Bindlestiff Presents THUNDER ABOVE (Apr12)

There is no more powerful magic than a good story told at the proper time.

"Inspired by the late romances of Shakespeare, playwright A. Rey Pamatmat has created a wondrous magical adventure with Thunder Above, Deeps Below. It's large, loud, and complex—at times deeply funny, at times deeply disturbing. The play does credit to its classical roots while telling a story with real human characters that are entirely contemporary.”
— NYtheatre.com

March 9, 2012 – Bindlestiff Studio kicks off its Mainstage program with the West Coast premiere of A. Rey Pamatmat's Thunder Above, Deeps Below on April 12, 2012, at its new home on 185 Sixth Street, at the corner of Howard, in San Francisco’s South of Market district. Directed by Alan S. Quismorio, the cast includes Aureen Almario, Will Dao, Roy Landaverde, Laura Domingo, James Arthur M., and LaMont Ridgell. The production features an original score by Golda Sargento and Brandon Bigelow of Golda and the Guns.

Thunder Above, Deeps Below is a dramatic comedy that follows three homeless youth—a Filipina-American with a hidden past, a Filipina transsexual, and a Puerto Rican hustler—trying to find money to escape the upcoming Chicago winter and entrapment of their own troubled pasts. All have been abandoned, one way or another, and the play graphically depicts their efforts to find a better way of life. Loosely based on Shakespeare’s “Pericles”, Thunder Above, Deeps Below speaks on issues of displacement related to culture, gender and sexuality, with classic themes of human survival and redemption.

ABOUT BINDLESTIFF STUDIO
Established in 1989, 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.

The launch of the Mainstage program signals a new era that focuses on full-length works that introduce bold Filipino and Filipino American voices to the San Francisco Bay Area theater community.

ABOUT A. Rey Pamatmat
A. Rey Pamatmat recently received the 2011 – 12 Playwright of New York Fellowship from The Lark Play Development Center. His play Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them began a rolling world premiere at the Actors Theatre of Louisville’s 2011 Humana Festival of New American Plays before productions in Coral Gables, FL (New Theater), Atlanta, GA (Actor’s Express), Minneapolis, MN (Mu Performing Arts), Sacramento, CA (B Street Theater), and Durham, NC (Manbites Dog Theater). His play Thunder Above, Deeps Below, initially produced by Second Generation, will be part of the inaugural season in the new space for San Francisco’s Bindlestiff Studio in early 2012. Samuel French will publish both plays in Spring 2012.

Rey’s play DEVIANT was produced by the Vortex Theatre Company, and his shorts have been produced by the Actors Theatre of Louisville (This is How It Ends, Ain’t Meat, and 1260 Minute Life), Vampire Cowboys (Red Rover), HERE (High/Limbo/High), and the Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts Camp (Out of Joint). His work has been featured in HX Magazine’s Top Ten Plays and nominated for two NYIT Awards including Outstanding New Script (DEVIANT). Rey’s work has been developed at the Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference, New Work Now! at The Public Theater, Victory Gardens’ Ignition Festival, Playwrights’ Horizons, The Magic Theatre’s Virgin Play Series, Ars Nova, Ma- Yi Theatre Company, Rattlestick, E.S.T., The Lark, New Dramatists, The American Theater Company, the National New Play Network Showcase at The Curious Theatre, and the National Asian American Theater Conference at The Guthrie, and he has been commissioned by South Coast Repertory Theater, the Actors’ Theatre of Louisville, the E.S.T./Sloan Science and Technology Project, Mabou Mines, 2g, Vampire Cowboys, and Perry-Mansfield.

Rey is a member of the Ma-Yi Writer’s Lab, and is a past recipient of the Princess Grace Award for Playwriting, a NYFA Playwriting Fellowship, and a Truman Capote Literary Fellowship. Other plays include: Beautiful Day, New, Picture 24,Pure, and The Shotgun Message. B.F.A.: NYU, Drama. M.F.A.: Yale School of Drama, Playwriting. For more information about A. Rey Pamatmat, please visit his website at http://areypamatmat.wordpress.com/.

TO ARRANGE A PHONE OR LIVE INTERVIEW WITH THE PLAYWRIGHT, please contact Alan S. Quismorio at alanq@bindlestiffstudio.org.

