Photo Flash: THE SEAGULL at NAATCO

The OBIE Award-winning National Asian American Theatre Company (NAATCO), now in its 20th season, presents Anton Chekhov's classic THE SEAGULL, previews began September 26 prior to an official press opening of October 1 at Theater for the New City (155 First Avenue) in Manhattan. Gia Forakis directs.

NAATCO's production of THE SEAGULL takes its cue from Chekhov's subtitle: "A Comedy in 4 Acts." Director Gia Forakis excavates the vaudevillian sense of humor in the play and couples it with the bitter despair of Chekhov's characters to provoke what she calls "comedy's wicked step-cousin, the grotesque," where tragedy and comedy live alongside one another.

The all Asian-American cast of THE SEAGULL features: Rajesh Bose, Cindy Cheung, Jojo Gonzalez, Marcus Ho, Peter Kim, Lavrenti Lopes, Mia Katigbak, Orville Mendoza, Andrew Pang, Sophia Skiles, and Tiffany Villarin. Design team includes: Lee Savage (set design), Stephen Petrilli (lighting design), Alixandra Gage Englund (costume design), S. Katy Tucker (video production), Robert Murphy (sound design and original music), and Alexandra Morton (props).

Richard Eng and Artistic/Producing director Mia Katigbak founded NAATCO in 1989. Now in its 20th season, it is one of the country's leading theatre companies providing a stage for the talents of Asian-American theatre artists. NAATCO presents classical works, adaptations of this repertory by Asian American Playwrights, and original work by non-Asian American Playwrights, all with all Asian- American casts. NAATCO produces these plays to challenges the pervasive stereotypical representation of Asian Americans in the theatre.

Most recently, NAATCO presented a revival of the Tennessee Williams classic OUT CRY and the world premiere of Karen Hartman's LEAH'S TRAIN. Other notable NAATCO productions since 1990 include OTHELLO, LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT, OUR TOWN, YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU, Archibald MacLeish's AIR RAID, Joseph Conrad's TALES OF UNREST, ANTIGONE, Christopher Fry's A PHOENIX TOO FREQUENT, IVANOV, THE DISPUTE, and the world premieres of Catherine Filloux's EYES OF THE HEART and Michael Golamco's COWBOY V. SAMURAI.

Performances of THE SEAGULL run Mondays through Saturdays at 7:00pm, with a Wednesday matinee performance at 1:00pm on October 14. Tickets are $15-20, and available online at TheaterMania.com or by calling TheaterMania at 212-352-3101. For additional details, please visit www.naatco.org.