InnerMission Productions, in collaboration with the Mesa College Drama Department, is proud to present the San Diego Premiere of No Child… by Nilaja Sun May 12-20, 2012. No Child... can be seen at the Apolliad Theater at San Diego Mesa College 7250 Mesa College Dr., San Diego, CA, 92111
“What you are about to see is a story about a play within a play within a play”
Nilaja Sun spent six weeks teaching/directing a play during No Child Left Behind. The play she directed was Our Country’s Good, which is about a group of Australian royal marines and convicts putting on a production of The Recruiting Officer. But that's not what No Child... is about, really.
Sun takes this six-week experience and tells a very compelling story about what it’s like being an outsider in a system that is troubled; with kids who are troubled and a project that never had a chance. She gets it all pretty much right. It is a bold and insightful piece of theatre that doesn’t preach, doesn’t name names. It just shows one powerful experience.
And it leaves no one behind.
The playwright performs No Child… as a one-woman show and licenses it out for theatrical productions. Mesa College acting students work alongside professional actors for this San Diego premiere.
Performance Dates/Times:
8:00 p.m. Saturday, May 12; 2:00 p.m. Sunday, May 13; 8:00 p.m. Thursday, May 17; 8:00 p.m. Friday, May 18; 2:00 p.m. Saturday, May 19; 8:00 p.m. Saturday, May 19; 2:00 p.m. Sunday, May 20, 2012
Cast:
Janitor Baron- Rhys Green; Ms. Sun- Lynae DePriest; Ms. Tam- Justine Hince; Coca- Rebekah Ensley; Jerome- Brandon Kelly; Brian- Robert Malave; Shondrika- Bianca Ostojich; Xiomara- Dempsey Davis; Jose- Carlos Angel-Barajas; Chris- John Rogers; Mrs. Kennedy- Delia Knight; Security Guard- Kent Gandola; Phillip- Marc Amial Caro; Mrs. Projensky- JennieOlson-Six; Mr. Johnson- Patrick Mayuyu; Doña Guzman- Olivia Ruiz Marrujo
About the Collaboration:
Each spring the Mesa College Theatre Department invites a local production company to take up residency in the Apolliad Theatre. This affords students the opportunity to work along-side experienced artists while learning their craft, and gain professional credit as well. It also provides a temporary venue for a “homeless” theatre company including access to scenic shop, costume shop, rehearsal spaces, and other production facilities. This year we are proud to announce a partnership with respected InnerMission Productions headed up by Carla Nell, and Kym Pappas. This marks the third time Mesa College Theatre has collaborated with outside groups. Previous ventures involved the San Diego Asian American Theatre, and Common Ground Theatre.
About InnerMission Productions:
InnerMission Productions is Carla Nell and Kym Pappas. InnerMission Productions strives to provide artists and audiences with a safe place for exploration and transformation. We are on a mission to produce theatre in San Diego that inspires our community.
Production Company:
Directors: Carla Nell, Kym Pappas
Playwright: Nilaja Sun
Mesa College Administrators: Kris Clark & George Ye
Stage Manager: Ashleigh Bodie
Scenic Design: Kasey Snowder
Lighting Design: Mark Butterfuss
Costume Design: Jessie Monteiro
Sound Design: Kym Pappas & Carla Nell
Props Master: Wendy Savage
Dramaturg: Tiffany Tang
Marketing and Publicity: Kevin Six, Joe Fejeran, Lisa Davis
Mesa College Dramatic Arts Mission:
It is the mission of the Dramatic Arts Program to provide a comprehensive lower division curriculum that provides training, mentoring, and experience in all aspects of the Dramatic Arts. Students prepare for success either in the transfer process or in seeking employment within the industry, an industry that is prevalent in the San Diego and Southern California areas. The program embraces diversity in all of our course work and co-curricular activities. We also provide a strong connection to the community through outreach and production activities.
Mesa College offers an intensive four semester Associate Arts Degree in theatre studies. Students take classes in acting, movement, voice, scenic design, lighting design, costume construction, make-up, production marketing, and production management. In addition to course work all students are assigned main stage roles, appointed designer and department heads. What makes this program extremely unique is the immediate hands-on training you receive. The company emphasizes theatre production as a collaborative art
form where mutual respect for all disciplines enhances process and production standards.
“No Child, the one woman show written and performed by Nilaja Sun, is a tour-de-force exploration of the New York City public school system, in which Sun fearlessly transforms with rapid-fire precision into the teachers, students, parents, janitors, security guards, and administrators who inhabit these schools.”
-Hannah Bronfman, The Huffington Post
