PERFORMANCES 2005
a season devoted to the immigrant's struggle
between traditional values and the desire for
cultural assimilation or a new identity
followed by
WORLD PUPPET WEEK

BOX OFFICE: (413) 542-2277

FRIDAY-SUNDAY, JULY 15-17 at 8 p.m.
NITA & ZITA
Written and directed by Lisa D'Amour, Nita & Zita features Katie Pearl as Zita and Kathy Randels as Nita. With an original score by New Orleans jazz pianist Tom McDermott and DJ mixes by Greg Wildz, costumes by Olivia Wildz, set design and assemblage by Shawn Hall, and video design by Maria Cataldo.

Nita & Zita is an intimate extravaganza about two visionary showgirls. Part ghostly docudrama, part showgirl spectacular, Nita & Zita begins in 1920 and takes audiences on an up-to-the-minute ride through the lives of these eclectic, elusive sisters.

Nita & Zita tells the real life story of two sisters - dancers, seamstresses, painters - and the mystique that still resonates long after their death. In 1922, the sisters from the Jewish town of Baia Maire, Romania, stepped off a ship called "The Reliance" onto Ellis Island. For Flora and Piroska Gellert, this was the beginning of a long life of travel, performance and fierce personal style. Traveling through this country and beyond as "Nita and Zita, International Dancers," Flora and Piroska dazzled audiences with their handmade costumes and exotic routines featuring petite Piroska, a contortionist.

In the early 1940's, they settled into a Creole cottage in New Orleans, performing in the French Quarter and in a nearby bar until their retirement in the 1950's. Quickly, their home became the sisters' refuge, their reclusive habits making them instant neighborhood legends: rumors spread about the "gypsy ladies" who walked to the grocery store wearing formal dresses, and who painted their entire house, inside and out, with wild polka dot patterns.


FRIDAY - SUNDAY, JULY 22-24 at 8 p.m.
REMAINS OF SHADOW
By Naoko Maeshiba in collaboration with Tatsuya Aoyagi
 Conceived/directed/choreographed by Naoko Maeshiba, this multidisciplinary performance piece illuminates the memory and history ingrained in the body that bridges two cultures: Japan and America. The shape and the form of 'traces' within one's own body and mind, as well as in society are examined through evocative visual poetry. Intricate human relationships, our conflicted existence, and the journey between life and death are vividly depicted through layers of images. Remains of Shadow leads the audience into the sensorial experience of drifting created through text, movement, objects, voice,music, and video projection.


FRIDAY-SUNDAY, JULY 29 - 31 at 8 p.m.
ARAB
Nora Amin of Cairo, Egypt
After an extensive European tour, prize-winning Egyptian author and performer Nora Amin brings her production to Amherst. Amin describes her multimedia production ARAB as "an attempt to question definitions, break the rules and taboos, shift the borders between cultures and genres, and finally re-create the cultural identity of the artist through live and artistic performance." It starts by exposing the labels of identity (Arab/Muslim/woman), then goes towards a live exploration of how one can find her profound self beyond the layers of the outside images imposed on her, and - above all - through the foreign language that allows more proximity in the description of the experiences that create the specificity of the self. Since these experiences are themselves taboo in the native (Arabic) language of the person, they seek their liberation in another language that does not forbid them.

WORLD PUPPET WEEK

FRIDAY, August 5th at 8 p.m. ONE NIGHT ONLY!
THE CAUCASIAN CHALK CIRCLE by Bertolt Brecht  
Ralph Lee's Mettawee River Company of New York
A visit from our annual favorites with their new abridged version of Bertolt Brecht's THE CAUCASIAN CHALK CIRCLE , which was based on a 13th century Chinese play. Both plays contain echoes of King Solomon's demonstration of wisdom in devising a test to determine the true mother of a contested baby. In Brecht's play a peasant girl rescues an abandoned child of noble parents in a time of upheaval. The girl protects the child through many serious and comic adventures. When the noble mother tries to reclaim the child in order to gain an inheritance, the resulting dispute is brought before an eccentric judge, who manages to hand down an outrageous but just decision. Six actors will play multiple roles. The production will incorporate masks, puppetry and costumes, with a live original musical score composed by Neal Kirkwood. Ralph Lee will design and direct the production, with costumes by Casey Compton.

An all-ages event, outdoors on the Amherst College Observatory Lawn off of Snell Street. Bring blankets, lawn chairs and insect repellant, but leave the pets at home. Adults $6.00, Children $4.00
No reservations necessary.

SATURDAY & SUNDAY, AUGUST 6-7 at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
BOY IN A BARREL
Devised and directed by Miguel Romero of Leverett, MA
Freely based on Alexander Pushkin's Russian fairy tale The Tale of Tsar Saltan
A swan with magic powers, a vengeful bumblebee, a golden hero, and a lady pirate share the puppet stage in Boy in a Barrel, a rollicking fairy tale for all ages. The story tells of love, betrayal, and good-natured revenge when the King marries one of two sisters before going off to war. The Queen’s evil sister switches letters and leads the King to believe that the Queen and their baby son have died. In fact, the jealous sister has cast a spell that turns her sister into a swan and spirited the baby boy, destined to be the Kingdom’s hero, into a barrel that is dumped into the sea. Swan and boy end up on an island where they hilariously turn the tables on the evil sister, who has determined to marry the King herself.

The production features table-top, rod, and shadow puppets in colorful Russian costumes and was accompanied by rousing balalaika music and mock Russian sea chanteys.

The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art is on Bay Road in Amherst.
Adults $7.00, Children $5.00

All performances EXCEPT the outdoor Mettawee production The Caucasian Chalk Circle and Boy in a Barrel will be held in
Amherst College's Holden Theater.

Driving directions to Amherst College
Amherst College campus map

Driving directions to the University of Massachusetts
University of Massachusetts campus map

Tickets:$15 General Admission; $12 Students & Seniors
A very limited number of $6 SPECIAL RUSH TICKETS
will be available 1 hour prior to curtain.

Box Office opens July 11. (413) 542-2277
For information prior to the opening of the box office call (413) 427-6147.

Facilities
Since 1999, the Ko Festival has taken place in the renovated Amherst College Holden Theater (behind Kirby Theatre and the Admissions Office). The space is a stunning black box theatre with state of the art equipment and facilities. The theatre is comfortably air-conditioned and wheelchair-accessible. This space is also wheelchair accessible, large-print programs are available with 24 hours' notice. Some performances include American sign language interpretation (ASL) for the hearing impaired; please contact us for further information and assistance on this and other issues of accessibility, including economic.