Ithaca College

Ithaca College Theatre presents 36 Views by emerging playwright Naomi Iizuka. Evening performances will take place at 8:00 p.m. on March 27, 29–31 and April 3–7. Matinees will be offered on April 1 and 7 at 2:00 p.m. All performances will take place in the Clark Theatre, Dillingham Center.

Commissioned and developed by A.S.K. Theater Projects in 1998, 36 Views premiered at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in September 2001.The play combines elements of traditional Kabuki theater and modern Western forms to question what is true and what is real.

Tickets can be purchased at the Ithaca College Theatre ticket office in Dillingham Center, the Clinton House Ticket Center, Cornell University’s Willard Straight Hall and online at www.ithacaevents.com. Ticket prices range from $4.50 to $10. Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more by calling (203) 260-9508. For more information call (607) 274-3224 or visit www.ithaca.edu/theatre.

“In order to understand a piece of art or a person or a relationship, you really have to look at it from many different angles,” playwright Iizuka said.

Director Norm Johnson added, “Naomi Iizuka had imagined a play which was more evocative on an image level than on a textual level. She created a script which is as full of theatrical images as it is full of text, both poetical and literal. This script invited the chance to experiment with the possibilities of fusing eastern-inspired training methods and theatrical aesthetics with my own eclectic background.”

Born in Tokyo, Iizuka has lived in Japan, Indonesia, Holland, and Washington, D.C. She holds a bachelor of arts from Yale University and a master of fine arts from the University of California-San Diego. Her most recent honors include a Whiting Writers’ Award, McKnight Fellowship, an NEA/TCG Artist-in-Residence Fellowship, Princeton’s Hodder Fellowship, a Jerome Fellowship, and a PEN Center USA West Award for Drama. Her work has been produced and developed throughout the United States. Her unique, non-linear storylines are influenced by her multicultural background as they creatively blend the ancient and the contemporary.

Norm Johnson is associate professor in the Ithaca College Department of Theatre Arts. Daniel Stermer ’07 is the assistant director and Alexander Smith ’07 is the dramaturge. The design team includes scenic designer Sandra Podolsky ‘08, costume designer Greg Robbins, lighting designer Sarah Watson ’08, sound designer Michael Speach ’07, and technical director Rebecca Duhaime ‘07. Jay Koepke ’07 is the stage manager.

The cast includes Aki Sato-Johnson ’07 as Setsuko Hearn, Alison Lani ’07 as Claire, Gillian Glasco ’07 as Elizabeth, Peter Gray ’07 as John Bell, Stuart Fingeret ’07 as Darius Wheeler, Alyssa Duerksen ’07 as Dr. Matthaissen, Alex Krasser ’09 as Percussionist, Matthew Gall ‘09 as Male Understudy and Abby Church’07, John X. Miller ’09, Heather Frase ’09, Alana Webster ’09, Christina Lamothe ’07, Kacie McEgan ’09 as Kurogo, the “invisible stage hands” used in Kabuki theatre.