04/14/2015
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Bindlestiff Studio presents in collaboration with APICC, FADF, and KULARTS,
There’s The Moon and Then There’s You
The world premiere of a full-length play by Christina Ying, directed by Lorna Velasco
A featured presentation of Ma’ARTES Pinoy Arts Festival
San Francisco, CA – April 13, 2015 – Bindlestiff Studio presents in collaboration with APICC, FADF and KULARTS, the world premiere of There’s The Moon and Then There’s You, a full-length play by emerging playwright, Christina Ying. The play follows David Nguyen, an aspiring astronaut with an undiagnosed personality disorder. Freshly fired from his job at NASA, he comes home to his long-suffering wife, Mary, who has recently endured a devastating medical emergency. Their already strained relationship is further complicated by Mary’s younger brother, Caleb, who has special needs and requires around the clock care. What appears to be the worst day of their lives turns out to be a stroke of luck for David, who comes across a unique lottery that will give him a chance to travel to the moon. With the odds stacked against him, David tests the bounds of sanity and morality (and his marriage) to win a ticket. Whimsy and drama collide as the deeply-flawed characters come to realize that relationships aren’t rocket science…they are much more complicated.
The play was developed by Christina Ying at Northwestern University’s MFA program in Writing for the Screen and Stage under the tutelage and guidance of renowned playwright, Thomas Bradshaw.
Christina Ying: (Playwright) is a recent graduate from Northwestern University’s MFA program in Writing for the Screen and Stage. This past summer she was a fellow at the Sewanee Writer’s Conference, sponsored by the Tennessee Williams estate, and was also a panel speaker for the Longbeach Digital Edutainment Conference. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Christina began her artistic career as a dancer and movement artist with Kularts. She joined Bindlestiff in 2003 as a volunteer and continued acting and performing as a resident artist in shows such as The Movement: Roots Rocks and Resistance, Alamat, and Enkanto. She made her theatrical writing debut with her monologue, The Word of Oprah and 2+1. She was also commissioned to write a stage adaption of the life of Tye Leung Schulze called, Tye: The Life of Tye Leung Schulze in celebration of Asian American Heritage for the San Francisco Public Library.
Lorna Velasco: (Director) is a San Francisco theatre artist whose training began at Bindlestiff Studio with founding director, Chrystene Ells. She continued her theatre training at UC Berkeley where she majored in Anthropology. At the Arts Institute of Indonesia, she trained in classical dance, mask making, puppetry and music. Currently, she is a principal puppeteer for Artistic Director, Larry Reed’s, Shadowlight Theatre and has toured California as part of the three-year California Project. Locally, she has performed at Magic Theatre, Zellerbach, Theatre Artaud, Brava, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Intersection for the Arts, and has been a resident theatre artist at Bindlestiff Studio for over twenty years. She was the Assistant Director for Octavio Solis’ Ghosts of the River. Directorial credits include, A Pinoy Midsummer, Bienvenido Santo’s trilogy Immigration Blues, and her short film Manicure. Most recently, she produced the U.S. premiere of Rody Vera’s, The Guerrillas of Powell Street, based on Benjamin Pimentel’s award-winning novel, Mga Gerilya sa Powell Street, based on the Filipino World War II veterans’ 50 year fight for equity.
About Bindlestiff Studio:
Bindlestiff Studio was founded in 1989 by artists Chrystene Ells, Chris Brophy, and a group of local theater artists and for many years flourished as an experimental theater space. In 1997, Allan S. Manalo, artistic director for the Filipino theater company “tongue in A mood” became Bindlestiff Studio’s Artistic & Managing Director. He transformed the theater into the cultural epicenter for Filipino-American performing arts in the Bay Area that exists today with productions such as Anak Ti Diablo, Alamat, the annual Stories High workshops, and the music events under PiNoise Pop. Bindlestiff Studio opened the doors to its current black box theater on September 15, 2011. Since then, Bindlestiff Studio has produced a number of full-length productions (including A. Rey Pamatmat’s Thunder Above, Deeps Below, Luis H. Francia’s The Strange Case of Citizen de la Cruz, Jeffrey Lo’s A Kind of Sad Love Story, and Lorna Velasco’s Shakespeare reimagining A Pinoy Midsummer), music events, comedy showcases, and workshops attended by over 5000 audience members and serving over 100 artists. Bindlestiff Studio is the only permanent, community-based performing arts venue in the nation dedicated to showcasing emerging Filipino American and Pilipino artists. Bindlestiff Studio provides the often under-served Filipino American community access to diverse offerings in theatrical productions, music and film festivals, workshops in directing, production, acting, stand-up comedy, and writing, as well as a children and youth theater program.
FACT SHEET
THERE’S THE MOON AND THEN THERE’S YOU
WHAT: Bindlestiff Studio presents in collaboration with APICC, FADF and KULARTS, the world premiere of There’s The Moon and Then There’s You, a full-length play by emerging playwright, Christina Ying. Whimsy and drama collide as deeply-flawed characters come to realize that relationships aren’t rocket science…they are much more complicated.
WHO: Directed by Lorna Velasco
Featuring Lynie Abadilla, Marc Abrigo, Melvign Badiola, Joe Cascasan, Chuck Lacson, Jaime Nallas, and Yato Yoshida
WHERE: Bindlestiff Studio, 185 6th Street @ Howard, San Francisco, CA 94103
WHEN: May 30 – June 13, 2015
Preview and Ma’ARTES Pinoy Arts Festival May 29
OPENS MAY 30
PERFS Thursday – Saturday (*Sat matinees)
CLOSES June 13
All performances including Sat @ 8:00PM. Sat matinees @ 2:00 PM
HOW MUCH: Purchase tickets online:
http://moonandyou.bpt.me
$10 Students/Seniors
$15 General
$20 Support-the-Artists
World Premiere play by Christina Ying at Bindlestiff Studio
