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U.S. Embassy Brings Groundbreaking New York Theater Group To Sri Lanka

WHAT:  The American Embassy presents original theater, direct from New York City, in Colombo.  The Concrete Temple Theater will perform their play “The Whale,” an innovative one-man adaptation of American author Herman Melville’s classic tale of one sea captain’s epic pursuit of the giant white whale “Moby Dick.”  Using only his body, voice, and an extraordinary collection of hand-crafted and rigged props to create life on a whale ship, actor Carlo Adinolfi invokes a variety of storytelling traditions to turn the stage into a raging sea.   With direction by Renee Philippi, dramatic lights and staging by Casey McLain and original music by David Pinkard, the effect of one man embodying this enormous literary epic in sixty minutes is both playful and profound.  

WHEN: August 22nd at 7:30 PM

WHERE: The British School, 63 Elvitigala Mawatha, Colombo 8

TICKETS: Entrance to the show is free!  Passes are available at the American Center, 44 Galle Rd. Colombo 3, and the British School, 63 Elvitagala Mawatha, Colombo 8

Additional passes for the performance will be available at the door on a first come, first serve basis with limited availability. 

BACKGROUND: The American Embassy Colombo presents “The Whale,“ a dramatization of Herman Melville’s epic novel “Moby Dick,” adapted, directed and performed by the Concrete Temple Theater of New York (http://www.concretetempletheatre.com). 

Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick” was published in 1851 and is considered one of world literature’s greatest poetic epics.  It tells the tale of Captain Ahab and his maniacal pursuit of the ever-elusive white whale, Moby Dick.  The story of the novel is told primarily through the thoughts of its narrator, Ishmael, a dreaming sailor abroad Captain Ahab’s ship, the Pequod.  Not only does the story guide its readers through the adventures of Ahab and Ishmael, it entertains and provokes its readers with stories of sailors, savages, and chapters filled with facts and musings that skim not only the surface of the ocean but plunders its depths and the depths of the human existence.

Concrete Temple Theatre is a multi-disciplinary company that emphasizes the creation of compelling new theatre works, incorporating drama, dance, puppetry, and the visual arts, which focus on the individual's struggle for identity and society's struggle for cohesion. Through touring and presenting workshops in New York City, nationally, and internationally, Concrete Temple Theatre strives to bring myth and ritual back to the center of dialog, while making connections and opportunities for diverse audiences to question and examine their place in the world. The Concrete Temple Theater will be performing in Sri Lanka as a part of its South Asia tour, including performances across India.

This performance is sponsored by the U.S. Embassy Colombo as part of the Department of State’s efforts to foster cultural exchange with audiences in Sri Lanka.  "Cultural diplomacy allows artists and audiences to share in a common experience that reaches beyond differences in culture, religion, language and generations and to connect as people without borders,” says Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Professional and Cultural Exchanges Alina L. Romanowski.

Concrete Temple Theatre’s Artistic Directors, Carlo Adinolfi, Renee Philippi and Casey McLain, will be sharing their writing, puppetry and performance abilities in four workshops for young Sri Lankan students in both Kandy and Colombo during their visit. 

WHO: Actor and co-artistic director Carlo Adinolfi trained first as a dancer, and then as a carpenter.  His work has been presented at theatres in Rome, Milan and Edinburgh, as well as numerous venues in New York City and throughout the United States.  Carlo has danced with numerous companies and has serves as technical director to various American performance groups.  Using little more than drift-wood, string and white canvas, this multiple award-winning actor/choreographer compels his audience to see, hear and smell the leviathans of the deep with touches of humor in “The Whale.”

Stage manager Casey McLain is a freelance director, stage manager, and all around designer in New York City.

Director and co-artistic director Renee Philippi’s work has been seen in and around New York City, in theaters across the United States, as well as in international venues in Germany and Scotland.  Renee is an award winning performer who has been artist in residence for numerous American theater groups specializing in puppetry, direction, playwriting and dance.  

REVIEWS OF THE WHALE:

"Adinolfi transforms a tiny stage into both the sea-locked world of the Pequod's decks and the vast, unfathomable sea itself."
- Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker

"This is an intense, poetic reaction to Melville's novel, created using a heightened theatricality and a set that would look at home in a gallery."
- Diane Dubois, The Scotsman, UK

"When Moby Dick itself rises up from nowhere with fearsome power, it is easy to forget this is all in the mind, and you can almost taste the salt as you drown in the deep waters of Adinolfi's imagination."
- Jeremy Hodges, The Daily Mail, UK

“The visual and physical nature of the work makes The Whale a unique theatrical experience - a great soundscape, carefully worked movement and faithful quotation from the novel."
- Philip Fisher, British Theatre Guide