"Kwatz! The Tibetan Project" by Ernest Abuba at West End Theatre from 16 Mar 2004

Sat 17 Jan 2004 "Kwatz! The Tibetan Project" by Ernest Abuba at West End Theatre from 16 Mar 2004 Pan Asian Repertory Theatre present Kwatz! The Tibetan Project ( The Sound of a Hammer Hitting the Head), by Ernest Abuba at the West End Theatre, 263 West 86 Street, (Off Broadway), from 16 Mar to 11 April 2004 Tale told through words, poetry, music and humor, and named for Kwatz!, the exclamatory cry in Buddhist tradition which signifies an 'awakening.' The play centers around Dorje, a Tibetan emigre, who is randomly attacked with a hammer. Sliding into a comatose state, Dorje's mind takes him from the chaos of New York City to the beauty of old Tibet, where he enters the astral realm of truth and illusion. Kwatz! The Tibetan Project was inspired by playwright Abuba's near-fatal experience when, while shopping in the old Woolworth's on 34th Street in 1995, a homeless man randomly attacked him with a hammer, splitting his head and sending him to the hospital for three months. The actor/playwright, who confessed to having a certain 'indifference to life' before the attack, found it to be an "awakening" in his own world. It is directed by Tisa Chang