*drum roll please*

I am so proud to announce that I have been cast in the New England Premiere of Anna Ziegler’s play, “Dov and Ali,” going up this July at the Chester Theatre!

Okay okay, I know what you’re thinking: “WHAT?! Lipica’s doing theater?!” Well I’ll have you Negative Nancys know that this whole shebang started with theater. Remember “Into the Woods?” And that ugly prosthetic nose? Well, there’s no more nose, but “Dov and Ali” is truly an amazing work; the first time I read it I knew I needed to be a part of the production. Lucky me 🙂 Here’s a description of the play, from the Chester Theatre Company’s website:

“Dov is a Jewish high school English teacher. Ali is a Pakistani Muslim in Dov’s class. When Ali comes for extra help on THE LORD OF THE FLIES a complex relationship is born. Dov’s culture has taught him to question everything, Ali’s culture — to accept everything his father espouses. But, it’s the women in their lives who will pay the price of Dov and Ali’s failure to cross the cultural divide. A fearless play that tackles powerful world issues for an intimate, human perspective.”

I will be portraying Sameh, Ali’s younger sister, and the narrator of their story. She is a deeply religious girl, but with her own beliefs about what that means. Patient and loving, she has a quiet strength that makes her seem old beyond her years.

It’s been a while since I’ve had the opportunity to work on such a meaty character (not fat meaty…meaty like juicy. Okay I’m just gonna stop.) and I’m excited to dig in (seriously, I need to end this metaphor).

I hope some of you will be able to come see the production! All the details can be found on the Chester Theatre Company’s website, www.chestertheatre.org.

And for my last trick, here is a College Humor parody I worked on a few weeks ago. It’s called “Slumdog Price is Right.” I’ll be you can guess where this is headed…