TLAB Shares Host
White Rabbit Red Rabbit
Written by Nassim Soleimanpour
Performed by Melina MoghadassianÂ
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Will you participate? Will you be manipulated? Will you listen? Will you really listen?
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With no rehearsals, no director, a different actor each night, and a script waiting in a sealed envelope on stage, internationally acclaimed White Rabbit Red Rabbit, by Iranian writer Nassim Soleimanpour, is an audacious theatrical experiment and a potent reminder of the transgressive and transformative power of theater.
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Forbidden to leave his native Iran, Soleimanpour wrote a play which traveled the world in his place. The audience joins each different performer on a journey into the unknown; stumbling upon the personal and profound, the limits of liberty and ultimately where theater can take you. Since its joint premiere in 2011, the play has been translated into over 25 different languages and has been performed over 1000 times by some of the biggest names in theater and film, including actors Whoopi Goldberg, Nathan Lane, John Hurt, Simon McBurney, Stephen Fry, Sinead Cusack, Marcus Brigstocke and Ken Loach.
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Tickets $30 HERE
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COVID-19 safety: Vaccinations and KN95 masks are required to enter the venue. Masks will be also available at the door. The safety of our audience and artists is a priority. Thank you for helping us keep Theaterlab a safe space for everyone. If you have any questions about our COVID-19 policy, please email us at theaterlab36@gmail.com.
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About the Artists
Melina Moghadassian (Performer) is a German/Persian actress, writer and producer based in New York City born from Iranian parents. Melina is an alumni of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. She has appeared in a performance at the Stella Adler Studio called âA Bright Room Called Day,â directed by John Gould Rubin and in an off-Broadway Show called âAlmost Maine,â by John Cariani. Melina trains with world-renowned acting coach and best-selling author Bernard Hiller to further develop her craft. Melina, actress Eliana Ghen and Sandra Gitau produced and starred in their short film called âBridesmaids Tale,â which was accepted into the Outshine Film Festival. Currently, Melina is running her Nonprofit called âHumans for the Arts,â to foster academic, emotional, economical and psychological advancement through arts education and art therapy, for disempowered youth and youth at risk. She is also coaching and directing actors of various experience levels, to further develop their craft.Melina is continuing to write and produce new films and projects.
Nassim Soleimanpour (Playwright) is an Iranian playwright, theatre maker and the Artistic Director of the Berlin Based Theatre company Nassim Soleimanpour Productions.His plays have been translated into more than 30 languages and performed globally in over 50 countries. Best known for his play White Rabbit Red Rabbit, written to travel the world when he couldnât, his work has been awarded the Dublin Fringe Festival Best New Performance, Summerworks Outstanding New Performance Text Award and The Arches Brick Award (Edinburgh Fringe) as well as picking up nominations for a Total Theatre and Brighton Fringe Pick of Edinburgh Award. White Rabbit Red Rabbit had a 9 month Off-Broadway run casting celebrated actors like Whoopi Goldberg, Nathan Lane, Martin Short, Bobby Cannavale, Wayne Brady, F. Murray Abraham, Cynthia Nixon and etc.Â
LuĂsa Gallati (Producer) is a Brazilian actress, producer and makeup artist based in NYC. LuĂsa creates and produces new forms of theater and film that connect people with different stories and backgrounds. With Et Alia, she produced and performed multiple shows such as White Rabbit Red Rabbit and This is Me Eating ___. Back in her home country, LuĂsa worked as a producer and performer in several shows, including Cronicas de Nuestra AmĂ©rica, written by Augusto Boal and directed by Marco Antonio Rodrigues. She was also part of the production of Distopia Brasil, a devised piece directed by Pedro Granato. She was an Assistant Director and Guest Star on the TV Show CherryBomb (to be released on Amazon Prime in 2022). Currently, âTil Morning, a short film that she wrote, produced and starred in, is circulating film festivals all over the globe. She holds a BFA in Theater from Escola Superior de Artes Celia Helena and moved to NYC to study at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.
Ana Moioli (Producer)Â is a Brazilian, NY-based performer/multidisciplinary artist and Co-Founding Artistic Director of Et Alia Theater. She was recently in season 22 of NBC’s Law & Order. She starred in CherryBomb (TV series), Elsewhere (ASFF – Best Actress Award), Julieta (Oaxaca) and I Am Love (Raindance). With Et Alia, she performed in theater projects such as Stella, Come Home (HERE Arts Center; The Brick), This Is Me Eating___ (directed by Debora Balardinig), None of the Above (Rattlestick), and On How to Be a Monster (directed by Federica Borlenghi). She co-directed with Ryan Cairns the short film ‘Til Morning (Outstanding Drama â AOBFF), produced the short film The 2nd Act (Best Project – Latino Film Market) and starred in her own play For The Time Being (NYWinterfest).
Maria MĂŒller (Producer) is a Romanian actor, writer and producer based in New York. She is also the Co-Founding Artistic Director of Et Alia, a theater company led by international women. Her most recent theater credits include White Rabbit Red Rabbit at Theater for the New City, This is Me Eating___directed by Debora Balardini, Where Are You? (Digital), as part of Mabou Mines’ 2020 SUITE/Space program, and On How To Be A Monster, written by her and directed by Federica Borlenghi. Her film credits include the feature film Queen Marie of Romania, directed by Alexis Cahill Sweet (available on HBO GO) and a short film she wrote, produced and starred in called Where Are You from Again? for which she won Best Actress at Indie Short Fest – Los Angeles International Film Festival and was nominated at the Paris Film Festival. âShe has been the host of East European Comic Con since 2016 and she has moderated panels with actors such as Andrew Scott, Manu Bennett, Ed Westwick, Christopher Judge or Alexander Ludwig. She graduated from New York Universityâs Tisch School of the Arts with a major in Drama and a minor in Dance.Â
Giorgia Valenti (Producer) is an Italian actress bouncing around and working between New York and Italy. Most recently she co-starred in Ep. 516 of FBI (to be released Apr. 4 2023) (CBS) and in an Italian and English presentation of the Divine Comedy at La MaMa Experimental Theater in collaboration with Teatro Delle Albe. Other credits include Stella, Come Home (HERE Arts Center, The Brick) and her on-camera co starring roles in âTil Morning (Best Drama Short at the Art of Brooklyn Film Festival) and The Right Reasons (Actors Connection TV). When she was 12 years old she starred in a Bollywood film directed by the worldâs youngest director Kishan Shrikhant. She is the Co-Artistic Director, Co-Founder and Co-Marketing Director of Et Alia Theater and she loves to dance, sing and model. She is a graduate with Honors from NYU, Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Drama and a Minor in Dance.