MO`OLELO [mo-oh-Leh-low] Hawaiian story/legend/tale/narrative
a community-focused, socially-conscious, equity theater company.
Extraordinary Chambers is set in contemporary Cambodia. In the play, some of the characters speak a small amount of French and Khmer. Corinne Bagnol from The Alliance Française de San Diego is teaching the French to the actors, and Phal Chourp from Victoria House Corporation and Sokna Chea, an alumna of the International Rescue Committee and an Aaron Price Fellow at Cesar Chavez Service Clubs, are teaching the Khmer. They joined us at rehearsal last week:
Merci, Corrine!
Aw kun, Phal and Sokna!
NAACP San Diego Branch is pleased to partner again with
Mo`olelo Performing Arts Company to raise money for ACT-SO.
illustration by Kristina Micotti
Extraordinary Chambers
by David Wiener
Directed by Seema Sueko
Extraordinary Chambers is the story of an American couple who travel to Cambodia for a business trip, but become personally entangled with Khmer Rouge victims and survivors. The genocide, complicity, survival, greed and love collide in this play that shines a light on the Cambodian experience and asks how far are we willing to go to survive?
Friday, June 7, 2013
6:30 PM Pre-Show Party; 8:00 PM Performance
Mo`olelo at The 10th Avenue Theatre
930 10th Avenue, San Diego, CA 92101
Tickets: $20/person – NAACP ACT-SO Fundraiser
Proceeds will benefit The Afro-Academic Cultural Technological and Scientific Olympics, San Diego, (ACT-SO), a year-long enrichment program designed to improve and encourage high academic and cultural achievement among African American High School Students.
Three Ways to Order Tickets:
Online: www.moolelo.net, select the June 7 performance of Extraordinary Chambers. Be sure to choose “Regular Adult” ticket and input NAACPSD coupon code to raise money for ACT-SO.
Phone: 619-342-7395, be sure to mention “NAACP Special for June 7.”
Mail: Send check payable to “Mo`olelo” to:
Mo`olelo, PO Box 710564, San Diego, CA 92171-0564
A tradition in rehearsal rooms around the world, the ‘meet and greet’ takes place on the first day of rehearsal and marks the first opportunity for the actors, artistic team, Board members, sponsors and partners of the production to meet one another. We share a lite meal and go around the room with introductions to celebrate the start of the rehearsal process. We then read through the script out loud. Here are some pictures from the Meet & Greet event during the first rehearsal for Extraordinary Chambers. We thank everyone who was able to join us and hope you enjoy the pictures!
Extraordinary Chambers is the story of an American couple who travel to Cambodia for a business trip and become personally entangled with Khmer Rouge victims and survivors.
Tickets are going fast for this production. Here is the current ticket availability as of May 6:
Thursday, June 6, 8:00 PM – PREVIEW – SOLD OUT
Friday, June 7, 8:00 PM –PREVIEW – only 33 tickets available [Post Show Talk]
Saturday, June 8, 8:00 PM – PREVIEW – SOLD OUT
Sunday, June 9, 2:00 PM – PREVIEW – 43 tickets available [Post Show Talk]
Wednesday, June 12, 8:00 PM – PREVIEW
Thursday, June 13, 8:00 PM – PREVIEW – 47 tickets available
Friday, June 14, 8:00 PM – PRESS OPENING – 31 tickets available
Saturday, June 15, 8:00 PM
Sunday, June 16, 2:00 PM - [Post Show Talk]
Wednesday, June 19, 8:00 PM - [Post Show Talk]
Thursday, June 20, 8:00 PM - [Post Show Talk]
Friday, June 21, 8:00 PM
Saturday, June 22, 8:00 PM
Sunday, June 23, 2:00 PM
Wednesday, June 26, 8:00 PM
Thursday, June 27, 8:00 PM - [Pre-Show Talk]
Friday, June 28, 8:00 PM
Saturday, June 29, 8:00 PM
Sunday, June 30, 2:00 PM
Click TICKETS on the top navigation bar to order your tickets or call us at 619-342-7395.
