Europe's Most Controversial Play Makes U.S. Premiere
La MaMa Presents a Ronald Rand Production
“WE COULDN'T CALL IT WHAT WE WANTED TO CALL IT, SO WE CALLED IT HOLY CRAP !!”
** starring Tony Award nominee Stephen Mo Hanan **
April 28 - May 15 at La MaMa
“It bowled me over! Inigo Ramirez de Haro is Arrabal, Artaud, and
Lorca rolled into one.” -- John Guare
After acclaimed productions in Madrid, Mexico City, Paris, and Lisbon
as well as generating almost unprecedented controversy, Spanish
playwright Inigo Ramirez de Haro’s WE COULDN'T CALL IT WHAT WE WANTED
TO CALL IT, SO WE CALLED IT HOLY CRAP !! will make its U.S. Premiere
starring Tony Award nominee Stephen Mo Hanan (Cats, Jolson). La MaMa
will present this Ronald Rand production beginning previews April 28,
opening May 5 and running through May 15, Performances are Wednesday -
Saturday at 7:30 PM, Sunday at 2:30 PM. Running time is 65 minutes. La
MaMa is located at 74A East Fourth Street (between 2nd Avenue & Bowery
-- accessible from the F train at 2nd Ave). Tickets are $18
(students/seniors $13), available at 212-475-7710 or www.lamama.org.
For more information visit www.HolyCrapThe Play.com.
Originally titled Me cago en Dios (an often-used Spanish colloquialism
that translates literally as “I Sh*t on God”) the U.S. Premiere is
translated by Ronald Rand and Iñigo Ramirez de Haro. The site-specific
production will be directed by Erica Gould utilizing a series of
non-traditional spaces within the La MaMa arts complex. The production
team includes Stephen Dobay (sets), Driscoll Otto (lighting), Kevin
Thacker (costumes), and Scott O'Brien (composer/sound design).
In WE COULDN'T CALL IT WHAT WE WANTED TO CALL IT, SO WE CALLED IT HOLY
CRAP !!, a man appeals for relief from his constipation, both mental
and physical. In finding a way of coping with his discomfort, he is
forced to relive the traumatic experiences of his youth. Ultimately,
this caustic comedy explores religious indoctrination, sexuality,
mysticism, and pedophilia in the Church.
As documented in The New York Times by Lawrence Van Gelder when the
play originally opened in 2004 at Madrid's Center for Fine Arts (the
biggest and most prestigious cultural center in Madrid), the play
attracted criticism from church officials of many faiths and numerous
politicians. The archbishop of Madrid called for an immediate closing
of the play. Thousands marched in protest and the playwright was sued
by more than 3,300 people. Two protestors attacked the actor and
playwright onstage and tried to burn down the set. Similar controversy
has followed every subsequent production. A video of the attack can be
seen at www.ramirezdeharo.com/videos.htm, http://vimeo.com/21720622,
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LaMaMaETC.NYC or Twitter:
http://twitter.com/#!/LaMaMaETC.
Stephen Mo Hanan appeared on Broadway in the original cast of Cats
(Tony Award nomination), as Captain Hook opposite Cathy Rigby in Peter
Pan, in The Pirates of Penzance with Kevin Kline, and in the London
cast of Les Miserables as Thenardier. He also co-wrote and starred in
the Off-Broadway musical Jolson & Co. He received a Carbonell Award
from Florida's theater critics for his performance in A Funny Thing
Happened on the Way to the Forum. He is the author of A Cat’s Diary, a
first-hand account of the making of the legendary show (five stars at
Amazon.com). His career as a street performer has spanned the globe
from San Francisco to the roof of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
Inigo Ramirez De Haro has had many plays staged in Europe, America and
Africa including Today I Can’t Go to Work Because I’m in Love,
Extinction, Your Weapon to Fight the Persevering Cellulite, Humanity
is Ugly, Drunken-Bomb, History of a Winner, Do I Have to Die so That
You Take Notice of Me?, I Wish You Were Dead, To Be Faithful in Congo
is Not Easy, and The Duchess Goes Wild. He has also written many
published articles and essays. His latest book, The Medina Sidonia
Case, was a best-seller in Spain. Mr. Ramírez de Haro has received
death threats for years. www.RamirezdeHaro.com
Ronald Rand has written the plays Let It Be Art; The Group! (about the
Group Theatre); A System of Government; A River, A Seed, A Cloud, A
Lamp, The Wind; and Ibsen. In NYC, he has produced An Evening of
Exceptional Poets with Ruby Dee and Irene O’Garden; A Tribute to
Harold Clurman & Robert Whitehead with Roy Scheider and Joseph
Wiseman; An Evening with Vijay Tendelkar (India’s greatest playwright)
and new plays by Dale Wasserman and Ty Jones. He is founder and
publisher of The Soul of the American Actor” newspaper as well as the
author of Acting Teachers of America, and co-screenwriter of “The
Group,” a film about The Group Theatre with Joan Micklin Silver. Rand
steadily performs his solo play, Let It Be Art!, (Off-B’way twice, 14
countries & 15 states). He is an Adjunct Professor of Acting at Pace
University and a guest professor at festivals, conferences, and
universities around the world. www.ClurmanThePlay.com or
www.SoulAmericanActor.com.
Erica Gould has directed the world premiere production of Neil
LaBute’s Autobahn and the premiere of LaBute’s one-act, Stand Up with
Mos Def. Other credits include What Light From Darkness Grows (NPR
with Phylicia Rashad, Harry Lennix – Golden Reel and Gracie Allen
Awards); As You Like It (The Shakespeare Theatre/ACA); Troilus and
Cressida (NY Stage and Film), Max and the Truffle Pig (NYMF);
KidsStuff by Edith Freni; The Minotaur by Anna Ziegler with Mario
Cantone, Jill Clayburgh, and Campbell; Adopt a Sailor with Sam
Waterston and Liev Schreiber; her own adaptation of Milorad Pavic's
Dictionary of the Khazars, Part 1 at Culture Project, Williamstown and
Yale; The Rover at The New School; SpeakEasy, a site-specific theater
piece by Neil LaBute, Theresa Rebeck, Rajiv Joseph, Anton Dudley,
others at The Fire Dept at Joe’s Pub/Public Theater; and most
recently, John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera at Pace University. She
teaches Shakespeare and Voice and Movement at Pace University.
Ellen Stewart founded La MaMa in 1961 in a tiny basement on
Manhattan’s Lower East Side. She dedicated it to the playwright and
all aspects of the theater. Today, La MaMa is a world-renowned
cultural institution recognized as the seedbed of new work by artists
of all nations and cultures. To date, La MaMa has presented artists
from over 70 nations. Each season, over 100 productions with over 400
performances are staged in their three theaters. Among those artists
who began at La MaMa include: Meredith Monk, Robert Wilson,
Jean-Claude van-Itallie, Harvey Fierstein, Tan Dun, Joel Zwick, Mike
Figgis, Jackie Curtis, Blue Man Group, John Kelly, David and Amy
Sedaris. La MaMa has been honored with over thirty Obie Awards, Drama
Desk Awards, Bessie Awards and Villager Awards. www.lamama.org.
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