THE WHEAT AND THE MOON

a new play by Shawn B. Hirabayashi

One Dream Theatre

Tribeca . NYC 

A joyous celebration of story-telling and myth – involving a love story for the ages and the three gods that show up to help – or risk the life cycle's end. 

CAST

BRENNAN BROWN
JOHN MCADAMS
MICHAEL POTTS
DAWN SAITO
GEORGE SHEFFEY
     JOHN SNYDER
     BURD

Orpheus
The Gods
Hafizi
Nitida
Hafizi (replacement)
Didgeridoo
Additional live music

DESCRIPTION

PRODUCTION TEAM 

Set once upon a time in ancient Greece, THE WHEAT AND THE MOON explores love and it's sacrifices.  Hafizi (Michael Potts) and Nitida (Dawn Saito) struggle to be together despite Hafizi’s death.  Inspired by their love, Orpheus (Brennan Brown) becomes the infamous bard.  Each of the three is visited by his or her god (John McAdams), Bes, Baba and Apollo.  Nitida, unable to go on without Hafizi and his love, turns into a thornbush. The gods try to encourage, threaten, and cajole the continuation of the cycle of existence – life, death, life.  Hafizi struggles to go on into the next life as a nightingale. Not knowing it is Nitida he is helping, he sings his sweetest song, and pierces himself on one of her thorns, dying in the process.  Again, the pain is great, as they recognize each other only in the moment before his death.  Ultimately, the lovers are faced with choosing the pain of life and separation, or being together forever in a frozen embrace (metaphorically: the wheat or the moon). 

This rehearsal process was full of challenge and delight.  We were blessed in that Dawn was/is a Butoh master, so my all-time favorite stage direction, "She turns into a thornbush," was a thing of terror, strength and incredible beauty.  John McAdams played the gods.  His stroke of genius was deciding that the comic Bes would move very oddly.  John came up with one of those huge bouncy balls with the handle on top the little kids play on.  His robes flowed around it so you couldn't see how he was bouncing all over the stage.  Michael's challenge was to figure out how to move as a nightingale without "flitting" something awful.  If you know Michael's work, you'll know he's NOT a flitter, more a gravitas sort of man, but...  Brennan had played the same role in a previous workshop, and I didn't envy him the task of dealing with a different director.  Nitida and Hafizi expressed their love through making up stories together.  This was some of the most fun – discovering together how to use physicality to tell a story with the language that Shawn had so brilliantly provided.

THE WHEAT AND THE MOON went on to be produced again here in town by Ripple Productions, to some lovely reviews.  They do a great job of describing the play.  

Here's a sample:  

"With The Wheat and the Moon, Shawn Hirabayashi has written a play that is at once cerebral yet accessible, serious yet funny, and most of all, challenging yet hugely entertaining. With an African folk tale, the Orpheus and Euridice myth, and the Oscar Wilde children’s story The Rose and the Nightingale as his source material, Hirabayashi has weaved an altogether enchanting fable that works entirely on its own merit, regardless of familiarity (or lack thereof) with the original narratives.

As he did with his OOBR Award-winning Funny, Hirabayashi once again explores the repercussions of personal choice vs. the greater good. Hafizi and Nitida are lovers who, after Hafizi is killed, are willing to sacrifice the order of the universe to be together one last time. Their quest, which encompasses confrontations with Orpheus and the gods Bes, Baba and Apollo, takes them, and the audience, on a journey that explores the meanings of love, mourning, and free will with all the inherent pleasure and pain uncompromisingly exposed. But Hirabayashi skillfully parlays this abundance of feeling into a joyous celebration of life in all its absurd, sometimes awful glory with smart, thought-provoking theatricality." – OOBR

SHAWN B. HIRABAYASHI
JULIE HAMBERG
JOHN SNYDER 
JOHN FARRELL
MATTHEW McCARTHY
SUZIE MORRIS
KIM KEFGEN

HEAD HONCHO 

LAINE VALENTINO

photos credits:

Julie Hamberg

Playwright
Director
Composer
Set Design
Lighting Design
Costume Design
Production Manager/SM

SPECIAL THANKS

L. Donovan . Barbara Vetell