17 BORDER CROSSINGS

ABOUT

Good Neighbor Program Directions Accessibility Calendar

By Thaddeus Phillips
Directed by Tatiana Mallarino

2018/19 Season

April 11, 2019—May 12, 2019

RUNTIME
Approximately 90 minutes, with no intermission.

Read Synopsis

After sold out runs on four continents, 17 Border Crossings made its Off-Broadway premiere on April 11th!

With a chair, table, and bar of lights, visionary theatre maker and NYTW Usual Suspect Thaddeus Phillips (Red-Eye to Havre de Grace) magically conjures barricaded Venezuelan bridges, a rusty Croatian ferry, perilous international flights, obscure Amazonian ports, the twin cities of El Paso and Juarez, deportations, strip searches, illegal crossings, arbitrary passports and curious customs. Tatiana Mallarino (¡El Conquistador!) directs.

Based on Phillips’ actual adventures, 17 Border Crossings is a harrowing, comical, visually surreal and engrossing look at the imaginary lines that divide up the world and the very real barriers they create.

Starring Thaddeus Phillips
Scenic Design Thaddeus Phillips
Lighting Design David Todaro
Sound Design Robert Kaplowitz
Dramaturg Patrick Kealey
Stage Manager Mallory Hewell

  • Thaddeus Phillips is an internationally acclaimed theater director, designer & performer originally from Denver, CO. He directs with a highly visual style centered around cinematic and transformative stage designs. Recent credits include the development and direction of A Billion Nights on Earth (BAM Next Wave Festival + New Haven Festival of Arts and Ideas). Midnight Train to Marrakesh and Ankomsten(a theatrical adaptation of Shaun Tan’s graphic novel ‘The Arrival’) for Teateri in Sweden. Other Directing credits include: RED-EYE to HAVRE de GRACE, an action-opera about the last days of E.A. Poe (NYTW and USA Tour), The Incredibly Dangerous Astonishing Lucrative and Potentially Completely True Adventures of Barry Seal (FringeArts Festival), Flamingo/Winnebago (Kimo Theater, Albuquerque), WHaLE OPTICS (Prince Music Theatre, Philadelphia), and The Earth’s Sharp Edge (La MaMa E.T.C.). As a performer and creator, he began his career playing King Lear in collaboration with various objects found in a suitcase (La MaMa and in various cafes, theaters and streets across the USA). He created, designed and appeared in Capsule 33 (Barrow Street Theater), ¡EL CONQUISTADOR! (NYTW + International Tour – Lucille Lortel and Drama League Nominations), The MeLTING BRiDgE (Plays & Players, Philadelphia); Lost Soles (La MaMa E.T.C. + USA Tour), Henry Five Live from Times Square (NY Fringe), The Tempest (Arcola Theater, London) and The Filament Cycle  (Battery Arts Center, London). Phillips’ original theatrical work has been presented Internationally in Moscow (Territory Festival), Hong Kong (International Arts Festival), Romania (Bucharest FestCo Festival), Norway (Non-Stop Festival), Spain (Festival de Otoño), México (Escena de Artes), Holland (Noorderzon Festival), Colombia (Teatro Nacional), Czech Republic (4 + 4 Days Festival), Poland (Bytom Festival), Italy (La Mama Spoleto Festival), Costa Rica (Teatro Jaco), Slovenia (Mladi Levi), Ireland (International Fringe Festival), England (Arcola Theatre), Scotland (Summerhall + Traverse), and Serbia (Serijino Pozorje Festival). Nationally, his work has been seen Off-Broadway and at festivals and theaters in New York (Under the Radar, La MaMa, Here, PS#122), ArtsEmerson (Boston), On the Boards (Seattle), MassMoca (North Adams, MA), Tricklocks Revolutions International Festival (Albuquerque), and in New Orleans, Chicago, Denver, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Miami, Sarasota, New Haven, Colorado Springs, and Tampa. Phillips studied at the Colorado College and Charles University (DAMU) in Prague and with Encho Avramov and the Czech director Josef Krofta. On film, he appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Sony Pictures), Mi Gente Linda, Mi Gente Bella (Caracol) and on TV in Alias El Mexicano (FoxTelecolombia), El Capo 3 (MundoFox), Celia (Telemundo), and Narcos (Netflix).

