Thursday, February 3, 2011

Prof. Rick Mitchell's CSUN Research Fellows Project Opens in Los Angeles

Rick Mitchell's CSUN Research Fellows' project, a satire on academia's role in the "War on Terror," opens in Los Angeles.

Prof.Mitchell's new play with music set in Afghanistan, SHADOW ANTHROPOLOGY: A Post-9/11 Comedy, opens Saturday, January 15th, 2011, as part of the Company Creation Festival at Son of Semele Theater, in Silver Lake. The play will be running in repertory with three other plays through February 25th.


Currently, the Festival is offering a $5.00 discount (per ticket) to all CSUN students and staff.

For more information, please visit Son of Semele's website: http://www.sonofsemele.org/shows/ccf2011.html

In order to receive the CSUN discount, please input the following code when purchasing tickets: mitchellgroup (Note:the discount will only be applied to online ticket purchases.

SHADOW ANTHROPOLOGY: A Post-9/11 Comedy
Written and Directed by Rick Mitchell
for Urban Ensemble


As a poor Afghan family struggles to hold onto its farm in spite of a drought, a warlord offers possible solutions, including a more profitable crop, as well as an odd marriage proposal for the farmer's young daughter. Soon thereafter, an idealistic anthropologist from Puerto Rico teams up with an opium-loving American mercenary as part of a U.S. Army Human Terrain Team. While the visitors attempt to create a more “culturally sensitive” military occupation of Afghanistan, various characters and bawdy shadow puppets battle it out for who controls not only the story, but also the land. A satirical examination of the U.S. military’s “new” post-9/11 strategy to win Afghan hearts and minds, this dark comedy features original songs, Turkish-style shadow puppetry, and Spam.

Featuring: Anthony Castillo*, David Lee Garver*, Ray Haratian*, Andrew Qamar Johnson*, Lymari Nadal*, Eduardo R. Terry*, Claudia Vazquez*
*Members of Actors’ Equity Association
Assistant Directed by Nigel Dookhoo
Music by Max Kinberg
Shadow Artist: Maria Bodmann
Choreography by Allison Bibicoff
Set Design by Paul Zimmerman
Stage Managed by Ben Cox
Produced by Paul Zimmerman for Urban Ensemble

About the playwright: An award-winning, oft-pubished dramatist whose work has been seen both across the US and in Europe, Mitchell’s latest play will be featured in his forthcoming collection of new work, Disaster Capitalism; or Money Can't Buy You Love: Three Plays by Rick Mitchell: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/presssite/metadata.epl?mode=synopsis&bookkey=11340616