An original absurdist sic-fi drama
Written and directed by Edward Einhorn
DISCOUNT: $15 tickets until August 25 for in-person tickets with code UTC61
" 'Waiting for Godot' meets 'The Twilight Zone' in this masterpiece of absurdist theatre...Maggie Cino (Alma) and JaneAnne Halter (Baya) treat the play's comic moments with ease and spontaneity...Nina Mann's Stranger is a wild card in the play: bold, questioning, almost seductive without trying to be...Refreshingly original theatre flawlessly performed" - StageBuddy
"Worthy, well-written and resonant...Scenic designer Mike Mroch’s multi-level configuration of geometric white pieces adorned with gadgets is awesome. ...The charismatic Rivera Reese is a feral and poignant Stranger. Girlish and sunny Sheleah Harris is comical and touching as Baya. Anne Marie Yoo’s Alma is appealingly emphatic and stalwart. Together, this trio has a dynamic and moving chemistry." - TheatreScene
"[A] bleak, humor-flecked tale...set in a world plagued by human problems that eternally replicate — because survival is a brutal business, and selfishness is one of our dominant traits." - The New York Times
"A claustrophobic, vastly entertaining sci-fi parable for this moment in time, an absurdist look at what comes next." - This Week in New York
Mr. Einhorn (who also directs) manages to conjure a fully-realized world and scenario, all the while retaining the vague menace of a Pinter play. Aside from being an astute psychological thriller, the play also functions as a sort of microcosmic metaphor for the world we currently live in and where we’re headed as a civilization. At my performance, the trio of JaneAnne Halter, Nina Mann, and Maggie Cino...were excellent and fully invested in the world Mr. Einhorn has meticulously created." Interludes
"Maggie Cino is a silently explosive portrait of self-imprisoned feeling as Alma; JaneAnne Halter s heartbreakingly trusting and surreptitiously principled as Baya; and Nina Mann is an astonishing presence as the Stranger, her performance a feral ballet of protective crouches, striding confidence and abject collapse; the natural, ungoverned world the other pod-dwellers fear, personified." - HiLoBrow
"Einhorn directs his sharp script with a skillful touch, truly making the evening and eerie experience. ALMA BAYA marks a triumphant return to live performance, one that takes patience and focus and rewards you with an exhilarating evening out at the theatre. A must-see." Artswire Weekly
"A strong and heady blend of sci-fi and absurdist theater at its best" - Recursor
"The fascinating new play finds its hold on our emotional sensibilities... [an] intricate set designed with a clarity of vision by Mike Mroch enhanced with lighting by Federico Restrepo and perfectly formatted costumes by Ramona Ponce...a strongly crafted dilemma, with stances easily taken, but never held firmly for very long" - Times Square Chronicles
The shifting, modulating dynamics of the bids for power, sympathy, and alliance among the self-assuredly inflexible Alma, wide-eyed but headstrong Baya, and shrewd but vulnerable Stranger are rendered by Cino, Halter, and Mann with humor, conviction, and subtlety. Even when things get dark, Alma Baya lights up the stage. - Thinking Theater
"Ann Marie Yoo was able to straddle that line where you hate her bossiness and greediness by allocating more food for herself than others, but then she is very smart. She grasps the situations and can reason the best outcomes with the help of their instruction manuals. She is the brains and Sheleah Harris as Baya is all heart. Baya tries but is incapable of standing up for herself in the plight and confidence of others. Ms. Harris is vulnerable and kind and a great contrast to the others." Hi Drama
"Smartly tailor-made for the specific moment in which we are living...Both casts did a fine job in bringing out the humor in the script." - New York Theatre
"Tight, realistic and clear.... nicely directed by the author. Frederico Restrepo and Hao Bai’s lighting design adds the appropriate mystery and menace to the proceedings." Theater Reviews From my Seat
In-Person August 13 - 28, 2021
Ticket $25 - $30
at A.R.T./New York’s
Jeffrey and Paula Gural Theatre
502 W. 53rd Street (at 10th Ave)
All in-person attendees must be vaccinated.
NOTE: There is nudity in the show.
Streaming
August 14 & 15
On Demand
August 18 - September 19
Alma and Baya live on a hostile planet in a pod designed to sustain just them. When a refugee arrives from another pod, they have to balance survival versus compassion.
Running time: 75 minutes
Cast A: Sheleah Harris, Rivera Reese, Ann Marie Yoo
Cast B: Maggie Cino, JaneAnne Halter, Nina Mann
*We have two alternating casts, as an extra precaution against Covid. The productions, however, are not identical. Each has its own character and style.
Set Designer: Mike Mroch
Costume Designer: Ramona Ponce
Lighting Designer: Federico Restrepo
Sound Designer: Mark Bruckner
Stage Manager: Karen Oughtred
Assistant Director/ASM: Becca Silbert
Box Office Manager: Berit Johnson
Production Assistants: Caleb Barron, Sarah Grant, Glafira May, and Sarah Morse.
Publicity: Emily Owens PR
Tue - Fri at 7:30pm
Sat at 6pm and 9pm
Sun at 2pm; Sun Aug 15 also at 7:30pm
