Zayd Dohrn's OUTSIDE PEOPLE Begins At Vineyard Theatre

The world-premiere of Zayd Dohrn's play OUTSIDE PEOPLE, directed by Evan Cabnet and co-produced by Vineyard Theatre and Naked Angels begins preview performances tonightprior to an official press opening of January 10 at Vineyard Theatre (108 East. 15th Street).

The cast of OUTSIDE PEOPLE features Matthew Dellapina, Nelson Lee, Li Jun Li and Sonequa Martin-Green.

Set in modern-day Beijing, OUTSIDE PEOPLE, Zayd Dohrn's darkly comic new play is the story of a young American man, Malcolm (Dellapina) who falls in love with a young Chinese woman, Xiao Mei (Li). But as his eyes open to the subtle social, political and economic forces that inform their relationship, he must confront his complex place in this foreign culture, the friendship that brought him there, and his own deepest fears and desires.

Matthew Dellapina appeared Off-Broadway in DREAM OF THE BURNING BOY, IN THE FOOTPRINT, TELEPHONE and GONE MISSING. Nelson Lee appeared in the television series "Blade: The Series" and "Oz." Li Jun Li appeared in the Lincoln Center Theatre revival of SOUTH PACIFIC, and Off-Broadway in ROMEO AND JULIET and I'M STILL ALIVE. Sonequa Martin-Green has appeared in the television series "The Good Wife" and "Army Wives."

Scenic design for OUTSIDE PEOPLE is by Takeshi Kata (HORSEDREAMS, GONE MISSING, ADDING MACHINE); costume design is by Jessica Wegener Shay (DREAM OF THE BURNING BOY, NEXT FALL, THE MISTAKES MADELINE MADE); lighting design is by Ben Stanton (SEMINAR, ASCUNSION, ANGELS IN AMERICA); sound design is by Jill BC DuBoff (OTHER DESERT CITIES, CRADLE AND ALL).

Zayd Dohrn is a playwright and screenwriter. His plays -- including SICK, MAGIC FOREST FARM and REBORNING -- have been produced and developed across the country, including at Manhattan Theatre Club, Berkshire Theatre Festival, MCC, Marin Theatre Company, The Public (SPF), Naked Angels, South Coast Rep, The Vineyard, Southern Rep, Kitchen Dog, The Lark, New York Theatre Workshop, and San Francisco Playhouse. He earned his MFA from NYU and was a Lila Acheson Wallace Fellow at Juilliard. He received Lincoln Center's Lecomte du Nouy Prize, Theatre Masters' Visionary Playwrights Award, the Kennedy Center's Jean Kennedy Smith Award, and the Sky Cooper New American Play Prize, as well as residencies and/or commissions from Ars Nova, Alchemy Theatre, Dallas Theatre Center, The Stella Adler Studio, and The Royal Court Theatre of London. He is currently writing screenplays for American Film Company and Vox3 Films, a television series for HBO, and is a member of the WGA and the Dramatists Guild.

Evan Cabnet recently directed ALL-AMERICAN by Julia Brownell and the world premiere of David West Read's THE DREAM OF THE BURNING BOY (NY Times Critics' Pick; Drama League Nomination for Distinguished Production of a Play). Other NY credits include: Elizabeth Meriwether's THE MISTAKES MADELINE MADE and OLIVER PARKER!, Bekah Brunstetter's OOHRAH! and Mark Schultz's THE GINGERBREAD HOUSE. Regional credits include: Michele Lowe's MAP OF HEAVEN (Denver Center Theatre, world premiere), Donald Margulies' SHIPWRECKED! AN ENTERTAINMENT (Long Wharf Theater, East Coast premiere), and his own adaptations of UBU ROI and Salman Rushdie's HAROUND AND THE SEA OF STORIES (Williamstown Theatre Festival).