Cinnabar Theater Presents the World Premiere of…
MILAREPA
A fantastical tale of magic, murder, and redemption
By Fred Curchack
Performed by Laura Jorgensen and Fred Curchack

The 11th century poet/saint MILAREPA is the most beloved figure in Tibetan history.  His life story is a fantastical tale of magic, murder, and redemption.  It is also one of the world’s great accounts of the extraordinary efforts needed to transcend suffering and attain enlightenment.
 
MILAREPA is performed with music, dance, shadow art, eye-popping special effects, and hip hop, blues, and rock songs.  It is adapted from the classic Tibetan Buddhist texts The Life of Milarepa and The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa.

WHEN:             Jan 23, 24, 30 and 31 at 8:00

TICKETS:          $22/20

Photo credits: Paisha Jorgensen

Reviews
MONKEY: The Quest to the West:
               “THE ZEN OF FUN …  outrageously funny throughout.  It's the lightest-hearted of Mr. Curchack's wondrous productions to date … these virtuosos' mastery of voices, silly and serious, and of body language make the action clear at all times … ultimately Monkey is about having fun.”  -- Lawson Taitte, The Dallas Morning News, 1015/08
 
               “Lively, comic Monkey enlightens … crazy – and amazingly athletic – monkey business … the two high-energy performers portray some 40 different characters … magical performers … Monkey’s on a mission – and if we find ourselves laughing out loud at some of the bureaucrats and spiritual shenanigans he encounters – well, then, we are sharing in our hero’s hard-earned enlightenment.”
                                               -- Martha Heimberg, Turtle Creek News, 10/16/08
 
for NOH: Angels, Demons, & Dreamers:
“Top Ten of 2007 … Genius … Brilliant … five masterpieces, all brilliantly performed, in less than 90 minutes. … Great depth and great delicacy – you'll find them both in this one.”  -- Lawson Taitte, Dallas Morning News

               “... genius … astonishing … leaves you weak with laughter … This is theater as sacred art … The work of Curchack and Jorgensen is humbling, both for the long discipline it shows and the spiritual mastery it implies.”
                                               -- Glenn Arberry, Park Cities People (People Newspapers)

“Incredibly, these two amazing performers draw us in to another world in minutes, and 90 minutes later release us to the ordinary universe. I wanted to stay -- and so will you. … Theatre doesn't actually offer a more totally cathartic experience than this, even in the most lavish of productions.”  -- Martha Heimberg, Turtle Creek News

               “Spellbinding, elegant, heart wrenching, a tour de force — the production sped by so fast I wasn’t sure if I dreamed it all. It’s magnificent and pure magic! … Curchack and Jorgensen are both masters of their craft, creating art that captivates its audience and illuminates truth.” -- Alexandra Bonifield, Pegasus News

Bios

Fred Curchack has created over seventy original theatre works, twenty-six of them solos, and his performances have been featured at dozens of international theatre festivals. He has received the Gold Medal at the International Festival of Solo Theatre, the American Theatre Wing Award and Critics’ Awards in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas and Austin. Mr. Curchack’s work has been included in "Best of the Week" in the L.A. Times, “Top Ten of the Year" in The New York Times, "Top Ten of the Decade" in the Austin Chronicle, and in the "Top Ten of All-time" in The Dallas Morning News.  He has received funding from Creative Capital, the National Endowment for the Arts, Arts International, The Henson Foundation and is a Guggenheim Fellow. After receiving a drama degree from the High School of Performing Arts in N.Y., and a BA and MA in Theater from Queens College, Curchack studied Indian Kathakali, Japanese Noh, Balinese Topeng, choreography with Alwin Nikolais, and he trained with Grotowski’s Polish Theater Lab. He has taught theatre at the United Nations International School, N.Y.; Sonoma State University, California; and is currently Professor of Art and Performance at The University of Texas at Dallas. This is his seventh theatrical collaboration with Laura.

Laura Jorgensen was a founding member of Western Union Theater Company at Cinnabar Theater.  She has performed Craig Lucas’ Blue Window, Reckless, Sam Shepard’s A Lie of the Mind, Chekhov’s, The Cherry Orchard, Caryl Churchill’s Mad Forest, Shakespeare’s A Winter’s Tale, Beth Henly’s, Crimes of the Heart, Christopher Durang’s Laughing Wild, Peter Shaffer’s Lettice and Lovage, Janusz Glowacki’s Hunting Cockroaches, Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance and Three Tall Women, Terrence McNally’s A Perfect Ganesh, G.B. Shaw’s Heartbreak House, Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads, Athol Fugard’s The Road to Mecca, Oscar Wilde’s The Ideal Husband, Sarah Ruhl’s, The Clean House, John O’Keefe’s Glamour (premiere) and Queer Theory (premiere).  She has created and performed six shows with Fred, including The Mental Traveler, Golden Buddha Beach, Sexual Myth-Stories, An American Dream Play, NOH: Angels, Demons, & Dreamers, and MONKEY: The Quest to the West.