For release: Aug. 28, 2012
For press information, contact Kimberly Rogers (901) 678-4164

Sarah Brown, actor, playwright, songwriter, Fulbright Scholar and professor of Performance at the University of Memphis, took her one-woman show to New York as part of the 2012 New York International Fringe Festival held Aug. 12-22.

Her show, “Shooting Starts in Jordan,” was directed by Karen Carpenter who earned a reputation for “Love, Loss and What I Wore,” by Nora and Delia Ephron. Carpenter and Brown are college friends who met at the Yale School of Drama, where Brown received her Master of Fine Arts degree.

Two U of M students worked with Brown on the production. Sean Christian Taylor, recent graduate who now lives in New York, and current student Katelyn Nichols gained great experience and exposure, while having the unique opportunity to witness a professor in action.

“I am so proud of them,” Brown said. “They have a great New York experience and got to see their teacher go completely crazy on stage. I feel so very lucky and proud that they are here supporting this effort and getting so much out of it.”

“Shooting Starts in Jordan” is the story of an American Jewish woman who gets lost while touring Jordan. The woman is having an emotional collapse and seeks the advice of a mysterious shopkeeper who sends her on a wild, funny and cathartic journey through her own psychic wilderness. “Shooting Stars” premiered in 2011 at The International Teatronetto Festival in Tel Aviv, one of the major Solo Show Festivals in the World.

Reviewer Michael Mraz with nytheatre.com wrote, “Brown’s script is full of this witty juxtaposition of seriousness and absurdity; and because the writing has such heart beneath it-the comedy is all the more effective. Most impressive, though, is Brown’s performance. She’s hilariously beleaguered throughout and her comic timing is impeccable.”

In its 16^th year, the New York International Fringe Festival is the largest multi-arts festival in North America, with more than 200 companies from all over the world performing for 16 days in more than 20 venues.