A Trilogy on the multicultural face of New York
written and directed by Ege Maltepe
Premiered in LaGuardia Performing Arts Center- Queens, NY – January 2012
Visit TEA for 3’s webpage here
Turkish actress/playwright and director Ege Maltepe’s play is digging at Americans, French and Turks through the friendship of three women.
“It all started when I decided to create a Turkish character for myself,” says Maltepe while giggling. “I couldn’t help myself making fun of our silly habits and our sometimes, and well maybe most of the time, over the top hospitality.”
Living in New York, her play transformed into a multicultural story including one French character Jacqueline – a passionate, over-analyzing ex-pianist, and Sandy – a smart and ambitious American woman looking for the love of her life, or shall we say “the one”. The Turkish character Selma, an easy going and overly friendly (she can come and hug you any time) young woman, becomes the number one fortuneteller in the city without even knowing how.
Ege Maltepe is the Lab artist of LaGuardia Performing Arts Center with her play TEA for 3. Having graduated from New Actors Workshop’s MA program as a student of Oscar award winning director Mike Nichols, she says she found her dreams go beyond acting, even though acting is her main passion. “While writing TEA for 3, I was highly inspired by Paul Sills’ Story Theater form. I am a big fan of Viola Spolin’s improvisational technique, her vision of making theatre alive moment to moment.” As a Fulbright scholar, Maltepe is translating Spolin’s book on improvisation into Turkish. She also teaches workshops on Spolin Improvisation in her home country.
An energetic ensemble is accompanying Maltepe, appearing as different New Yorkers in the play. While the structure of the text reflects the variation form in classical music, internationally acclaimed classical pianist Emir Gamsizoglu will join the performance on his piano, treating the audience with his beautiful music. Another surprise is coming from T Salon NYC. Tea Lady Miriam Novalle will contribute to the performance with some of her freshly brewed tea. (Press release 2012)
© 2012
TEA for 3 on Press:
http://queenswestvillager.com/articles/detail/tea_for_3_once_upon_a_time_a_woman_had_a_chance_to
http://www.turkishny.com/headline-news/2-headline-news/77216-turk-kulturu-new-yorkta-tiyatro-sahnesinde
http://www.turkishactionalert.com/news/2156-tuerk-kueltuerue-new-yorkta-tiyatro-sahnesinde-.html