Balaton
October 17 – November 7, 2009
Electric Pear Productions presents
with support from the Hungarian Cultural Center
and the Extremely Hungary Festival
The World Premiere of
BALATON
A play by Ashlin Halfnight
Directed by Kristjan Thor
A Hungarian Lake
A Divided Family
An Imperfect Heaven
A Hungarian family must confront the post-communist, Americanized world that has drastically altered their lives…and their deaths.
Frightened and disoriented, Sabrina stumbles her way through a cold and indiscernible space, where time lurches forward, rushes back…and disarmingly stands still. In this liminal world, Sabrina and her divided Hungarian kin struggle violently against the infiltration of fast food, designer clothing, infidelity, assimilation and uncompromising youth. And all the while, the stars shine above Balaton.
October 17 – November 7, 2009
at The Theater at 30th St
259 West 30th St, NYC
Subway: A,C,E,1,2,3 to 34th St
Electric Pear kicks off its fourth season with the World Premiere of Balaton by Ashlin Halfnight, presented with the support of the Hungarian Cultural Center and the Extremely Hungary Festival. Set in a tenuous afterlife, Balaton is a multi-generational drama that charts a fractured Hungarian family’s fight for unity and security in a world after the fall of the Iron Curtain.
Starring:
Jessica Cummings*
Kathryn Kates*
Daniel O’Brien*
Peter O’Connor*
Sadie K. Scott
Charlotte Williams
Scenic Designer – Jennifer de Fouchier
Lighting Designer – Kathleen Dobbins
Costume Designer – Stephanie Alexander
Sound Designer – Mark Sanders & Joel Bravo
Original Music - Joel Bravo
Video Designer – Alex Koch
Assistant Video Designer – Kate Chumley
Graphic Designer – Whitney Huhmann
Stage Management – Kristine Schlachter & Biz Urban
Dramaturg – Julie Haverkate
Marketing & Advertising – The Pekoe Group
Press Representation – David Gersten & Associates
Executive Producer – Melanie Sylvan
Associate Producer – Veronique Ory
*Members of Actors Equity Association. An Equity Approved Showcase
Balaton will be presented in concurrence with the Extremely Hungary Festival, a yearlong celebration showcasing contemporary Hungarian visual, performing, and literary arts in New York and Washington, D.C., throughout 2009. The festival reveals the roots of Hungary’s thriving contemporary culture and its impact on American society through a broad spectrum of events at leading cultural institutions including: Lincoln Center, BAM, Galapagos, and The Jewish Museum. The festival is part of a larger arts movement in 2009, bringing artists and exhibitions from former Eastern Bloc countries to NYC. The closing night of Balaton will also commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall (November 9, 1989) and the collapse of the Iron Curtain.