Latest Incarnation of "Cemetery of Lips": A Fable About Finding Your Fire
After sold-out performances in the New York International Fringe Festival, Nancy Ancowitzs play, "Cemetery of Lips," was selected into the Six Figures Theatre Company Artists of Tomorrow Festival. Performances are on Saturday, October 1 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, October 2 at 5 p.m. at the West End Theatre at 263 West 86 St., 2nd floor. Tickets $15.00; call 212-969-4444; www.smarttix.com
(PRWEB) July 21, 2005 -- "Cemetery of Lips" is the story of a woman who thought she had nothing to say. With her signature brand of macabre humor and her deliciously surreal language, playwright Nancy Ancowitz lures us down the alimentary canal to a reservoir of unspoken thoughts and desires. Here amid her swallowed words, our intrepid heroine sets off to reclaim her missing truth. Fearless in its message, the play combines thrillingly poetic riffs, deliciously surreal rants, and a powerhouse performance with percussive rhythms and violin. Expect a wild ride. Bring your lips. Bring your chap stick.
Nancy Ancowitz is a nationally recognized coach and marketing strategist who helps people express themselves with confidence. She wrote "Cemetery of Lips" to mark her return to a creative life after a long stint in the corporate world. Originally developed as part of the Artists-In-Residence Program at Makor (West Side Center of the 92 Street Y), "Cemetery of Lips" was selected into the CUNY Human Rights Theatre Project, as well as the FringeNYC.
Performer Jaye Austin Williams is an actor, director, playwright, teacher, and novelist. Her critically acclaimed performance of Suzan-Lori Parks' one-woman play, "Pickling," was presented at HERE, Joes Pub, the Mint, and at the Cherry Lane. Jaye's work has been seen on and off Broadway and regionally. Her first novel, "Jasmine," will be published by HarperCollins in the fall of 2006.
Director Barbara Rubin made her Off-Broadway debut last season with Antigone Project at The Women's Project, and she was the associate director on the recent Broadway production of "A Streetcar Named Desire."
"Cemetery of Lips" is an enchanting spoken word performance with hand drum accompaniment. A percussive dream with a lot of surprises and a little bite....
BIOS
JAYE AUSTIN WILLIAMS (Performer) is an actor, director, playwright, novelist, teacher and consultant. Her critically acclaimed performance of Suzan-Lori Parks one-woman play, "Pickling," was presented at HERE, Joes Pub, the Mint, and the Cherry Lane. As an American Sign Language (ASL) director/consultant, Jaye made Broadway history when she hired two African American deaf actresses to interpret Emily Manns "Having Our Say" for deaf audiences, marking the first time ever that the ASL interpreters were themselves deaf. Her adaptation of Sapphires "American Dreams" was extensively developed at the Sundance Institute Theatre Lab and then presented at the Joseph Papp Public Theatre. Most recently, Jayes "Sisters Outside" and a "Brother Who Knows Where" -- a free adaptation of Chekhovs "Three Sisters" -- was commissioned and presented by the Mark Taper Forum. Her work has been seen regionally at the Long Wharf, San Diego Rep and the Hangar, among other venues. Jaye has directed regional premieres of David Auburns "Proof" and Suzan-Lori Parks "Topdog/Underdog." Jaye was a recipient of the NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Directors fellowship and is an alumna of the Lincoln Center Theatre Directors Lab. Her first novel for young adults, "Jasmine," will be published by Harper Collins Publishers in the fall of 2006.
