Casting has been announced for the upcoming world premiere of Julia Izumi's Regretfully, So the Birds Are, presented by WP Theater and Playwrights Horizons where it will begin previews March 22. The play will open in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater April 11 for a run through April 30.
The farcical play follows adopted Asian American siblings Mora, Neel, and Illy on fantastical journeys to discover "who they are." As the Whistler siblings navigate the unhinged reality of contemporary American life, they face a host of problems including arson, affairs, incest, and murder.
The cast will star Sasha Diamond (Significant Other, Peerless) as Illy, Gibson Frazier (Mr. Burns, Tumacho) as Cam the Snowman, Kristine Nielsen (Gary, Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike) as Elinore, Sky Smith (The Lucky Star) as Neel, Pearl Sun (Come From Away, If/Then) as Srey, and Shannon Tyo (The Far Country, peerless) as Mora. Diamond and Tyo previously starred as killer twins in the Off-Broadway premiere of Jiehae Park's peerless.
Helming the production will be director Jenny Koons (Oedipus, Hurricane Diane). Featured on the creative team will be scenic designer You-Shin Chen (The KILL ONE Race), costume designer Alicia J. Austin (You Will Get Sick), lighting designer Stacey Derosier (Fat Ham), and sound designer Megumi Katayama (Tambo & Bones). The team is rounded out by production stage manager Jenny Kennedy (The King and I) and assistant stage manager Jessie Moore (Suffs).
Izumi said in a statement, “I was feeling like a lot of plays being produced were positing, ‘what if the consequence of being a marginalized voice or body in this country is the worst thing that happens to you?’ I wanted to write characters for whom that’s not the worst thing that happens—what if there are also other things on top of that, as often many people have? What if, yes, you live in this body, but also your mom killed your dad and your siblings are in love with each other and your dad is kind of a gross person? I wanted to give my characters room to be messy—which I don’t think is often granted particularly to Asian American women characters—as well as charismatic, strange, funny.”
Visit PlaywrightsHorizons.org.