Mallory Hewell / Stage Manager

NYTW: Red-Eye to Havre de Grace, A Civil War Christmas, Fetch Clay, Make Man, Red Dog Howls. National Tour: Matilda. Select Off-Broadway: Small Mouth Sounds (Signature), Invisible Thread (Second Stage), Billy and Ray (Vineyard), A Public Reading…Walt Disney (Soho Rep.). Ninja Trainer (MFF). Regional & International: Lucidity Suitcase, Gulfshore Playhouse, Bard SummerScape.

Robert Kaplowitz / Sound Designer / Additional Music

NYTW: Red Eye to Havre de Grace; Belleville; Hadestown; Light Raise the Roof; Bexley, OH (!). He’s also collaborated with Lemon Anderson, Regina Taylor, Bill T. Jones, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, John Beluso, Jo Bonney, Ain Gordon, Bill Sims Jr., Bobby McFerrin, the National Museum of Prague, and the National Constitution Center, among others over the past 25 years. He’s been honored with an OBIE for Sustained Excellence and a Tony for Fela!. He owes much of his success to James Houghton’s inspirational mentorship. His musical Minors opens on May 29th at the Lantern Theater in Philadelphia.

Patrick Kealey / Dramaturg

NYTW debut. Patrick has been a director, actor, writer, dramaturg and lecturer in theatre for over forty years. UK directing credits include Peer Gynt, Creditors, The Balcony, The Marriage of Figaro, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Origins (Edinburgh Fringe) and, as the Artistic Director of Group K, Amerika, Kristendom, Marisol and As I Lay Dying. US credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Runaways, She Stoops to Conquer and Amerika. French credits include Confessions of a Justified Sinner. Work as the Artistic Director of Theatre Nation includes the new musical Paris Snow (book/direction), Seven Seconds (writer/director), Hamlet and Caravan of Love (Prague Fringe Festival).

Tatiana Mallarino / Director

TATIANA MALLARINO is a director & writer originally from Bogotá, Colombia. Her work as a director includes ¡El Conquistador! at New York Theatre Workshop (Lucille Lortel Award nominee for Best Solo Show), the co-direction of Capsule 33 at the Barrow Street Theater, 17 Border Crossings at the 2015 BAM Next Wave Festival + World Tour, The Tempest at the Arcola Theatre in London, and Henry Five Live (from Times Square) at the New York International Fringe Festival, Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Buntport Theater in Denver. For Lucidity Suitcase Intercontinental she created and performed in The MeLTING BRiDgE and The Earth’s Sharp Edge. She served as the dramaturg on A Billion Nights on Earth, The Incredibly Dangerous Astonishing Lucrative and Potential Completely True Adventures of Barry Seal, Alias Ellis Mackenzie, WHaLE OPTICS, and Lost Soles. She was the Spanish language dialogue translator for the first three seasons of the Netflix series “Narcos.” Colombian credits include: The Glass Menagerie at Teatro El Chico and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Teatro La Cigarra. Recently she served as dialogue coach for Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem on Loving Pablo.

