, Mexico, August 16, 2012
The John F. Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C. June 20, 2012
York College, Queens, NY April 26, 2012
Groton School, Groton, MA, April 3, 2012  
Winona State University, Winona, MN, March 1, 2012 
University of Minnesota Morris, Morris, MN, February 24, 2012
Illuminated Metropolis Gallery, NYC, NY, January 19, 2012, excerpt
Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, January 8-9, 2012
Indiana University South Bend, South Bend, IN October 20, 2011
Bronx Community College, Bronx, NY, October 18, 2011
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, October 14, 2011
Revolution Books, NY, NY, October 2, 2011
Illusion Theater, Minneapolis, MN, July 14-17, 2011
Holy Cross College, South Bend, IN, April 15, 2011
Busboys and Poets, Washington, D.C., March 17, 2011

NEW YORK OFF-BROADWAY RUN
The Cell, NYC, October 27-31 2010
Mile Square Theatre, October 20-24 2010
3LD Technology Center, October 13-17 2010
The Wild Project, October 6-10 2010

The play was developed with readings at The Lark Play Development Center, Alwan Center for the Arts and Intersections International, as well as a residency at Groton School in Groton, MA.

The play was commissioned and produced in New York by Intersections International

How the PLAY came about...


Artist Bios

Kim Schultz
Originally from Minnesota, Kim Schultz is an actress, writer, comedienne and reverend (Yes, reverend). Nationally, she has worked at The Guthrie Theatre, Childrens’ Theatre Co. and Theatre de la Jeune Lune. She has performed at the Chicago Improv Fest, The Brave New Workshop and in a HBO Comedy Showcase in LA. Internationally, she wrote and performed a show for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and improvised on the Disney Wonder Cruise ship. Currently residing in New York, Kim has performed for The Hamptons Shakespeare Festival, Oberon Theatre, Themantics Group, Midtown International Fringe Festival and The Zipper Factory Theatre, among others. She has performed stand up/improv at Stand Up NY, Comix, HA! and NYCC. She also created, produced and acted in a regionally televised comedy improv show called Comedy Hotel - which aired on ABC-KSTC. Kim wrote and performed a critically acclaimed autobiographical solo show performed off-Broadway called, The F Trip. In addition, Kim is also an improviser and runs her own improv school called Kim Schultz Improv. www.kimschultz.net
Amikaeyla Gaston
Proclaimed one of the "purest contemporary voices in the jazz, world and folk industry since Eva Cassidy" by National Public Radio, powerhouse performer, and master percussionist Amikaeyla Proudfoot Gaston embraces the best of many types of music. With her soulful style, sultry ballads, & enchanting, passionate sincerity, she is a dynamic performer and is in the midst of an amazing musical journey. While the dazzling vocalist from the Washington, D.C. area draws on a dizzying array of influences, from Bel Canto, Funk and Bossa Nova to Blues and Soul, her sensibility is pure jazz. "I view myself as a roots jazz artist, because jazz feels so all encompassing," says the newly transplanted Bay area based singer. Her debut album Mosaic received national acclaim, winning a staggering 12 Music Awards, including Best Jazz Vocalist, Best Urban Contemporary Vocalist, Best World Music Vocalist, and Best Debut Artist. Additionally, she was named DC's best Female Composer in 2006 and again in 2008 for excellence in original composition. http://www.amikaeylacollective.com
Sarah Cameron Sunde
Sarah Cameron Sunde (Director) is a New York-based theater director specializing in new work and plays in translation. Her directing credits include premieres of: The Diary of a Teenage Girl by Marielle Heller (with Rachel Eckerling at 3LD Art & Technology Center), The Amish Project by Jessica Dickey (Rattlestick, Fringe et al.), What May Fall by Peter Gil-Sheridan (Guthrie Theater), The Asphalt Kiss by Nelson Rodrigues (59E59 Theaters), and her own translations of Night Sings Its Songs, deathvariations and Sa Ka La by Norway’s Jon Fosse (Oslo Elsewhere at 59E59 and 45 Bleecker). Sunde is credited as being the first director to bring Norwegian playwright Jon Fosse’s work to the U.S. He considers her “his American voice,” and her translations have been published by Performing Arts Journal. She is Associate Director of the award-winning downtown theater company, New Georges and Co-Founder of Oslo Elsewhere. Awards include an American Scandinavian Society Artist Award, Hermitage Foundation Residency, a NYtheatre.com Person of the Year Award, and a Princess Grace Directing Award.
Designed by Jeanette Yew and Jian Jung
Stage Managed by Sarah Izzo

Supplementary WORKSHOPS Offered

Refugee for a Day
3 hours
Students work with the playwright/performer on learning what it is to live as refugee. Activities include a slide show and background on crisis, warm-up improvisational activities for group bonding and listening, and refugee experiential story work through real refugee monologues. Each student will have a chance to choose and perform an excerpt of an actual Iraqi refugee, giving them a further, literal opportunity to experience refugee life. This workshop can also be focused on acting skills as well, if theatre students are involved. Students will leave the workshop with a greater understanding of the Iraqi refugee crisis, a better idea of what it is like to be a refugee and hopefully the empathy and inspiration to take steps to help.

[Full day workshop also available, ending in student performance of monologues with discussion following.]

Creating a Solo Show
6 hours
Workshop designed for theatre students on the art of creating a solo show. Students will engage with the playwright/performer on the challenges and joys of the form, working on their writing/performing skills, defining their voice and walking with first steps taken on a solo show. Excerpts of Ms. Schultz’s current solo show will be read and discussed for form, content and voice.

Improvisational Acting
2 hours
Play in the world of improvisation! Make it up as you go along! By working the improv skills of listening, moment to moment living, organic listening, bravery, teamwork and play, through exercises, games and scenes, students will walk away with skills useful both on and off the stage.

Arts as Activism
2 hours
This lecture/discussion features playwright/performer Kim Schultz as she shares her journey into the world of using arts as activism. Through pieces of her play, slides, historical examples and personal reflection, we learn how and why arts has always been and is the perfect way to create change on an issue, as we journey through the Iraqi refugee crisis, as an example. Then students will brainstorm and identify their own passion issues and through activites, both individual and group, come up with potential arts projects to make a difference in their school, community or world.

additional sessions available...

CONTACT INFO

For more information and/or pricing:

Contact
Playwright/Performer
Kim Schultz
kimschultz1@gmail.com
646-642-6957