By Nassim Soleimanpour
December 4-12, 2015
Imagine being 29 years old and trapped inside your country. Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour is a conscientious objector who refused to take part in mandatory military service and was denied a passport. In White Rabbit Red Rabbit he dissects the experience of an entire generation born amid the hardship of the Iran-Iraq war—computer-literate, well-informed young people who have never known an Iran other than the Islamic Republic.
Soleimanpour turns his isolation to his advantage with a wild, utterly original play, an absurdist adventure blending comedy and drama. No director and no set: each performance features a different actor who sees the script for the first time while stepping onstage. Seven of Ithaca’s extraordinary professional actors take the plunge.
“Wildly unpredictable and completely unforgettable, White Rabbit Red Rabbit is a punch in the air for self-expression; a testament to the power of words to transcend cultures and borders. You have to be there.”
—New Zealand Herald
Our 2015 production of White Rabbit Red Rabbit took place at Circus Culture in Press Bay Alley in Ithaca (116 W. Green Street), with performances spanning two weekends from December 4th to December 12th.
All actors appear courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association.
Theo Black
Erica Steinhagen
Craig MacDonald
Kathleen Mulligan
Susannah Berryman
Jacob White
“One of the most fascinating shows in Washington right now… The metaphor Soleimanpour extracts from this frisky exercise speaks volumes about how we behave individually and as groups, inside the theater and out.”
—Washington Post
“A fresh, exhilarating piece of theatre [whose] effect is both thrilling and unnerving… if you have the slightest sense of theatrical adventure, this Rabbit is well worth chasing.”
—Canadian Broadcasting Company
“A fascinating deconstruction of the theatrical experience.”
—British Theatre Guide
“Raises provocative questions about the nature of theater, social responsibility, personal freedoms, and the limits of obedience”
—San Francisco Chronicle
“…A privilege to see it performed. A fiercely – even frighteningly – original voice, and a thrillingly adept craftsman. For lovers of comedy, Agatha Christie, the absurd, playwriting skill, and metaphysical headbanging.”
—The Skinny (UK)