Nilaja Sun Presents NIGHT OF SOUL Benefit 5/20

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Obie Award-winning actress and solo performer Nilaja Sun (No Child...) today announced that she will present Night of Soul, featuring multiple award-winning soul superstar Maya Azucena, Brooklyn's own poet and prison activist Bryonn Bain, and singer Maggie Ritchie on Friday, May 20, 2011 at Intar Theatre (500 West 52nd Street) from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Nilaja Sun and Colman Domingo (Passing Strange, The Scottsboro Boys) will co-host the evening.

Proceeds from the event will go directly to the InterNational Theatre and Literacy Project (ITLP), a non-profit arts education organization that reaches thousands of children through theatre residencies in rural, poor communities in developing countries like Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Bali. Sun has been a teaching artist with ITLP for four years working with teens in the rural villages outside of Arusha, Tanzania. In addition, ITLP is launching a partnership in Rwanda this summer. Tickets for Night of Soul are $40 in advance or $60 at the door and are available by emailing rsvp@itlp.org.

Complimentary beverages are provided by Harlem Brew & Co.

Founded in 2005 by Marianna Houston, leading theatre education specialist, the InterNational Theatre and Literacy Project (ITLP) has earned a well-deserved reputation for being on the forefront of theatre-based education in developing countries. Through community-based workshops led by some of United States' most prominent teaching artists, ITLP inspires children in the developing world to discover their internal strength and personal power through intensive engagement in theatre and literary arts, thereby changing the trajectory of their lives and fostering a new kind of leadership in their own community and country. ITLP uses developmental writing activities, ensemble building workshops, and original theatrical productions to encourage social interactions in a global context and empower young people to have a voice in a diverse and changing world. The program empowers the imagination and creates a gender balanced environment for speaking out. The ITLP program has a profound and moving impact on the lives of children, opening up their imaginations, increasing their proficiency in English, and changing their perception of themselves as young artists and citizens of the world.

Nilaja Sun is the solo performer and writer of the Off Broadway smash No Child..., which concluded its run at the Barrow Street Theatre in June 2007. For her creation and performance of No Child... and its subsequent national tour, Nilaja garnered 17 awards 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, and an LA Ovation Award and was named the Best One-Person Show at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival. Nilaja's 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.

For more information, visit www.itlp.org.