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The IAMA Theatre Company and Boston Court Pasadena have joined forces to present a poetic and surprising new play about the complicated, ridiculous, awe-inspiring trajectory of life. Boston Court artistic director Jessica Kubzansky directs the world premiere of The Body’s Midnight by Tira Palmquist, running April 27 through May 26 at Boston Court Pasadena. Six preview performances take place April 18 through April 26.
What does it mean to discover America? Anne (IAMA ensemble member Keliher Walsh) and David (Jonathan Nichols–Navarro) are determined to find out, as they embark on the perfect American road trip. They have a map, an impressive list of sights to see, and an itinerary that should get them to St. Paul, home of daughter Katie and son-in-law Wolf (IAMA members Sonal Shah and Ryan W. Garcia), just in time for the birth of their first grandchild. But their perfect plan is derailed by a troubling diagnosis and the beautiful impermanence of the world around them. As Anne and David veer off of their intended path, they are forced to grapple with the unavoidably messy and breathtaking journey of their lives.
“How do you make a memory palace of your whole life?” asks Palmquist. “This play is about how weird and beautiful and surprising the world is, how we have to be open to that and be willing to improvise in life. You can’t plan your way through every celebration, or through every adversity.”
“Stef (IAMA artistic director Stefanie Black) and I have been talking about doing a co-production for a very long time, and this is a play we both immediately responded to,” says Kubzansky. “It speaks to so many things: to long-time marriage, to mothers and daughters, to what we pass on and what we pass down, to aging, to memory loss, and to the way the world disappears around us. I love the way it moves to define what’s happening in different spaces in a highly theatrical way — a reality space, a surreal space, a phantasmagorical space, a memory space.”
One of the philosophies shared by IAMA and Boston Court is the development-to-full production pipeline for new work. During IAMA’s current “Sweet 16” anniversary season, the company produced two new plays it commissioned from Los Angeles-based playwrights: Radical or, are you gonna miss me? by Isaac Gómez and Arrowhead by Catya McMullen. Similarly, The Body’s Midnight was developed with Boston Court’s Playwrights Group and given a staged reading as part of that company’s 19th annual New Play Reading Festival before being selected for the current co-production.
“IAMA is thrilled to collaborate with Boston Court on this beautiful, complex play that is all at once funny, sad and profound,” says Black. “Tira gives us a fresh, unexpected perspective on a universal, intergenerational story. Audiences are sure to lose themselves in this expansive experience.”
The creative team for The Body’s Midnight includes scenic designer Nicholas Ponting; lighting designer Benedict Conran; sound designer John Zalewski; video and projections designer David Murakami and associate projections designer Sam Clevenger; costume designer Mylette Nora; properties designer Cindy Campos; intimacy director Carly DW Bones; and dramaturg Adrian Centeno. IAMA ensemble member Anisha Adusumilli is associate director. Jasmine Kalra is the production manager, Jesse Soto is the technical director and Jasmine Leung is the production stage manager. The IAMA team includes season producer Quinn O’Connor and co-producer Katharine Means.
Founded in 2007, IAMA is a Los Angeles-based ensemble of artists committed to cultivating new voices and creating new works that push boundaries and take risks, while fostering an inclusive community that inspires theater-makers of future generations. Invested in challenging audiences with an authentic experience that reflects our complex modern world, IAMA frequently works together with like-minded companies to produce new work; past collaborations have included Center Theatre Group (Our Dear Dead Drug Lord at the Kirk Douglas Theatre); the Los Angeles LGBT Center (The Bottoming Process); Pasadena Playhouse (American Hero, A Kid Like Jake); Latino Theater Company (Canyon); Washington, DC’s Woolly Mammoth (Hi, Are You Single?); and New York City’s Queens Theatre (Fly on the Wall series).
Located in Pasadena, California, Boston Court Pasadena is an intimate performing arts center that creates and nurtures innovative, boundary-pushing art that invokes the power of collective imagination to illuminate our common humanity. The 75-seat Marjorie Branson Performance Space and the 99-seat Main Stage serve as homes for Boston Court’s season of adventurous theater, its richly eclectic music series, the annual New Play Reading Festival and a rotating visual art program, among other engagement and education offerings, under the leadership of artistic director Jessica Kubzansky and executive director Manny Prieto. Boston Court Pasadena was founded in 2003 by philanthropist Z. Clark Branson and founding producing director Eileen T’Kaye.
The Body’s Midnight opens on Saturday, April 27 at 8 p.m., with performances thereafter on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through May 26. In addition, there will be three weeknight performances: on Monday, May 6; Monday, May 20; and Thursday, May 23, all at 8 p.m. Six preview performances take place April 18 through April 26. Tickets range from $22 to $65, including fees. Monday night performances are Pay What You Choose.
Boston Court Pasadena is located at 70 N Mentor Ave., Pasadena, CA 91106. Parking is free in the on-site lot. For reservations and information, call (626) 683-6801 or go to bostoncourtpasadena.org.
