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THE STORM THEATRE
CELEBRATES THE WORK OF
KAROL WOJTY£A (POPE JOHN PAUL II)
WITH A MONTH-LONG FESTIVAL:
“THE KAROL WOJTYLA THEATRE FESTIVAL”

MAY 16 – JUNE 17

THE STORM THEATRE
(ST. MARY’S / 145 WEST 46TH STREET)

NEW YORK, NY, MAY 7 2007 - This Spring The Storm Theatre proudly presents a month-long festival featuring the work of the late Karol Wojtyla, widely known as Pope John Paul II. From May 16 – June 17, The Karol Wojtyla Theatre Festival will stage two of Wojty³a’s noted plays at The Storm Theatre.

Karol Wojtyla, better known around the world as Pope John Paul II, spent much of his early manhood in pursuit of a career in the theatre. Although his chief interest was acting, he also wrote plays. His work grew out of his experiences with Mieczyslaw Kotlarczk and the Rhapsodic Theatre, a group that performed in secret during the Nazi occupation of Poland as a way of preserving their national literature. The group strived to create a uniquely Polish theatre, a “theatre of imagination, a theatre of the inner self,” and those qualities remained at the core of the of Karol Wojtyla’s plays.

The Karol Wojtyla Theatre Festival celebrates two of Wojtyla’s six plays:

THE JEWELER’S SHOP (May 16 – June 17) was written in 1960 while Wojtyla served as Bishop of Krakow. The play explores the mystery of the sacrament of marriage as a symbol of Christ’s relationship to His Church. Here Wojtyla introduces many of the ideas that later culminate in his groundbreaking teaching on sexual ethics, “Theology of the Body.” The Jeweler’s Shop features performances by Peter Dobbins, Karen Eke, Chris Keveney, Kristopher Kling, Anthony Russo, Lara Theodos and Elizabeth Wirth. Directed by Peter Dobbins and Robert McMaster.

The Jeweler’s Shop performance schedule:
Wednesday, May 16 through Saturday, May 26 @ 7:30 PM (No performance Monday, May 21)
Wednesday, June 13 & Friday, June 15 @ 7:30 PM
Saturday, May 19 / Sunday, May 20 / Saturday, May 26 / Sunday, June 17 @ 2:00 PM

OUR GOD’S BROTHER (June 1 – June 17) is Wojtyla 's most personal work and was written over approximately ten years, bridging both the Nazi and Soviet occupations of Poland. It tells the story of freedom fighter-turned artist Adam Chmielowski (better known as Brother Albert), who took religious vows and became a great protector of the poor. Adam’s dilemma in choosing between an artistic vocation and the religious path strongly mirrors the future Pope’s own vocational struggles. Our God’s Brother features performances by Nate Begle, Dan Berkey, Charles Casano, Joe Danbusky, Jenn Zarine Habeck, Eric Thorne, William Toth, and Matthew Waterston. Directed by Peter Dobbins and Michelle Kafel.

Our God’s Brother performance schedule:
Friday, June 1 through Saturday, June 9 @ 7:30 PM (No performance Monday, June 4)
Thursday, June 14 / Saturday, June 16 / Sunday, June 17 @ 7:30 PM
Saturday, June 2 / Sunday, June 3 / Saturday, June 9 @ 2:00 PM

The Storm Theatre, established in 1997, is a not-for-profit company that strives to have a meaningful impact on the lives of its audience. Utilizing classics, under-acknowledged gems from the world repertory, and vigorous new visions of life today, The Storm Theatre offers audiences compelling documentations of what it means to be human and aims to rouse the truths of our shared humanity, its beauty and its potential. The Storm sets out to create through an ideal image of what collective efforts might accomplish; as a storm grows from elemental forces, and with collisions of one reality into another; it is a journey through catharsis to regeneration. Past productions include: Linnea, ‘Ross’, The Salvage Shop, House Of Desires, Arrah Na Pogue, The Last Starfighter: A New Musical, Spokesong, Shoemakers Holiday, Twelfth Night, Gillette, Stravogin’s Confession, The Shaughraun and Murder in the Cathedral, among others.

The Karol Wojtyla Theatre Festival will play at The Storm Theatre (145 West 46th Street). Tickets are $20.00 and may be arranged through SmartTix at www.smarttix.com or (212) 868-4444. For more information, visit www.stormtheatre.com.

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