OBIE AWARD-WINNING ACTRESS AND SOLO PERFORMER

NILAJA SUN

RETURNS TO BARROW STREET THEATRE

IN THE OFF BROADWAY SMASH

“ N O   C H I L D . . . ”

FOR LIMITED SUMMER ENGAGEMENT

PERFORMANCES BEGIN JUNE 5, 2011

New York, NY – Obie Award-winning actress and solo performer Nilaja Sun will return to New York City this summer in her Off Broadway smash No Child…, it was announced today by Producers Scott Morfee and Tom Wirtshafter.  No Child…, directed by Hal Brooks, began performances at the Barrow Street Theatre in 2006 where it ran for an astonishing 311 performances and played to sold-out audiences for over a year.  Following the New York run of the show, Sun embarked on a national and international tour of the show, earning unanimous rave reviews and 17 awards along the way, including an Obie Award, a Lucille Lortel Award, two Outer Critics Circle Awards including the John Gassner playwriting award for Outstanding New American Play, a Theatre World Award, the Helen Hayes Award, a Los Angeles Ovation Award, and was named the Best One-Person Show at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen.  Sun comes back, where it all began, to the Barrow Street Theatre (27 Barrow Street at 7th Avenue) for 40 performances only starting June 5.  An official opening night is set for Sunday, June 19, 2011 at 7:30 p.m.

No Child… is a tour-de-force exploration of the New York City public school system, in which Sun fearlessly transforms with rapid-fire precision into the teachers, students, parents, administrators, janitors and security guards who inhabit our schools and shape the future of America, making this play one of the most acclaimed theatrical events in recent years.

The performance schedule is as follows: from June 5 – 25, 2011: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 7:30 p.m.. and Sunday at 2:30 & 7:30 p.m.  Beginning June 25: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m.  Tickets are priced at $40 and are available through SmartTix (212) 868-4444, www.smarttix.com, or at the Barrow Street Theatre box office (open at 1:00 p.m. daily).  Student tickets at $15 are available on the day of performance only at the box office.  For group sales, email  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

The Barrow Street Theatre is located at 27 Barrow Street at 7th Avenue South in the heart of Greenwich Village.  Nearby subway stops are the 1 at Christopher Street (walk 1 block South on 7th Avenue to Barrow) and the A, C, E, B, D, F and M at West 4th (walk West on 4th Street, left on Barrow).

No Child… began its remarkable life in 2004 when Sun was commissioned by Epic Theatre Ensemble to write a play based on her unique work in New York City’s toughest schools, among them Martin Luther King, Jr. High School.  Martin Luther King Jr. High School was specifically created in 1972 as a fully integrated public school that brought non-white students into the Lincoln Center community.  In his book, Shame of the Nation, Jonathan Kozol cites MLK as a perfect example of “apartheid schooling” as it currently enrolls no white students.  No Child… was presented by Epic in the spring of 2006 at the Beckett Theatre on Theatre Row, where it played for 47 performances.  The show then transferred to the Barrow Street Theatre where it ran Off Broadway in a commercial run with Scott Morfee, Tom Wirtshafter and Epic Theatre Ensemble producing.

Nilaja Sun's other New York credits include No Child..., Einstein's Gift, Pieces of the Throne, Time and the Conways (each with Epic Theatre Ensemble), Huck and Holden (Cherry Lane Theatre), The Cook (Intar), and The Adventures of Barrio Grrrl! (Summer Play Festival).  She has also been seen on “Louie,” “30 Rock,” “Law and Order: SVU,” as Detective Gloria Hubbard in the film The International, and on AMC’s “Rubicon.”  As a solo performer, Nilaja's projects include critically acclaimed Blues for a Gray Sun (Intar), La Nubia Latina, Black and Blue, Insufficient Fare, Due to the Tragic Events of... and Mixtures.  A native of the Lower East Side, she is a Princess Grace Award winner and has worked as a teaching artist in NYC.

The original design team is Narelle Sissons, set; Mark Barton, lighting; Jessica Gaffney, costume; and Ron Russell, sound.

For more information, visit www.barrowstreettheatre.com.

What the critics say about “No Child…”

“THE SHOW OF THE YEAR!  An unexpected, superb achievement.  Ms. Sun’s gloriously uncynical gem reaches greatness.  She has offered hope and belief in a better,

saner world.  Her schoolkids are lucky to have her.  So are we.”

New York Observer

“BEST SOLO SHOW OF THE YEAR!  Sensational!  Grade: A”

Entertainment Weekly

“BEST OF THE YEAR!

Nilaja Sun tells us something vital about our world.

No Child… goes where theater rarely dares to tread."

New York Magazine

“That Sun has done something great in this show is without question.  That she has managed to bring politics that don’t preach and a heart that is not lachrymose to the enterprise is more than ample evidence of her skill as a writer:

it is a testament to her intelligence and to the strong moral center that guides her.

Like Lily Tomlin and Whoopi Goldberg in their early work,

Sun brings us not her world but the world.

By showing us how the other half lives, Sun and Brooks provide an object lesson in what should not be missing from any life curriculum: HOPE.”

The New Yorker

“A marvelous performance.  Touching and funny.”

The New York Times

Don’t Miss!

Time Out New York

“Every kid deserves a teacher like Nilaja Sun.  It’s enough to make angels weep to watch this caring, committed performance.”

Variety

“A tour-de-force.”

New York Post

"Sun doesn't just shine, she BLAZES."

Newsday

“BRAVO! This richly layered tour- de-force performance is A REVELATION.

Sun’s on stage lessons are as entertaining as they are enlightening.”

NY1 News

“Critic’s Pick!

LUMINOUS, LIVELY and UNFORGETTABLE!”

The Boston Globe

“No Child... won't be left behind.

Nilaja Sun's dazzling one-woman show is a tour de force

and a wrenching cry from the heart.

PRICELESS, VIVID, SEARING, TRUE, and HEARTBREAKING!”

The Chicago Sun-Times

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