On May 9 and 10, 2008, Pig Iron Theatre Company will take over The Church of St. John the Evangelist in South Philadelphia, adding yet another new performance space and another new artistic voice to Philadelphia 's repertory. Led by Pig Iron's Associate Artistic Director Alex Torra, recipient of the Princess Grace Foundation directing fellowship for 2007-2008, Pig Iron will present the World Premiere of a one-weekend-only cabaret piece entitled Come to My Awesome Fiesta, It's Going to Be Awesome, Okay? Featuring a talented cast of Pig Iron regulars including Sarah Sanford (Hell Meets Henry Halfway) and Hinako Arao (Love Unpunished), Awesome Fiesta will be a hilarious and skewed deconstruction and reconstruction of coming-of-age ceremonies and the cross-cultural cult of "cuteness."

Performances of Come to My Awesome Fiesta, It's Going to Be Awesome, Okay? will take place at the Church of St. John the Evangelist, located at 1332 S. 3rd Street (between Reed and Wharton Sts.), on May 9 and 10 at 8:00 PM. All tickets are $15.

Awesome Fiesta marks another chapter in Pig Iron's exploration of different facets of the American experience, which also includes the Sousa-esque declarations of November's 365 Days/365 Plays and the upcoming Sweet By-and-By (August-September 2008), about the Swedish-American labor organizer and songwriter Joe Hill. Drawing from such rich source material as the late-'70s bilingual PBS sitcom ¿Que Pasa U.S.A.? and the traditional Latino coming-of-age celebration known as the quinces, described by Julia Alvarez in her novel Once Upon a Quinceañera:

You are dressed in a long, pale pink gown, not sleek and diva-ish, but princessy, with a puffy skirt of tulle and lace that makes you look like you 're floating on air when you appear at the top of the stairs. Your court of fourteen couples has preceded you, and now they line up on the dance floor, forming a walkway through which you will pass to sit on a swing with garlanded ropes, cradling your last doll in your arms. Your mami will crown you with a tiara recessed in a cascade of curls the hairstylist spent most of the afternoon sculpting on your head. Then your papi will replace the flats you are wearing with a pair of silver heels and lead you out to the dance floor, where you will dance a waltz together.

What is going on? You are having your quinceanera, or fiesta de quince anos, or, simply, your quinces. And one day when you are as old as your grandmother and you want to say to some young person, hey, I once was young, too, the expression you will use is Yo tambien tuve mis quinces. I, too, had my quinces.

The inspiration for the piece also came from Torra's own experiences as a Cuban-American teenager growing up in Miami. "I knew I wanted to make a celebratory play, because it was a celebratory year for me," said Torra. " And how better to celebrate than to throw a party. As a young man, I was forced to participate in a couple of quinces, and I remember, vividly remember these exuberantly adorned, occasionally tacky, but mostly heart-felt and earnest festivities. What got burnt into my memory is not only that these parties are largely performances - of dances and of rituals - but that they are events filled with an attempt at extravagance and a reality of awkwardness, and yet, at their heart, quinces are created with an immense amount of pride and love."

Awesome Fiesta will feature a host of young, talented performers from Philadelphia and New York, including Pig Iron Company Member Sarah Sanford, Pig Iron Associate Artist Hinako Arao, Barrymore-nominated actress Charlotte Ford (Red Light Winter, the upcoming Flesh and Blood and Fish and Fowl with Geoff Sobelle), Isabella ensemble member Corinna Burns, Temple University Theatre M.F.A. students Felipe Vergara and Catalina Medina, and London International School of Performing Arts graduate Ben Camp. Philly-based dancer Christina Zani will serve as choreographer for Awesome Fiesta. Brian Lillienthal (PAY UP) will design lighting.

Alex Torra is a former Pig Iron actor (Anodyne, 365 Days/365 Plays) and stage manager (Shut Eye), and was given the Grace LeVine Award from the Princess Grace Foundation for 2007-2008 to work as Pig Iron's Associate Artistic Director during this season. He has served as an assistant director for Pig Iron's 2008 productions of Chekhov Lizardbrain at Utah State University and PAY UP at Montclair State University. Mr. Torra has served as the Drama League's 2006-2007 Fall Directing Fellow and worked at the Abingdon Theatre Center, the Public Theater, and the Guthrie Theater; he has an M.F.A. in Directing from Brown University/Trinity Rep Consortium.

Pig Iron Theatre Company, founded in 1995, has rapidly become known as a unique, innovative voice in American theatre and an audience favorite at the Live Arts Festival in their hometown of Philadelphia. Founded in 1995, the ensemble's physical precision, lyrical writing, and exuberant productions have earned them 36 Barrymore Award Nominations in the past 8 years; five grants from the National Endowment for the Arts; a Total Theatre Award at the Edinburgh Fringe; and an OBIE Award, Off-Broadway's highest honor. Pig Iron's work has toured to theaters and festivals in London, Edinburgh, San Francisco, Boston, Atlanta, Ireland, Poland, Ukraine, Brazil, Romania, Germany and Italy. In November 2007, Pig Iron was the only Philadelphia company to participate in Suzan-Lori Parks's 365 DAYS/365 PLAYS project at the Joseph Papp Public Theater.

TICKETS/TIMES
Venue: The Church of St. John the Evangelist, 1332 S. 3rd Street (between Reed and Wharton Sts.).

Performances:
Friday May 9, 8 p.m.
Saturday, May 10, 8 p.m.

Box Office:
(215) 627 1883 or at www.pigiron.org

Ticket Prices:
All tickets $15.00
Go to www.pigiron.org for further information.