NNPN Announces the Rolling World Premiere of INTO THE BEAUTIFUL NORTH by Karen Zacarías
Washington, D.C. - The National New Play Network, the country's alliance of nonprofit theaters that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays, announces Into the Beautiful North by Karen Zacarías as its 57th Rolling World Premiere. The play is an adaptation based on the award winning book of the same name by Luis Alberto Urrea. It will receive two productions at NNPN Core Members Milagro (Portland, OR, April 28-May 28, 2016) and San Diego REPertory Theatre (CA, April 5-23, 2017), and two more at Associate Members Central Works (Berkeley, CA, October 15-November 13, 2016) and 16th Street Theater (Berwyn, IL, February 2-March 7, 2017).
NNPN provides production support to the playwright and the partnering theaters, including assistance with the creation and the contracting of the premiere agreement, collaborative interactions between the theaters, and funds for the playwright's residency in each city to further develop the play.
ABOUT INTO THE BEAUTIFUL NORTH
Inspired by the classic film The Magnificent Seven, Nayeli, a young woman living in a small Mexican village and her companions venture across the border determined to bring back seven good men to protect their village from the invasion of narco-traficantes and the risk of extinction.
ABOUT KAREN ZACARÍAS
Karen Zacarías is one of the most produced Latina playwrights in the nation. She is one of the inaugural Resident Playwrights at Arena Stage in Washington, DC, and is a core founder of the LATINO THEATRE COMMONS. She is the founder of Young Playwrights’ Theater, an award winning theater company that teaches playwriting in local public schools in Washington, DC.
ABOUT LUIS ALBERTO URREA
Hailed by NPR as a "literary badass" and a "master storyteller with a rock and roll heart," Luis Alberto Urrea is a prolific and acclaimed writer who uses his dual-culture life experiences to explore greater themes of love, loss and triumph. A 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist for nonfiction and member of the Latino Literature Hall of Fame, Urrea is the critically acclaimed and best-selling author of 16 books, winning numerous awards for his poetry, fiction and essays. Born in Tijuana to a Mexican father and American mother, Urrea is most recognized as a border writer, though he says, "I am more interested in bridges, not borders." Into the Beautiful North (2010) is a Big Read selection by the National Endowment of the Arts and has been selected by more than 30 different cities and colleges as a community read. Other award-winning titles include The Water Museum (2015), The Hummingbird's Daughter (2005), The Devil's Highway (2004), Six Kinds of Sky (2002), Nobody's Son: Notes from an American Life (1999), The Fever of Being (1994), and Across the Wire (1993). Urrea attended the University of California at San Diego, earning an undergraduate degree in writing, and did his graduate studies at the University of Colorado-Boulder. He lives with his family in Naperville, IL, where he is a distinguished professor of creative writing at the University of Illinois-Chicago.
ABOUT MILAGRO
As the premier Latino arts and culture center of the Pacific Northwest, Milagro has provided extraordinary Latino theatre, culture, and arts education for the enrichment of all communities since 1985. Teatro Milagro, Milagro’s touring & arts education program, presents its original bilingual plays and educational residencies to diverse and underserved communities across the nation. On the mainstage, Milagro produces a full season of regional or world premieres, including one Spanish-language play each year, as well as our long-running Día de los Muertos signature production. We entertain our audiences; we give them pause to think, feel and imagine; and, through the cultural lens of latinidad, we reflect the full spectrum of humanity.
ABOUT CENTRAL WORKS
Central Works’ mission is to enrich the cultural environment of our community through the collaborative development and production of new plays for the theater. We are “The New Play Theater.” We write, develop, and produce world premieres, offering our community daring, intimate productions at affordable prices. We bring local theater artists together as partners in the creation and development of challenging new works, while maintaining the highest standards of professionalism and excellence. We think globally, and act locally: we make plays.
ABOUT 16TH STREET THEATER
Created to be a theater for people NOT going to the theater, 16th Street was founded in 2007 to serve and give voice to ALL in Berwyn’s community: not just for some in our community, but for all. Dedicated to artistic excellence, professionalism (paying artists a decent wage) diversity and affordability, 16th Street exists to encourage debate, discussion and compassion amongst our community through the medium of intimate and diverse theater with the playwright as its central focus. 16th Street is a place where audiences are invited to experience not only their own stories, but to experience their neighbors’ stories and stories of “the other.”
ABOUT SAN DIEGO REPERTORY THEATRE
San Diego REPertory Theatre is downtown San Diego’s resident theater, promoting a more inclusive community through work that nourishes progressive political and social values. The company produces and hosts over 300 events and performances year-round on three stages at the Lyceum Theater; since its move to the Lyceum, the REP has produced 39 mainstage productions by Latino playwrights, and more than 40 world premieres.