Thrilled to share that I will be a part of the first U.S. workshop production of Paco Bezerra’s brilliant, heartbreaking, and extremely timely play The Little Pony, directed by Kimi Ramírez and produced by Frank Hentschenker. I’m so excited to bring this two-hander to NYC playing opposite the brilliant Marissa Ghavami, and especially excited to do so at Torn Page, a remarkably intimate arts space located in the historic home of Rip Torn and Geraldine Page. Read more about the show below, or buy your tickets now.
In this 75-minute two-hander, Marissa Ghavami* and Montgomery Sutton* play Irene and Daniel, parents grappling with the tragic consequences of their ten-year-old son being bullied for bringing his My Little Pony backpack to school.
Worldwide productions of The Little Pony have played to great acclaim in Spain, China, Poland, Germany, Italy, England, Venezuela, Uruguay, and Greece. The hit play has yet to have its full U.S. premiere.
The Little Pony is written by Paco Bezerra, translated by Marion Peter Holt, directed by Kimi Ramírez, with designs by Frank Hentschker. Production Stage Manager is Teresa Soroka.
This production is being presented in collaboration with The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at the Graduate Center, City University of New York.
*Equity Member appearing with permission of Actors’ Equity Association without benefit of an Equity contract in this Off-Off Broadway production.
BIOS
Paco Bezerra is one of Spain’s leading contemporary dramatists. His awards include National Literary Drama Award in 2009, The Calderon de la Barca National Theatre Prize in 2007, and the Eurodram Award 2014. Bezerra’s plays have been translated into several languages and are being produced all over the globe. He trained as an actor at William Layton Theater Laboratory Madrid and read Theatre Science and Dramaturgy at the Royal School of Dramatic Art of Madrid.
Marion Peter Holt (1924-2021) was a renowned translator of contemporary Spanish and Catalan theatre. His translations continue to be staged internationally and by regional and university theatres throughout the United States. A member of the Real Academia Española since 1986, he was an emeritus professor of The City University of New York and visiting lecturer at the Yale School of Drama and Barcelona’s Institut del Teatre. Dr. Holt’s many translations include publications by The Martin E. Segal Center. The Center for the Humanities Programming Participants and Collaborators
Frank Hentschker is Executive Director and Director of Programs at the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center (MESTC), an institute for theatre based at the Graduate Center, CUNY. He founded the acclaimed annual festival PRELUDE and initiated PEN World Voices Playwrights Series in partnership with the PEN America Center’s PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature. He was Founder, Artistic Director, and Financial Administrator the European student theater festival DISCURS and served as President of the Board of PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art from 2005-2009. Dr. Hentschker has also edited several MESTC publications.
Kimi Ramírez is a professor, playwright, performance poet, and critic with an M.F.A. in Playwriting and a Ph.D. in Theater and Performance. They are currently affiliated with The City University of New York, Speranza Theatre Company, Macondo Writers Workshop, The Lucille Lortel Awards, and Talkin’ Broadway. Dr. Ramirez is a member of The International Association of Theatre Critics and The Dramatists Guild. @drkimirami
Marissa Ghavami (they/she) is an Iranian-American, queer artist, advocate and creator. Recent theatrical roles include Khalilah, opposite Tony Winner KO (Karen Olivo), in a workshop of Siluetas, a new musical, Off-Broadway, and Jessie in Divine Riot’s Cry It Out by Molly Smith Metzler. Film/TV highlights include starring in the feature film The Gift of Christmas (alongside Academy Award Nominee Bruce Davison), Paramount’s Not Fade Away (with James Gandolfini), CBS’s Without A Trace and singing on NBC’s It’s Showtime at the Apollo. Marissa co-produced the Sundance- premiering, theatrically released, BAFTA-nominated feature film Mass. Marissa is the Founder of the nonprofit Healing TREE (Trauma Resources, Education & Entertainment) and a Founding Company Member of Divine Riot. SAG-AFTRA, AEA. www.marissaghavami.com @marissaghavami
Montgomery Sutton (he/him) LONDON: Twelfth Night (Shakespeare’s Globe); OFF- BROADWAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (New York Classical Theatre); REGIONAL: Pericles, The Winter’s Tale (Seven Stages Shakespeare Company); Shakespeare in Love (Shakespeare Dallas); Henry V (Cape Fear Regional Theatre); One Man, Two Guvnors (Florida Studio Theatre); Tomorrow Come Today (Undermain Theatre); Booth, Gruesome Playground Injuries (Second Thought Theatre); Trinity Shakespeare Festival; Theatre Three; Casa Manana; Uptown Players; Circle Theatre; Dallas Children’s Theater; OFF-OFF-BROADWAY: Rude Grooms, American Bard Theatre, White Horse Theater Company, Metropolitan Playhouse. FILM/NEW MEDIA: 1865, Trouble with Women. BFA, NYU (Atlantic Acting School); International Actor’s Fellowship, Shakespeare’s Globe. montgomerysutton.com
Teresa Soroka (PSM) is an entrepreneur, artist, actor, and writer who loves theater, film and TV for their ability to express thoughts, emotions, feelings and experiences that bring our souls together. Early on, she won gold at the Far East Speech & Drama Festival for her Ewan McGregor monologue from Trainspotting. Her first dramatic performance was as Lord Capulet in Romeo & Juliet. Pushing boundaries, such as opening a rain gear and candy specialty store in NYC, has always been Teresa’s thing. Currently she can be spotted in shows like Billions, And Just Like That, Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and Fallout.