Stage Manager prep week for Extraordinary Chambers began April 30. Stage Managers Sharon Strich, Liz Stephens and Assistant Stage Manager Avalon Middleton met with director Seema Sueko to launch the process:
Sharon Strich, Liz Stephens, Seema Sueko & Avalon Middleton
Then they got busy setting up the rehearsal room, prepping their scripts, calendars, gathering supplies and taping the ground plan.
Designers Jason Bieber, David F. Weiner, Joe Huppert and Jeannie Galioto gathered for a production meeting. They discussed spung trees, the Tuol Sleng photos, projection, sound, purses and quick changes:
Jason Bieber, David F. Weiner, Seema Sueko, Divya Murthy Kumar, Sahron Strich, Joe Huppert and Jeannie Galioto
Click here for more information on Extraordinary Chambers. We hope to see you at the show.
Free Pre- and Post-Show Talks
Education doesn’t stop at the theater’s door. Many of Mo`olelo’s performances are surrounded by insightful pre- or post-show discussions with artists, community leaders, or specialists on issues pertaining to the show. All talks are free of charge. Audience members are encouraged to participate, share their thoughts, and enrich their theater experience. We thank our community speakers. (This list is subject to change, please check back for most current schedule):
Friday, June 7 – Post-show talk: Surviving the Khmer Rouge as Seen from the Eyes of a Child. Chanra Chheun will share the remarkable journey of her survival, as described in the recently published book, BLACK DIAMOND: A Cambodian Story, based on her life.
Sunday, June 9 - Post-show talk with Kathi Anderson, Executive Director of Survivors of Torture, International (SURVIVORS). There are an estimated 11,000 torture survivors living in San Diego. Ms. Anderson will discuss how SURVIVORS is facilitating healing for torture survivors and their families here in San Diego who have come from over 70 countries around the world.
Sunday, June 16 – Post-show talk with Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia Civil Party Lawyer. Nushin Sarkarati is a human rights attorney at the Center for Justice and Accountability in San Francisco and is presently representing Cambodian survivors from the US diaspora in their claims for reparations before the ECCC. Nushin will share her experiences working with victims of the Khmer Rouge and their continued pursuit of justice, over 30 years after the end of the conflict that decimated Cambodia.
Wednesday, June 19 – Post-show talk: Cambodian Women in the Political Sphere. Dr. Dee Aker (Interim Director – Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice) and Ms. Zahra Ismail (IPJ Program Officer) will share from their recent experiences with women leaders seeking to gain and sustain increased participation by women in the Cambodian political system, which is still under the Khmer People’s Party rule. Click here to read more about the IPJ’s work in Cambodia.
Thursday, June 20 – Post-show talk: A Conversation about Global Justice. Professor William Aceves (California Western School of Law) will offer some comments about the Extraordinary Chambers proceedings and discuss similar efforts to promote justice around the world.
Thursday, June 27, 7:15 PM – Pre-show talk with Deborah Klochko, Executive Director of the Museum of Photographic Arts.
Mo`olelo’s Executive Artistic Director, Seema Sueko, is in Washington, DC on a working sabbatical at Arena Stage (read about it here). Here’s her latest dispatch from DC.
Esther K. Chae at the Library of Congress
Dear Friends,
Esther K. Chae will be playing the role of Rom Chang in Extraordinary Chambers at Mo`olelo. She is also the writer and performer of the solo show So The Arrow Flies, which has been archived at the Library of Congress. Last week she was in Washington, DC, and took time to visit her archived material at the Library… and I tagged along.
Preserved for posterity, here’s her research and script at the Library of Congress:
Congrats, Esther!
Check out her talent in Extraordinary Chambers, which begins performances on June 6. Click here for more information.
Aloha!
