Dixon Place presents The Legend of the Waitress and the Robber (여종업원과 남자도적) A Concrete Temple Theatre, Playfactory Mabangzen & Yellowbomb collaboration in partnership with Korean Cultural Center NY,
developed in residency at Performance Space for the 21st Century/PS21 in Chatham, NY

About This Show

“Imagine if you will, there’s a world much like ours.
Maybe in the future.
Maybe even now.
A world where every human lives separate and alone.
The only interaction allowed – is on a phone.”

These lyrics are from the opening song in The Legend of The Waitress & The Robber, written two years before Covid washed up on our shores. Its playful, irreverent look at the isolation inherent in our complicated contemporary culture is made even more urgent now, after two years of pandemic separation.

Set in a dystopian society, The Legend of The Waitress & The Robber is a comic-book-style mash-up inspired by Friedrich Schiller’s play The Robbers and the Korean novel The Story of Hong Gildong, both Robin Hood-style stories of individuals betrayed by their families. With nods to Weill and Brecht, the characters sing and dance as they fight for what they believe, challenging the timeworn concepts of family and perceptions of ownership and justice.

The Waitress, fed up with watching her elderly customers be mistreated by their children, kidnaps these seniors so she can give them the care they deserve. Meanwhile, the Second Son, accused by his brother of being a thief, becomes a robber who “liberates” people from the clutches of their cellular devices.

The exciting cross-cultural collaboration is performed in English and Korean, with subtitles for both. The cast features NYC-based actors Carlo Adinolfi; Rolls Andre; Hye Young Chyun; Lisa Kitchens; Eunji Lim; James A Pierce III. They are joined by actors from Korea: Ju Yeon Choi; Nam Pyo Kim; Yura Noh; Kyongsik Won. The design team includes Carlo Adinolfi (sets); Laura Anderson Barbata (costumes). The musical directors are Jacob Kerzner and Hee Eun Kim.

The NYC premiere follows a three-week residency at PS21- Chatham, culminating in two preview performances of The Legend of The Waitress & The Robber on May 21 & 22 at the upstate venue.

But the journey to the NYC stage for The Legend of The Waitress & The Robber took much longer.

In 2017, writer/director Renee Philippi received an Asian Cultural Council grant to study contemporary Korean theater practices. In the spring of 2018, she and producing partner and scenic designer Carlo Adinolfi spent six weeks in Seoul with members of Playfactory Mabangzen. It was there that a collaboration was born. MBZ traveled to NYC for a two-week developmental workshop in 2018. Philippi and Adinolfi again traveled to Seoul in early 2019 before bringing the entire NYC company there in October 2019 for a four-week residency and in-process showing. The Legend of The Waitress & The Robber was to have its premiere in New York City in April 2020, but was curtailed by the pandemic. Now, over two years later, it finally arrives.

About the Artists

Renee Philippi (writer/director). Co-Artistic Director Concrete Temple Theatre: for over 20 years, Renee has been writing/directing in NYC and nationally at venues like The Yard, Bard Summerscape, St. Ann’s Warehouse, Detroit Institute of Arts, Pontine Theatre, Dairy Center for the Arts, Amphibian Stage and internationally: Sri Lanka, India, Bulgaria, Turkey, Italy, Scotland, Germany, South Korea, and Costa Rica. Renee has created 13 original works in the past 10 years. Her newest work PACKRAT premiered at Dixon Place, January 2020. Renee is a member of Spiderwoman Theatre, Women’s Project Directors Forum, Lincoln Center’s Directors Lab, New Georges, LPTW and has been Artist-in-Residence with Mabou Mines, Playwrights Center Minneapolis, Directors Company, Nantucket Historical Association, Flint Institute of Arts, The Flea, The Yard, and Directing Fellow, Williamstown Theatre Festival. Her work has been described as: “Thought-provoking and emotional” (TheatreScene.net), “Drama, as it should be, with fine writing and flawless direction.” (Talkin’ Broadway) “Mesmerizing” (New York Times).

Eric Nightengale (director/dramaturg) is Co-Artistic Director of Anthropological Theatricals and a founding member of Concrete Temple Theatre in NYC and The Acme Corporation, Baltimore. Artistic Director of 78th Street Theatre Lab from 1995-2008 where he created, produced, or nurtured hundreds of new plays. Other New York credits include work with New Circle Theatre, The Acting Company, Circle in the Square, Cherry Lane Theatre, Symphony Space, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Barrow Street Theatre, 45 Bleecker, 59E59 Theaters, Dixon Place, The Barrow Group, Vital Joint, HERE, Incubator Arts Project, The Brick, and Classic Stage Company. Founding Artistic Director for Actors Repertory Theatre in Chicago 1987-1993. Chicago credits include work with Victory Gardens Theatre, Bailiwick Repertory Theatre, Chicago Dramatists Workshop and Second City. Associate Artistic Director for the Developing Artists Series at the Drama League of New York. Developed work at New Harmony Project, Sewanee Writers Conference, Drop Forge & Tool, Telluride Playwrights Festival, and Last Frontier Theatre Conference. International work includes productions at Sibiu International Theatre Festival in Romania, The 24th International Theatre Festival (Bulgaria), Festival Istropolitana (Slovakia) and various companies throughout the United Kingdom.

