Directed by
Claudio Raygoza

with
Monique Gaffney
Dale Morris*

“Buy, beg or steal a ticket to this play, with the following unwieldy title: I Have Before Me A Remarkable Document Written by a Young Lady from Rwanda …  the writing was truly poetic.” --The Times

Oct 24 - Nov 16, 2005

Sunday's 7pm
Mon-Tues-Wed 7:30 pm

Gen. Ad. $18
Students/Seniors $15
Local Actors & Techs $10

(619) 688-9210

In The Order of Presentation

Canning Jars
by Sedall Morse

Directed by Raab Rashi / Read by Flo Semelmaker

ECHOING

A brief & haunting rendering of a news story from the Sudan.
adapted for the stage by Dale Morris

Read by Monique Gaffney & Dale Morris
 

The Sort of Happy Ending
To the Sad Tale of Mr. Ali Ali
or:
The Lighter Side
of Outsourcing Torture

By Craig Abernethy
Directed by Natalie Sentz

Monique Gaffney

Dale Morris*

Tony Beville (Ringmaster & Others) can't remember going to an actual circus before, but has always wanted one of those little clown cars.  He was last seen on stage pretending to be a doctor and a lawyer in this past summer's Fritz Blitz.

Elzie Billops is excited to be making his debut at Sixth and Penn. Other credits include: King Lear at San Diego Rep; Raisin in the Sun, Guantanoma, Odd Couple, Ghost World, The Last Unicorn, Spoon River Anthology, Biloxi Blues and ForePlay at the Lyceum Theater. Thanks, Mom and Dad.



 

Beth Everhart- San Diego: As You Like It (Touchstone), Merchant of Venice (Portia), Macbeth (Lady Macbeth), Measure for Measure(Francesca/Mariana/Mistress Overdone), Twelfth Night(Viola), Merry Wives of Windsor(Mistress Ford)- Poor Players; Cherry Orchard(Anya)- USD/OLD Globe. Elsewhere: Barefoot in the Park, Midsummer Night's Dream, Curious Savage, Children's Hour, Voices, Reverse Transcription, Iphegenia in Aulis. Education: USC and BADA
 

Celeste Innocenti is Artistic Director of the new Classics series at 6th@ Penn; recently, she directed the first reading, Menaechmi, and played the double role of Erotium/Wife.  She was a founding member and musical director of the award-winning Grassroots Greeks ensemble, and appeared in readings and full productions at 6th @ Penn (Hippolytus and Children of Heracles) of every extant Greek tragedy.  Also at this theater, she portrayed Mary Shelley in Bloody Poetry and played several roles in Reckless.  This year, she understudied Gonoril in King Lear and originated the role of Iris in A Very Jewish King (both at San Diego Rep); in addition, she played Pepita in Vantage Theater's Death By Survival.  Other favorite roles include Wanda in The Waiting Room (Hormonally Incorrect/AART) and Lucinda in Changing Rainbows (Ensemble Arts).
 

Sven Salumaa was last seen in Clifford Odets' Golden Boy at Lamplighter's Theatre.  This former professional tennis player is the son of Estonian immigrants.  He has a BS from Indiana University and received his MBA from CSU-San Bernardino.

Natalie Sentz* (Director), is a member of Actors Equity, branched out into directing when her father, after seeing her act, suggested she try something else. A few well-placed bribes netted Sacramento Area Regional Theatre Alliance awards for her direction of “Black Comedy”, “Noises Off”, and “On the Verge”, and encouraged her to think she might be able to do this.  As Artistic Director of Theatre El Dorado for four years and as founder of Pyramid Theatre 4 Children, she made something of a name for herself – so she changed it and moved to San Diego to start over. Local directing credits include ‘Body Shop’ (Fritz Blitz), ‘Ravenscroft” (Scripps Ranch), ‘Images’ (Durga Festival), ‘Ives Underground’ (Dark Nights), ‘Houdini’ (Actors Festival), and a staged reading of ‘Three Great Lies’ (San Diego REP). An ongoing current project is the production of staged readings of Shakespeare’s history cycle. Future projects include a Tony-Award winning production to be named later.

"I Have Before Me... is a new drama telling the story of two people from entirely different worlds who meet at a Refugee Centre in London: Juliette is a young Rwandan asylum seeker, determined to write a book on the genocide that killed her family; Simon is a middle-aged failing novelist, whose job is to help people write. The play follows their funny and touching relationship and tackles issues that face many refugees who live in the UK today. The play was inspired by the real life experiences of Rwandan refugees in the UK.

I Have Before Me… was inspired by Sonja Linden's encounters with a number of young Rwandan refugees at the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, where she has been writer-in-residence since 1997.  Here she set up the Write to Life Project, a creative and testimonial writing programme offering clients of the Foundation the opportunity to discharge their painful experiences of persecution and exile through the act of writing.

Her concern to make these voices public led to her recent founding of the theatre company, iceandfire. Born out of the urgent need to give a platform to dispossessed voices, this production marks the launch of the company.  The play was a sell-out during Oxford Africa Week Festival 2002, where it played nightly to hugely enthusiastic houses:

"You will be fortunate to get a ticket to see this remarkable piece. This is a political play in the quietest and most affecting way, where the personal is political - and brought to life with great care." The Oxford Times.

London premiere at the inborough Theatre produced by inceandfire theatre; www.iceandfire.co.uk

American premiere produced in April 2005 by Kansas City Repertory Theatre Peter Atman, Artistic Director; William Prenevost, Managing Director.

 “It should be appreciated as much for its educational value, as its capacity to entertain”
--Franziska Thomas, Time Out

 “Buy, beg or steal a ticket to this play, with the following unwieldy title: I Have Before Me A Remarkable Document Written by a Young Lady from Rwanda … The acting was superb, the writing was truly poetic, and the theatre was packed.” --Anatole Kaletsky, The Times

“This most harrowing, powerful and yet beautiful piece of theatre” “This is an outstanding production”
--Rob Speight, The Stage 

“Highly recommended” “You will be fortunate to get a ticket to see this remarkable piece. And fortunate you would be – it is a moving play in the best sense of the word, simple and beautiful, and brought to life with great care” -- The Oxford Times (from the original Oxford run)

 “A stunning evening of drama” “I defy any red-blooded person to remain dry-eyed at the final moments of the piece” --Paul Nelson, www.indielondon.co.uk

“Whatever your previous knowledge of the Rwandan genocide, you will come out feeling you’ve learned something valuable from this play” -- Siobhan Murphy, Metro

 “This is a profoundly affecting and moving play” --Julia Hickman, Theatreworld Internet Magazine