Seema
Ta Prohm Temple, Angkor, Cambodia
The Roots at Ta Prohm Temple
Angkor, Cambodia
Extraordinary Chambers centers on an American couple who visit Cambodia for a business trip. The scenes take place mostly in a villa and a hotel in Phnom Penh. Off stage, the characters tour the temples in Angkor.
One of the most important archeological sites of Southeast Asia, Angkor contains the remains of the different capitals of the Khmer Empire from the 9th to 15th century.
The image above is of Ta Prohm Temple, and is a point of inspiration for Scenic Designer David F. Weiner’s approach to the play.
This temple is known for the spung trees that have grown through, around and on top of the ruins, and captures the tensions between magnificence and pain, human achievement and nature, and wonder and destruction that are alive in the play.
You’ll see a representation of Ta Prohm and the spung trees on stage when you attend Extraordinary Chambers. We look forward to seeing you there!
Callbacks: Cold Readings / Hot Choices Workshop
Instructor: Colleen Kelly
Date: Monday, June 10, 6:00 – 10:00 PM
Venue: Mo`olelo @ The 10th Avenue Theatre, 3rd floor Gallery, 930 10th Ave, San Diego CA, 92101
Course Fee: $75
Registration: A 20% nonrefundable deposit is required to hold your spot in the class. The balance is due June 10. To register, please call 858-761-1719 or email samantha@moolelo.net.
Description:
This 4-hour workshop, especially appropriate for Actors and Directors, will provide practical tools needed for confident, successful callbacks and cold readings. Participants will practice: on-your-feet text analysis, spotting clues to character, making quick, compelling choices, active listening and playing with a partner.
About the Instructor:
Colleen Kelly is Associate Professor and Head of the M.F.A. Acting Program at the University of Virginia. She holds an M.F.A. degree from Ohio University and M.A. and B.S. degrees from Eastern Michigan University. Colleen is a founding board member of the Association of Theatre Movement Educators and recipient of the ATME Lifetime Achievement Award. She is a former vice president of the Virginia Theatre Association and a former vice president of the Society of American Fight Directors. Colleen, a member of Actors’ Equity Association, has worked professionally as an actor, director, fight director, and dance choreographer. Her work has been seen at professional theatres such as the AmericanShakespeareCenter, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Denver Center Theatre, DallasTheatreCenter, the Old Globe Theatres, La Jolla Playhouse, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Clarence Brown Theatre, and San Diego Repertory Theatre. Film and TV credits include dance choreography for the film Sommersby and fight direction for the PBS television series Tell About the South. Publications include articles in Theatre Symposium and The Fight Master. Colleen has taught at the University of San Diego/Old Globe Theatres, headed the Alabama Shakespeare Festival’s MFA/Professional Actor Training Program and served as director of training at the American Shakespeare Center. For the UVa Department of Drama, Colleen has directed several productions including Chicago, 1940’s Radio Hour, The Imaginary Invalid and The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
Colleen has been a master teacher for projects supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. She has presented lecture/demonstrations at the Folger Library (Washington, DC) and the International Stage Combat Workshop (London) as well as presenting research and serving on panels at several national and international conferences. Grant awards include a Teaching Tolerance Grant from the Southern Poverty Law Center and the UVa Fall 2012 Challenge for Newly Hybrid Technology-Enhanced Courses.
is at the heart of what we do in the theater.
Directors & Designers collaborate with the Playwright‘s words and intentions to bring a play to life; Actors collaborate with the Director and Designers to flesh out the living world of the play; Artisans, Craftspeople, Carpenters, Painters, and other Technicians collaborate with the Designers to build the physical world of the play; Audiences collaborate with the box office, house management, stage management and actors in the moment to ignite a unique performance each night in the theater…
…and Sponsors collaborate with everyone by bringing their trust and passionate anticipation to a play.
We invite you to collaborate with us on Extraordinary Chambers.
Consider sponsoring a performance for $500.
Make a $500 performance sponsorship donation by:
1) Contacting Samantha at 858-761-1719 or samantha@moolelo.net
2) Pick the performance date you’d like to sponsor.
3) You’ll receive:
