NEW LOVE

At the Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, Australian–Serbian actor Boris Lukman met Israeli actress Koral Mizrahi. They graduated, fell in love, married, and came to build their nest in Belgrade. Their wonderful love story touched the heart of Mrs. Madlena Zepter, who accepted the offer to allow them to realize their idea for a joint performance on the Small Stage of Madlenianum. Boris and Koral brought to Belgrade the opportunity to stage something truly exclusive - the world premiere of the romantic comedy NEW LOVE by the acclaimed and award-winning American playwright Adam Simkovich. Simkovich, who studied at Juilliard and Columbia University, has written over 30 dramatic works, of which NEW LOVE is the latest.

The love story of these two young New York actors will be performed by Koral and Boris themselves, who have been New York students and will bring the New York spirit into their acting, thus surely refreshing the Belgrade theatre scene with something entirely new. The director’s baton has been entrusted to English artist Dr. Paul Leonard Murray, an actor, director, dramaturg, and educator, who has been a long-time resident of Belgrade. Together with his assistant Gordon Murray, he will stage the production at Madlenianum in a truly Western spirit, with all the charm of English–American humour. A special feature of the project is that the set and costume design will be created by Vicki Page, an American artist who has also chosen to live in Belgrade.

From 16 December, when the premiere is planned, the Madlenianum audience will be able to regularly watch the romantic comedy NEW LOVE (first rerun on 22 December) and experience a fully international spirit thanks to the international team. The play will be performed in English without subtitles or any other form of translation into Serbian. The cosmopolitan atmosphere, increasingly present in Belgrade, promises an interested audience not only among foreign residents but also among the domestic audience who is widely familiar with English.

We believe that NEW LOVE will show that love is the priority at every point on our planet. The characters, portrayed by Koral Mizrahi and Boris Lukman, struggle to balance love and career in their lives, a theme highly relevant to the Belgrade audience. The love story of NEW LOVE about two actors demonstrates the need to stop performing offstage and allow themselves to truly fall in love. And love between people is the highest value to which we all constantly aspire, especially through art.

New Love by Adam Szymkowicz

“When new love comes, you have to be ready for it.” (Suze)

Suze and Miles have been cast in a two-person play, a love play.

“Plays with just two actors are hard”. (Miles)

And so are new relationships!

Suze and Miles are trying to create a play and a relationship with each other at the same time!

In the World premiere of American playwright Adam Szymkowicz’s NEW LOVE we follow thirty-something actors Suze and Miles as they navigate their way through their new relationship and rehearsals of their new play.

Will their Suze and Miles’ relationship last beyond opening night? Or will it prove to be just a ‘show-mance’?

The actors begin each performance of NEW LOVE not knowing how it will end

IT IS YOU, THE AUDIENCE, THAT WILL DECIDE WHETHER THEIR LOVE SURVIVES AND HOW THE PLAY ENDS!

This is a highly entertaining and thought-provoking piece of theatre, dealing with dilemmas of love, success, and security in a witty, touching manner: a universal drama of our time.

Minimal staging showcases the play’s witty and insightful text and the actors’ skills in telling a story that ranges from the comic to the profound.

If you have ever wanted to be an actor or have ever been in love, this is a play you won’t want to miss.

{The play is performed in English without titles}

 

The creative team

Directed by Paul Leonard Murray, an English film and theatre actor/director whose home is in Belgrade, the play features Coral Mizrachi and Boris Lukman, New York-trained and Belgrade-based actors who bring freshness and authenticity to this highly accessible, entertaining, and moving piece of theatre. The team is completed by set and costume designer Vicky Page, an American graduate of theatre production and design who has also made her home in Belgrade and Gordon Murray, a London-based theatre director who is associate directing this project.

 

The playwright Adam Szymkowicz

NEW LOVE is the latest work by increasingly popular and successful American playwright Adam Szymkowicz.

“Szymkowicz’s writing is nothing short of brilliant. (He has the) ability to blend humor with heart-wrenching honesty. His dialogue crackles with real-life humor while subtly revealing the profound emotional currents running beneath. His keen observations of the human condition are woven seamlessly into the play’s structure—every second carrying weight, every word ringing with meaning.”  

– Fanboy Nation

 

Director’s Notes

Suze and Miles are ‘struggling actors’ living in modern-day New York City.

Largely unbeknownst to each other, they have spent the last ten years looking for success as actors…and in love.

But unlike many of their contemporaries, who gave up on their NYC ambitions, Suze and Miles are still in town, clinging to the belief that the Big Apple is the place to make their dreams come true.

They have now been cast in the same play…a two-hander, about love.

Will this show give them the chance to achieve all of their shared dreams? Together?

With so much in common with each other, surely their chances are high, right?

I mean, at their age, how many more opportunities like this come their way?

“No Pressure” (Miles)

But with age and disappointment, the bright lights of innocence and optimism fade; new productions and new love offer as much potential for tragedy as they do for success.

But the show must go on…

“What if this is the real thing? We can’t let it get away, right?” (Miles)

Life is not a rehearsal! If we give up on love, we give up on life! Perhaps sharing the surprises, doubts, joys and heartbreaks of chasing our dreams is what love is…no matter how the story ends!