July 2009
Last year, I had the pleasure of participating in the Winter 2008 Strawberry One-Act Festival in a play called Cold April by John P. McEneny where I was nominated for Best Actress in a play for my performance as "Mosi". The script won the award for Best Play at the festival, and was later published in The Best Plays from the Strawberry One-Act Festival: Volume Five. The play also caught the eye of Mike Smith Rivera and Kelly Anne Burns, a husband and wife duo of two talented performers that make up the production team Burning Clown Productions, NYC. I've spent the last few months working with them, returning cast member Sean Leigh Phillips, (nominated for Best Actor in a Play for his performance) and a talented ensemble and crew on transitioning this meaningful play from stage to screen.

The film is set in 1994 during the Rwandan genocide. It was inspired by the true story of the girls of St. Maria Goretti School in Muramba, who when faced with death, had the courage to resist handing over their Tutsi classmates. The film features Nia-Ashanti Ashley, Alex Marshall Brown, Cherrye Davis, Erica Lauren McLaughlin, Sean Leigh Phillips, Be Rivers, Maduka Steady, Akilah Vasser, Melody Wallace, and Jalin Washington. Says Marie-Claudine Mukamabano, Rwandan genocide survivor, activist, and dialect/story consultant for the film, "If people in my country saw you doing this, they would never know that you weren't there."

 As we move into post-production, here are a few events with which you can become involved:

COLD APRIL ROUGH CUT SCREENING AND FUNDRAISER
Wednesday, July 22nd
8:30-11:30 pm
The Old Stone House of Brooklyn, 3rd street and 5th Ave, Park Slope
Piper Theatre Productions invites you to a special advance screening of the preview footage! Join us on the lawn for an outdoor screening of a rough-cut of the footage. A wine and cheese fundraiser to support post performance work and festival entry fee's will follow. Suggested donation $25 but not mandatory. Give what you can!

Additionally, there will be a photo exhibit of images taken during production by Photographer Ashleigh Ide. (www.ashleighide.com)

More information, directions and details available at:
http://pipertheatre.org/
http://www.theoldstonehouse.org/
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=97989167761
 

ON COLD APRIL: PHOTOGRAPHY BY ASHLEIGH IDE
Saturday, July 25th, 2009
6:00-9:00
Cafecito Bogota, 1015 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn NY 11222
This solo exhibit of new photographs is comprised of selected images taken during production. A portion of the proceeds from image sales will go to the Kuki Ndiho Rwandan Orphans Support Project.
Donations can be made here:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1487960427/showing-on-cold-april
Facebook Event Page:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=104375096142&ref=ts

PRODUCTION PHOTOS
View rehearsal photographs from the production of Cold April.