Thaddeus Phillips / Creator / Production Designer / Scenic Design

Thaddeus Phillips is an internationally acclaimed theater director, designer & performer originally from Denver, CO. He directs with a highly visual style centered around  cinematic and transformative stage designs. Recent credits include the development and direction of A Billion Nights on Earth (BAM Next Wave Festival + New Haven Festival of Arts and Ideas). Midnight Train to Marrakesh and Ankomsten(a theatrical adaptation of Shaun Tan’s graphic novel ‘The Arrival’) for Teateri in Sweden. Other Directing credits include: RED-EYE to HAVRE de GRACE, an action-opera about the last days of E.A. Poe (NYTW and USA Tour), The Incredibly Dangerous Astonishing Lucrative and Potentially Completely True Adventures of Barry Seal (FringeArts Festival), Flamingo/Winnebago (Kimo Theater, Albuquerque), WHaLE OPTICS (Prince Music Theatre, Philadelphia), and The Earth’s Sharp Edge (La MaMa E.T.C.). As a performer and creator, he began his career playing King Lear in collaboration with various objects found in a suitcase (La MaMa and in various cafes, theaters and streets across the USA). He created, designed and appeared in Capsule 33 (Barrow Street Theater), ¡EL CONQUISTADOR! (NYTW + International Tour – Lucille Lortel and Drama League Nominations), The MeLTING BRiDgE (Plays & Players, Philadelphia); Lost Soles (La MaMa E.T.C. + USA Tour), Henry Five Live from Times Square (NY Fringe), The Tempest (Arcola Theater, London) and The Filament Cycle  (Battery Arts Center, London). Phillips’ original theatrical work has been presented Internationally in Moscow (Territory Festival), Hong Kong (International Arts Festival), Romania (Bucharest FestCo Festival), Norway (Non-Stop Festival), Spain (Festival de Otoño), México (Escena de Artes), Holland (Noorderzon Festival), Colombia (Teatro Nacional), Czech Republic (4 + 4 Days Festival), Poland (Bytom Festival), Italy (La Mama Spoleto Festival), Costa Rica (Teatro Jaco), Slovenia (Mladi Levi), Ireland (International Fringe Festival), England (Arcola Theatre), Scotland (Summerhall + Traverse), and Serbia (Serijino Pozorje Festival). Nationally, his work has been seen Off-Broadway and at festivals and theaters in New York (Under the Radar, La MaMa, Here, PS#122), ArtsEmerson (Boston), On the Boards (Seattle), MassMoca (North Adams, MA), Tricklocks Revolutions International Festival (Albuquerque), and in New Orleans, Chicago, Denver, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Miami, Sarasota, New Haven, Colorado Springs, and Tampa. Phillips studied at the Colorado College and Charles University (DAMU) in Prague and with Encho Avramov and the Czech director Josef Krofta. On film, he appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Sony Pictures)Mi Gente Linda, Mi Gente Bella (Caracol) and on TV in Alias El Mexicano (FoxTelecolombia), El Capo 3 (MundoFox), Celia (Telemundo), and Narcos (Netflix).

Ean Sheehy / Assistant Director

Off-Broadway: Red-Eye to Havre de Grace (New York Theater Workshop, Suzanne Roberts Theater in Philadelphia, Paramount Theater in Boston, Walker Center Theater in Minneapolis), Chautauqua! (PS 122, The Public Theater, Walker Center in Minneapolis), The Golden Veil (The Kitchen), Lipstick Traces (Ohio Theater), The Final Interrogation of Ceaucescu’s Dog and Mr. Morton Waits for His Bus (Ensemble Studio Theater), Shrunken Heads (Playwrights Horizons). Regional: Thom Pain (based on nothing)(The Ensemble Theater of Cincinnati)No Foreigners Beyond This Point (Center Stage Baltimore), Master and Margarita (The Fisher Center). Film & TV: “Precious,” “The Notorious Betty Page,” “Company Retreat,” “George Washington: We Fight To Be Free,” “John Adams,” “Law & Order,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” and “Law & Order: SVU.”

David Todaro / Lighting Designer

NYTW debut. BAM: 17 Border Crossings, A Billion Nights on Earth. Selected Philly: Barry Seal, I Am My Own Wife, Spring Awakening. David’s work has been seen in Canada, Mexico, Germany, the U.K., Hong Kong, Australia, Norway, and Russia. Principal artist at Philly Strikes Again. www.phillystrikes.com

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