For Immediate Release
Contact: Linda Kuriloff, (212) 971-1272 lindakuriloff@gmail.com
LINDA MEANS TO
WAIT The New York International Fringe Festival - FringeNYCA production of The Present Company
Sat, 8/11 at 8:45pm;
Sun, 8/12 at 2:00pm; Tues, 8/14 at 3:45pm; Sat, 8/18 at 6:00pm;
Sun, 8/19 at 7:15pm; Sat, 8/25 at 12:15pm
LINDA MEANS TO WAIT is proud to be presenting as part of the 16th
annual New York International Fringe Festival - FringeNYC. Written and
performed by Linda Kuriloff and directed by Geoffrey Owens, this solo piece
takes Linda, and the audience, on a journey
with 20 colorful characters through beginnings and endings, joys and
pains, triumph and struggle. It all
starts in a high school classroom in the Bronx, and ends inside each one of us.
This solo performance piece tackles issues as diverse as family,
school policing, urban blight, immigration, community, student loans, and even
the stop-and-frisk practice of the NYPD.
Linda Kuriloff, a South
African-American high school leadership skills trainer working in the Bronx,
attempts one morning to conduct a conflict resolution activity, only to find
her students intent on hearing her own story. When it becomes apparent that
sharing may be a more effective teaching tool in light of the students’
negative self-perception, Linda dons the role of story teller, and the journey
begins. Linda transforms seamlessly from her exuberant childhood self
(desperate to have “normal” parents), to her professor father (contrasting the
importance of rhythm in African music –and life-- to melody in the classical
genre), to her practical mother (chastising ingratitude and articulating
warnings), to her seventh grade history teacher (bluntly instilling humility
and responsibility in his students). The journey leads both teacher and
students through joy, struggle, and triumph as they come to greater
understanding of each other, their neighbors, and ultimately themselves.
Ms. Kuriloff, a graduate of the Yale School of Drama, has worked
in such theatres as the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, Actors Theatre of
Louisville, New York Shakespeare Festival, New Victory Theatre, Crossroads,
Theatre for a New Audience, Ubu Repertory, Kennedy Center, Steppenwolf Theatre
Company, Long Wharf, the Yale Repertory, and the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center.
Her film credits include “Down to Earth” with Chris Rock, “Everyone Says I Love
You” written and directed by Woody Allen, and “Angie” directed by Martha
Coolidge. Original director, Geoffrey Owens, a 1983 Yale graduate, returns to the
play. Mr. Owens recently appeared in productions of Race at the Goodman Theatre
(Chicago), Opus at Two River Theatre, Timon of Athens at the New Jersey
Shakespeare Festival and Julius Caesar (as ‘Casca’) at the Shakespeare Theater
Company (Washington D.C.).
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