Rattlestick Playwrights Theater in collaboration with The Sol Project is presenting the New York premiere of Martín Zimmerman’s Seven Spots On The Sun starring Flora Diaz (The Eyes of My Mother, Fox’s “Gotham”), Peter Jay Fernandez (Broadway: All the Way, Cyrano de Bergerac) and Flor De Liz Perez (CBS’s “The Good Wife,” West End: The Motherf**ker with the Hat, Dolphins and Sharks). 2016 Dora Award winner Weyni Mengesha directs.
Seven Spots On The Sun begins previews Wednesday, April 26, for a Wednesday, May 10 opening at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater (224 Waverly Place). The limited 6-week engagement runs through June 4.
In Seven Spots On The Sun, a Latin-American village has been without its doctor for 18 months. A recluse, he has refused to look at any patients since the army took his wife away during the country’s civil war. Yet, when a mysterious plague ravages the countryside, he discovers he has the miraculous power to heal with the touch of his hand.
The cast also includes Claudia Acosta (The Architecture of Becoming, Dance for a Dollar, Don Cristobal Billy Club Man), Sean Carvajal (Tell Hector I Miss Him, HBO’s “Crush,” Water by the Spoonful), Rey Lucas (Exit Strategy, Water by the Spoonful, Broadway: The Rainmaker), Cesar Rosado (Dolphins and Sharks, Middle Voice Co-Artistic Director) and Socorro Santiago (Kingdom Come, ABC’s “All My Children”).
Peter Jay Fernandez is a two time Audelco winner. He has appeared on Broadway in All The Way, Cyrano de Bergerac, Henry IV, Jelly’s Last Jam, Julius Caesar, The Merchant of Venice. His other Off Broadway credits include: Father comes Home from the War Pt. 1, 2 and 3, The Merchant of Venice, Henry VIII, As You Like It, Macbeth, and The Winter’s Tale at The Public; RICHARD III: Born with Teeth and Widowers Houses (Epic Theatre); in Luz at La Mama; Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom at New Haarlem Arts; CQ/CX at Atlantic Theater Co.; The Pain and the Itch; Zooman and the Sign; Too Much Memory; The God Committee; Once Around the City; Thunder Knocking on the Door, Phaedra in Delirium; Spell# 7; Coriolanus; Split Second; Checkmates and more. His film and television credits include “Shades of Blue” (recurring), “Royal Pains,” “Gotham,” “Elementary,” “House of Cards,” “Fringe,” “Damages,” “Deception (TV),” “The Good Wife,” “Blue Bloods,” “Body of Proof,” “Law and Order(s),” “Mama I Want to Sing,” The Adjustment Bureau, Deception (Film), Preaching to the Choir, Funny Valentines and more. Awards: Helen Hayes (Nom.) BTTA (Nom), Audie Award (narration).
The production team includes Arnulfo Maldonado (Scenic Design), Amith Chandrashaker (Lighting Design), Tei Blow (Sound Design), Fabian Aguilar (Costume Design), Rebecca Key (Production Manager), Nicole Marconi (Production Stage Manager), Genevieve Ortiz (Assistant Stage Manager) and Jack Doulin + Sharky (Casting).
Seven Spots On The Sun performs Wednesday to Saturday evenings and Monday evenings at 8pm with matinees on Saturdays and Sundays at 3pm, April 26 through June 4, at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater (224 Waverly Place). Running time is approximately 95 minutes.
Post-show talkbacks will take place on May 6 with Playwright Martín Zimmerman, May 7 with Director Weyni Mengesha, and on May 24 and May 31 with the cast.
Preview ticket prices, April 26 through May 9, are $35 (General), $25 (Artist), $10 (Student). After the May 10 opening, tickets are $50 (General), $25 (Artist), $15 (Student). April 27 and May 11 are pay-what-you-can nights. Tickets can be bought at www.Rattlestick.org or via phone at 212-627-2556.
Martín Zimmerman is a multi-ethnic, bilingual playwright and screenwriter whose plays include Seven Spots On The Sun, White Tie Ball, The Making Of A Modern Folk Hero, The Solid Sand Below, and Let Me Count The Ways, and have been produced or developed at The Kennedy Center, Goodman Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse In The Park, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, La Jolla Playhouse, Roundabout Underground, LCT3, NYTW, Victory Gardens Theater, The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Marin Theatre Company, The Playwrights’ Center, ALLIANCE THEATRE, A.C.T. (Seattle), PlayPenn, Icicle Creek Theatre Festival, American Theater Company, The Theatre @ Boston Court, Chicago Dramatists, Primary Stages, Teatro Vista, Playwrights Foundation, Cara Mía Theatre Co, Ojai Playwrights Conference, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, The City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Borderlands Theater, Source Festival, The Gift, Collaboraction, Red Tape, UT-Austin and Duke University.