Lewis Flinn (composer) has worked as a theater professional for the past 25 years. He is the composer and lyricist of the Broadway musical Lysistrata Jones (with a book by Douglas Carter Beane) that also ran at The Dallas Theater Center and Off-Broadway with the Transport Group.  Other current projects with Beane include Hood (Dallas Theater Center, Best Musical 0f Dallas 2017) and the upcoming To Wong Foo.  Other musicals include Like Love (NYMF) and The Winner (Lyric Stage, Dallas). Flinn has composed scores and songs for over 50 Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regional productions including TONY nominated The Little Dog Laughed, Charles Busch’s Die Mommie Die, The Divine Sister, The Tribute Artist (Drama Desk nom for Best Music), and The Third Story.

About Concrete Temple Theatre

Concrete Temple Theatre is a multi-disciplinary company, committed to the creation of compelling new theatrical works, incorporating drama, dance, puppetry, music, and the visual arts. Since 2004, Concrete Temple Theater has created devised visual theater that challenges the traditional relationship between design and text. Through touring original works and presenting workshops in NYC, nationally and internationally, they strive to bring myth and ritual back to the center of dialogue, by presenting works and workshops that address real issues within communities (grief, family relationships, environmental stewardship). They have presented their work for NYC audiences at venues like Ohio Theatre, HERE, and Barrow Street Theatre and have been artist-in-residence in NYC at The Flea Theater, Dixon Place, Mabou Mines, St. Ann’s Warehouse and chashama. Concrete Temple has toured work nationally at venues like The Yard, Bard Summerscape, Detroit Institute of Arts, Pontine Theatre, Dairy Center for the Arts, Amphibian Stage Productions and internationally: London, Sri Lanka, India, Bulgaria, Turkey, Italy, Scotland, S. Korea and Costa Rica. www.ConcreteTempleTheatre.com

About Playfactory Mabangzen

In 2005, Playfactory Mabangzen (MBZ) was founded by Playwright and Director Koh Sun-Woong. A seeker of magical realism, Koh is interested in writing about the strange realities and characters of the world. Playfactory Mabangzen’s aim is to find that which lies at the core of the piece, the essentiality, and recreate it. Currently, Playfactory Mabangzen actively works locally in South Korea and abroad. MBZ believes that “the value of pursuing a combination of illusions and fantasies in a realistic world” is the way in which plays can secure meaning in this age. Awards include: 2018: Gyeonggi Arts Performing Festa Best Collection 4, The Tale of Rabbit, 2017: Geochang Summer Festival of Theatre, Best Play, Best Actor (Lim Jin-gu), Human Cannonball Show, 2016: Gimcheon International Theater Festival for Family, Best Play, Best Director, Best Actor (Lim Jin-gu), Human Cannonball Show and SAC Awards, Best Play, Best Director, Hong Do, 2015:  E-daily Culture Awards, Best Play, Hong Do and Gyeonggi Arts Performing Festa Best Collection 3, Hong Do, 2012: The Korea Shakespeare Awards, Best Play, Killbeth.

About Yellowbomb
Yellow Bomb Inc. is a multi-cultural company providing a new experience where culture meets another culture, expanding its cultural business domestically and internationally. Based on Korean traditional music and musical theatre, the company has successfully organized, arranged, and planned many global events and performances. The company seeks to expand its business as a global event organizer.

Wed, May 25 to Sat, May 28 at 7:30 pm
Sunday, May 29 at 5 pm

Tickets
Earlybird $18 – ends 04/28/22
General Admission $25
Students/Seniors $20

Estimated Runtime
75 minutes

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Credits

Written by
Renee Philippi

Directed by
Renee Philippi
Eric Nightengale

Lyrics and Original Score
Lewis Flinn

Musical Direction
Jacob Kerzner
Hee Eun Kim

Set Design
Carlo Adlinolfi

Costumes
Laura Anderson Barbata

Actors

Carlo Adinolfi
Rolls Andre*
Ju Yeon Choi
Hye Young Chyun
Nam Pyo Kim
Lisa Kitchens*
Kyongsik Won
Eunji Lim
James A Pierce III*
Yura Noh
*Appearing Courtesy of AEA

Korean Associate Director: 
Jung-wan Seo
PSM: Quentin Madia

ASM: Taeuk Kang

Links