ADAM KRAAR

WIZARD OIL PRODUCTIONS presents EMPIRE OF THE TREES from April 22 – April 30th, at the Abingdon Theatre.

From the review in Theater Scene.net:  “It is not every day in New York that we can so easily travel, without visa or ticket, to the porch of a villa in the Indian countryside.  Bathed in rich jewel tones and draped with the delicate leaves of the Banyan and Asoka trees, the stage at the June Havoc Theatre drew the audience into an exotic and mythical place where time vanished.

…Playwright Adam Kraar brilliantly weaves in echoes of Ibsen’s masterworks in his characters…  Clear and focused storytelling…  a refreshing non-western narrative that incorporates layers of meaning through symbol, theater tradition, with rich aesthetics.”

Synopsis:  Empire of the Trees is set in India in 1963.  When Deborah, a young American woman living in New Delhi, strikes up a literary and romantic bond with a traveling Indian bookseller, she discovers she has a mysterious connection to ancient Indian myth.  She tries to share her new awareness with her husband, an ambitious journalist, but clashes with his inter-cultural suspicions, and cruel facts of class and history.  She seeks spiritual solace with the bookseller, and from the wise old Banyan tree in her yard – which causes her household to explode, and myth to spill into reality.

DEVELOPMENTAL HISTORY:  The play was workshopped at the Lark Play Development Center, William Inge Center for the Arts, and Ensemble Studio Theatre.  It was a finalist for both the MultiStages New Works Award and the Stanley Drama Award. 

To read the Broadway World feature on the production, please click here.