Zimmerman is a recipient of the Terrence McNally New Play Award, Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award Citation, Humanitas Prize New Voices Award, Sky Cooper New American Play Prize, McKnight Advancement Grant, Jerome Fellowship, Carl Djerassi Playwriting Fellowship, and the National New Play Network’s Smith Prize. He was a Staff Writer on Netflix’s “Narcos,” has been the Alliance for Latino Theater Artists (ALTA) Artist of the Month, a member of the 2011-2012 Playwrights’ Unit at the Goodman Theatre. Martín is a Playwright in Residence at Teatro Vista, a Resident Playwright at Chicago Dramatists, and has been a finalist for the Kendeda Competition and Heideman Award. MFA in Playwriting: The University of Texas at Austin. BA in Theater Studies, BS in Economics: Duke University.
Roundabout Theatre Company just presented the world premiere of Mr. Zimmerman’s On the Exhale, directed by Rattlestick Advisory Board Member Leigh Silverman. Mr. Zimmerman was a staff writer on Netflix’s “Narcos” and is a story editor on the upcoming Netflix series “Ozark.”
Dora Award-winning Director Weyni Mengesha built her award-winning storytelling career in theaters across Canada. She was a 2017 Women in View “Five In Focus” winner, which honored her as one of Canada’s top female directors. Mengesha recently made her U.S. directorial debut with Bars and Measures at the Boston Court in Los Angeles, which recently earned 3 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards nominations. She makes her NYC debut with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater directing Martín Zimmerman’s Seven Spots On The Sun. Recent directing work includes the Canadian premiere of Father Comes Home from the Wars by Suzan-Lori Parks and Breath Of Kings, an original adaptation of the Herniad Cycle at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Toronto Critics Award-winning productions include Lungs and The Small Room at the Top of the Stairs with Tarragon Theatre. Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts awards and nominations include Butcher (Why Not Theatre/The Theatre Centre), Kim’s Convenience and A Raisin in the Sun (Soulpepper Theatre), blood.claat (Theatre Passe Muraille), and the acclaimed ‘da Kink in My Hair (Mirvish Productions). Other upcoming productions include Soulpepper’s Kim Convenience on 42nd St. at The Pershing Square Signature Center. Mengesha received her BFA in Directing at York University.
Since 1994, RATTLESTICK PLAYWRIGHTS THEATER has created, developed and produced many of the nation’s greatest playwrights and their works. Their mission is to provide a positive, nurturing experience for emerging playwrights, to present diverse and challenging plays that otherwise might not be produced, and to foster the future voices of American theater. When they take on a playwright, they guarantee him or her a second production, regardless of the reception of the first. They have produced the first plays and early works of some of today’s leading voices, including Annie Baker, Sheila Callaghan, Jesse Eisenberg, Martyna Majok, Adam Rapp, Lucy Thurber, and Craig Wright. They have also produced works by some of our nation’s most important playwrights, including Charles Fuller, Craig Lucas, Dael Orlandersmith, and José Rivera, whose risky and challenging works other theaters are unwilling to produce. For more information, visit www.Rattlestick.org.
Founded in May 2016, THE SOL PROJECT is a New York City-based theater initiative dedicated to producing works by Latinx playwrights, bringing the stories of their community to the fore of American theater. Founded by Artistic Director Jacob G. Padrón, and driven by a collective of actors, producers and directors, The Sol Project will elevate the visibility of Latinx writers in New York and nationally by activating a synergistic network of Off-Broadway companies and regional theaters while prioritizing racial diversity within casts, crews and creative teams. Twelve playwrights, at all stages in their careers, are first partnered with Off-Broadway companies to execute main stage productions. Regional partners then commit to the continued life of each play with subsequent productions. By placing Latinx voices in the seasons of leading theater companies, the project is slated to not only make a difference in the lives of gifted Latinx storytellers, it will contribute a bold, kaleidoscopic body of work for the new American canon. The Sol Project’s artistic collective is Claudia Acosta, Elena Araoz, Adriana Gaviria, David Mendizabal, Jacob G. Padrón, Kyoung Park and Laurie Woolery. Current partners include: New Georges, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, The Public Theater, LAByrinth Theater Company, Atlantic Theater Company, WP Theater, Primary Stages, Berkeley Rep, and Cara Mía Theatre Co. For more information, go to www.solproject.org.
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Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia is also an internationally published and exhibited photographer, a multi-platform journalist, and a publicist. Lia has appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman and Hide and Seek. She is profiled in Jade Magazine and Playbill.com.
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