County of Kings at the Public's Newman Theater

Academy Award nominated director Spike Lee, the award winning Culture Project, Steve Colman and Jayson Jackson in association with The Public Theater present County of Kings, written and performed by Lemon Andersen and directed by Elise Thoron.

County of Kings will open at the Public's Newman Theater on 12 Oct 2009, following previews from 29 Sep, for a six week limited engagement running through to 8 Nov 2009.

�Lemon is a young man who possesses a wealth of talent and he knows how to tell a story. He joins the legacy of storytellers from Brooklyn,� says presenter and filmmaker Spike Lee.

Featured last year as part of The Public Theatre�s Under The Radar Festival, Lemon Andersen�s County of Kings gives a tough, yet poignant biographical account of a good kid growing up in an unforgiving environment in this one man journey. Weaving drama with urban poetry, the Brooklyn hip-hop artist spins his own coming-of-age memoir. A true story of finding passion and purpose against all odds, Lemon paints a portrait of his difficult and sometimes humorous experiences growing up during the birth of hip-hop.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Lemon Andersen has been featured as a regular on HBO�s 'Def Poetry' presented by Russell Simmons and was also an original cast member and writer of Russell Simmons Tony Award winning 'Def Poetry Jam' on Broadway. On screen Lemon has appeared opposite Denzel Washington in Spike Lee�s 'Inside Man' and 'The Soloist' starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr.

Elise Thoron (Director) directed the first Sam Shepherd play in Moscow, adapted/directed, 'The Great Gatsby' in Russian, which played in repertory at the Pushkin Theater for over nine years. As Associate Artistic Director at the American Place Theater, Thoron developed and directed numerous plays and solo shows, which have gone on to other venues the United States. She is a founder of the theater literacy program Literature to Life (now nation-wide) at American Place.

The scenic design for County of Kings is by Doug Stein and Peter Ksander; lighting design is by Jane Cox and Lily Fossner; original music and sound design are by Rob Kaplowitz and Matt Stein.

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