On Friday and Saturday, April 28th and 29th Sandglass Theater will present the first full work-in-progress showing of Babylon at Next Stage Arts Project at 7:30pm, with an additional fundraising event for the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program on Friday after the show. Babylon is a piece about refugees: their journeys, traumas, and challenges to resettlement. Performed by puppets and actors with moving panoramas, known as crankies and with choral singing. Sandglass has been developing this piece for nearly two years, and will begin touring in Autumn of 2017.
In an effort to understand the physical, emotional, and spiritual challenges that face refugees, Sandglass Theater is also working with the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program (VRRP) in Colchester, Vermont, one of 76 agencies in the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. Friday evening’s performance is followed by a preview reception that includes dessert, conversation with Amila Merdzanovic, Director of VRRP, and time to meet the artists and directors of Babylon. Friday’s post show events are a fundraiser for the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program.
The show is co-directed by Eric Bass of Sandglass Theater and Roberto Salomon of Teatro Luis Poma, El Salvador. The music is composed by Brendan Taaffe, with a percussion score by Julian Gerstin. The cast includes Shoshana Bass, Kei Ching, Jay Gelter, Terrell Jones, and Kalob Martinez.
Tickets can be purchased at sandglasstheter.org and are $18 general admission and $16 for student and seniors for both Friday and Saturday shows. If you would also like to partake in the fundraising reception on Friday evening after the show tickets are $40 all inclusive. Next Stage is a fully accessible theater venue located right in the center of Putney, Vermont off I91, exit 4.