NANCY ANCOWITZ (Playwright) Nancy has an extensive background in corporate and entrepreneurial marketing. She teaches Self-Promotion for IntrovertsTM at New York University, and is the vice president of the International Coach Federation-NYC. She has recently written for careerjournal.com, the executive career site of "The Wall Street Journal." Nancy draws upon her experience helping executives, business owners, artists, and people in transition quiet their demons and find their muses. As an emerging playwright, her play "Hablo, Diablo" won honorable mention in the New Works of Merit Playwriting Contest, and was also extended at Makor (West Side Center of the 92 Street Y), after a sold out staged reading. Additionally, Nancy has managed marketing communications for a multibillion-dollar business as a vice president at JP Morgan Chase & Co. Earlier in her career, as a jewelry designer, Nancys clients included Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, Henri Bendel, and I. Magnin; her promotional efforts resulted in national press coverage, including "Glamour" (cover), "Mademoiselle," "Saturday Review," and "New York" magazines Best Bets. www.NancyAncowitz.com
BARBARA RUBIN (Director) Barbara began her career at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg, South Africa. Credits include: "Kindertransport," "How I Learned To Drive," "Julius Caesar," "A Midsummer Nights Dream," Fugards "Valley Song," "Phaedra," "The Love of the Nightingale," "Edmond," "Laughing Wild," and "The Dybbuk." She was associate director on "A Streetcar Named Desire" for the Roundabout on Broadway. Previously she was assistant director on "The Dance of Death" (2001) and "The Elephant Man" (2002) on Broadway. She directed Chiori Miyagawas "Red Again," in Antigone Project at The Womens Project. She was assistant director to Athol Fugard on "Sorrows and Rejoicings" at McCarter Theatre and at Second Stage in New York. Her current project "In the House of My Beloved" received a workshop at New Georges last fall. Barbara was a guest director at Long Island University and currently teaches at The American Academy of Dramatic Art. She is a member of The Lincoln Center Directors Lab, the Womens Project Directors Forum, a New Georges affiliated artist and a founding member of New Shoe, a collaborative of women playwrights and directors.
ANOUSH (Drummer and Costume Designer) Anoush grew up in a family of classically trained musicians in her native Moscow. Passionate about the folk arts of Asia Minor, she studied Middle Eastern, Caucasian, and Central Asian dances. As a musician, she embraced hand percussion of the region. She plays dumbek, frame drum, doira, Egyptian riq, finger cymbals, Turkish spoons, cajon, Armenian dhol, and a doutar. Her hand embroidered beaded dance gowns have been exhibited in several art galleries in New York. She teaches and gives workshops regularly.
SAMUEL A. MORRIS (Associate Producer/Assistant Press Representative) Samuel is studying Theatre Arts and Entertainment at NYU. His roots in theatre are in performance, having performed many of the theatres most well-known roles (in shows such as South Pacific, "Les Miserables," "Guys & Dolls," "West Side Story," and "Oliver!"), in addition to having performed in concert at several renowned venues, including Carnegie Hall. At NYU, he is the producer of SHMUTZ (www.Shmutz.org), a student run theatre group that recently put on "Pippin" and "Rumors," and will be presenting "Company" later this year. He is also currently a marketing/arts education intern at StudentsLIVE (www.StudentsLive.org), the award-winning Broadway education organization, where he works in the education departments of the Broadway shows "Avenue Q," "Chicago," "The Phantom of the Opera," "Rent," and "Sweet Charity." He also recently finished a publicity internship at Boneau/Bryan-Brown, where he worked on the press and publicity for "Monty Pythons Spamalot" and "Doubt." http://hometown.aol.com/Samuelamorris
LISTING INFORMATION:
"CEMETERY OF LIPS"
WHEN:
Sat 10/1 @ 7 p.m.
Sun 10/2 @ 5 p.m.
(Run-time: 40 minutes)
WHERE:
West End Theatre
Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew
263 West 86 St., 2nd floor
(wheelchair accessible)
TICKETS $15.00
212-868-4444
www.smarttix.com
"CEMETERY OF LIPS"
By: Nancy Ancowitz
Directed by: Barbara Rubin
Starring: Jaye Austin Williams
On drums: Anoush
On violin: Joyce Chen
Musical director: Greg Cicchino
Production stage manager: Jamie Rog
Costume designer: Anoush
Set designer: Michael V. Moore
Lighting designer: Jesse Belsky
Associate producer: Samuel A. Morris
Double billed with:
"NOT A DREAM"
Conceived and directed by Regina Robbins
with text by Charlotte, Anne, and Emily Brontė
Cast: Emily Beatty, Jane Elias, Alison Saltz, Robert Weinstein
(Run time: 15 minutes)
Victorian authoresses Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontė spend a "typical" evening at home with their troubled brother Branwell and their own turbulent thoughts. Poetry and fantasy come together in this portrait of a great literary family coping with isolation, addiction, and the specter of death.
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