Questions? Email



	Bindlestiff Studio Presents the West Coast Premiere of a play by A. Rey Pamatmat *Thunder Above, Deeps Below* *There is no more powerful magic than a good story told at the proper time.* "Inspired by the late romances of Shakespeare, playwright A. Rey Pamatmat has created a wondrous magical adventure with Thunder Above, Deeps Below. It's large, loud, and complex—at times deeply funny, at times deeply disturbing. The play does credit to its classical roots while telling a story with real human characters that are entirely contemporary.” — NYtheatre.com March 9, 2012 – Bindlestiff Studio kicks off its Mainstage program with the West Coast premiere of A. Rey Pamatmat's Thunder Above, Deeps Below on April 12, 2012, at its new home on 185 Sixth Street, at the corner of Howard, in San Francisco’s South of Market district. Directed by Alan S. Quismorio, the cast includes Aureen Almario, Will Dao, Roy Landaverde, Laura Domingo, James Arthur M., and LaMont Ridgell. The production features an original score by Golda Sargento and Brandon Bigelow of Golda and the Guns. Thunder Above, Deeps Below is a dramatic comedy that follows three homeless youth—a Filipina-American with a hidden past, a Filipina transsexual, and a Puerto Rican hustler—trying to find money to escape the upcoming Chicago winter and entrapment of their own troubled pasts. All have been abandoned, one way or another, and the play graphically depicts their efforts to find a better way of life. Loosely based on Shakespeare’s “Pericles”, Thunder Above, Deeps Below speaks on issues of displacement related to culture, gender and sexuality, with classic themes of human survival and redemption. ABOUT BINDLESTIFF STUDIO Established in 1989, 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. The launch of the Mainstage program signals a new era that focuses on full-length works that introduce bold Filipino and Filipino American voices to the San Francisco Bay Area theater community. ABOUT A. Rey Pamatmat A. Rey Pamatmat recently received the 2011 – 12 Playwright of New York Fellowship from The Lark Play Development Center. His play Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them began a rolling world premiere at the Actors Theatre of Louisville’s 2011 Humana Festival of New American Plays before productions in Coral Gables, FL (New Theater), Atlanta, GA (Actor’s Express), Minneapolis, MN (Mu Performing Arts), Sacramento, CA (B Street Theater), and Durham, NC (Manbites Dog Theater). His play Thunder Above, Deeps Below, initially produced by Second Generation, will be part of the inaugural season in the new space for San Francisco’s Bindlestiff Studio in early 2012. Samuel French will publish both plays in Spring 2012. Rey’s play DEVIANT was produced by the Vortex Theatre Company, and his shorts have been produced by the Actors Theatre of Louisville (This is How It Ends, Ain’t Meat, and 1260 Minute Life), Vampire Cowboys (Red Rover), HERE (High/Limbo/High), and the Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts Camp (Out of Joint). His work has been featured in HX Magazine’s Top Ten Plays and nominated for two NYIT Awards including Outstanding New Script (DEVIANT). Rey’s work has been developed at the Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference, New Work Now! at The Public Theater, Victory Gardens’ Ignition Festival, Playwrights’ Horizons, The Magic Theatre’s Virgin Play Series, Ars Nova, Ma- Yi Theatre Company, Rattlestick, E.S.T., The Lark, New Dramatists, The American Theater Company, the National New Play Network Showcase at The Curious Theatre, and the National Asian American Theater Conference at The Guthrie, and he has been commissioned by South Coast Repertory Theater, the Actors’ Theatre of Louisville, the E.S.T./Sloan Science and Technology Project, Mabou Mines, 2g, Vampire Cowboys, and Perry-Mansfield. Rey is a member of the Ma-Yi Writer’s Lab, and is a past recipient of the Princess Grace Award for Playwriting, a NYFA Playwriting Fellowship, and a Truman Capote Literary Fellowship. Other plays include: Beautiful Day, New, Picture 24,Pure, and The Shotgun Message. B.F.A.: NYU, Drama. M.F.A.: Yale School of Drama, Playwriting. For more information about A. Rey Pamatmat, please visit his website at http://areypamatmat.wordpress.com/. TO ARRANGE A PHONE OR LIVE INTERVIEW WITH THE PLAYWRIGHT, please contact Alan S. Quismorio at alanq@bindlestiffstudio.org. Home \| News \| Calendar \| Directory \| Plays \| Library/Storefront \| Timeline Copyright 2012, Roger W. Tang Questions? Email

Bindlestiff Studio Presents the West Coast Premiere of a play by A. Rey Pamatmat Thunder Above, Deeps Below