HERE Arts Center Presents Jennifer Gibb's SOUNDING, 2/17-3/13

HERE Arts Center proudly brings to life SOUNDING, a new seven-character play driven by original text and lyrics, along with cinematic video and a unique soundscape influenced by the music of Patti Smith, Bartok and Portishead. Written by Jennifer Gibbs and directed by Kristin Marting, this production runs Wednesday, February 17- Saturday, March 13 at HERE Arts Center. Official Opening Night is set for Saturday, February 20 at 8:30 PM.

SOUNDING follows the story of Leda, a former New York City art-rock goddess who now finds herself in a very different life as the wife of a Cape Cod psychiatrist. Despite Leda's departure from her days as a performer, a Dionysian musician from her past, The Stranger, refuses to release her.

While Leda mourns the death of her infant child, she confronts the chaos and outsized desire that The Stranger brings over the course of one wild weekend where ex-lovers collide and realign at an astounding rate. Against a backdrop of both longing and loss, SOUNDING is a dramatic and darkly humorous exploration of the transforming power of grief.

Although a new original work, SOUNDING draws inspiration from Ibsen's LADY FROM THE SEA, notably its structure and characters. Writer Jennifer Gibbs explores Ibsen's structural methodology as a model, unfolding narrative and character at a rate that creates a quirky suspense. SOUNDING was honored with the 2009 Collaboration Award from the New York Coalition of Professional Women in the Arts & Media.

Jennifer Gibbs is a playwright and performer who thinks in collage and sees text as music. She is currently a HARP artist in residence at HERE, where she developed SOUNDING with director Kristin Marting. SOUNDING has been honored with a Creative Capital MAP Fund Grant (Doris Duke & Rockefeller Foundations), the 2009 Collaboration Award from the New York Coalition of Professional Women in the Arts & Media, a Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Swing Space Grant, a residency from the Gertrude Stein Digital Performance Institute and further support from Voice & Vision.

Jennifer's solo show IMMORTALITY (EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY) won a 2005 New York Fringe Festival Overall Excellence Award. Her mini-musical HOT is part of THE AUDIENCE, a full-length collaborative musical that garnered 3 Drama Desk nominations (Transport Group). Her plays, including FOUND, HAWK/MOUS, 2GETHER, DIARY OF A PROPHET, THE SWEATER GIRL, and SOUNDING have been developed/presented at Cherry Lane, LAByrinth, Williamstown, E.S.T., Joe's Pub, and more.

Kristin Marting is a director and choreographer. Over the past 20 years, she has constructed 23 works for the stage, including 10 original hybrid works, 8 adaptations of novels & short stories and 5 classic plays. For 15 years, she has been developing a unique hybrid directorial/ choreographic form featuring a "gestural vocabulary" used both as an emotional signifier and as a choreographic element. She is a co-founder and the Artistic Director of HERE, where she cultivates artists and programs all events for two performance spaces-including 13 OBIE-award winners-for an annual audience of 50,000.

SOUNDING features Todd d'Amour, Ana Kayne, Irene Longshore, Rudy Mungaray, Okwui Okpokwasili, Michael Pemberton and Stephen Reyes. This production includes Original Music by Kamala Sankaram and Video Design by Tal Yarden. Set Designer is Nick Vaughan. Lighting Designer is Rie Ono Seo. Sound Designer is Jane Shaw. Costume Designer is Liz Bourgoise. Casting is by Judy Bowman.

SOUNDING plays February 17 - March 13 with performances Wednesday through Saturday at 8:30 PM. Tickets are $18.00 and can be purchased at www.here.org or by calling (212) 352-3101 or at the HERE Box Office (4 PM until curtain on show days). HERE Arts Center is located at 145 Sixth Avenue, one block below Spring Street.