Grand Valley State University's Theatre program will present the Midwest premiere of Cleveland Raining, a modern romantic comedy by New York author Sung J. Rno. The four-character play is scheduled for six performances from November 12-21 in the Louis Armstrong Theatre on the Allendale campus.
Cleveland Raining is the whimsical tale of a Korean-American brother and sister in their early 20s, living alone on their family farm in central Ohio. Both are presented as young members of the Asian diaspora in the United States, both are dreamers hoping to escape to a better place as the play opens. Mari studies for medical school, while her stressed-out, macho brother Jimmy busily prepares for a great flood that he believes will soon come and inundate Ohio. He hopes to survive by waterproofing an old Volkswagen beetle and driving it across Lake Erie. Their lives are abruptly turned around by the arrival of two newcomers who seem even more loopy than themselves: Storm, a damaged biker-babe who has just destroyed her Harley motorcycle in a head-on collision with her grandmother; and Mick, a down-home Midwestern mechanic with interesting phobias about cornfields and old trucks.
Cleveland Raining was written in 1995 and received its premiere on the West Coast at the East West Players. It has since been produced by the Asian American Theatre Company, the Northwest Asian American Theatre, San Diego's Asian American Repertory Theatre, and on a number of university stages across the country. The performance at GVSU marks the plays Midwest premier.
Roger Ellis, GVSU theatre professor and stage director for the play, was led to Rno's play three years ago when he was working on his published collections of new American playwrights. Each season at Grand Valley, Ellis produces and directs a new work by a contemporary U.S. ethnic writer. He also arranges for writers' visits to Allendale so drama students can meet the author and work on suggestions and insights for improving the production. This year, Rno is scheduled to be in residence November 17-21, during the second week of the production. He will visit classes, attend rehearsals, and participate in post-performance discussions with the audience.
Holding playwriting degrees from Harvard and Brown universities, Sung Rno is a New York author whose plays and poetry have been published in numerous anthologies. His other works for the stage include Gravity Falls From Trees(produced by the west coast ensemble, Asian American Theatre Company), New World, (staged by New York's Immigrant Theatre Project), and Wave.
On one level, 'Cleveland Raining' explores the sense of dislocation experienced by many Asian immigrants to the United States, Ellis explains. But the play also raises the issue of how dreams and visions are common to everyone, and how they help define us to ourselves and to others, regardless of our ethnic backgrounds.
Performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on November 12, 13, 19 & 20. Two Sunday matinees will also be offered at 2 p.m. on November 14 & 21. Ticket prices are $7 General Admission; $6 GVSU faculty, staff & alumni; $5 for all students; $2 for K-12 students. Reservations are currently being accepted at the GVSU Theatre Ticket Office in the Performing Arts Center; or by telephoning 895-2300 between noon and 5 p.m., weekdays.
Cast:
Jimmy Ryan Poling
Mari Taaren Samuelson
Mitch Brian Quakenbush
Storm Kim Ksiazkiewicz
Crew:
Scenographer and lighting designer Alfred Sheffield
Costumer Jill Hamilton
Stage Director Roger Ellis
