On the eve of the tenth anniversary of 3/11, join Kate Loewald and Aya Ogawa in revisiting Time’s Journey Through A Room. Having made its US premiere at PlayCo in the spring of 2018, Time’s Journey is set one year after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. This multi-layered play observes how hope can spring up alongside sadness and fear, and change can be realized if we are awake to the present moment.

Aya Ogawa is a Brooklyn-based playwright, director, performer and translator whose work reflects an international viewpoint and utilizes the stage as a space for exploring cultural identity, displacement and other facets of the immigrant experience. Cumulatively, all aspects of her artistic practice synthesize her work as an artistic and cultural ambassador, building bridges across cultures to create meaningful exchange amongst artists, theaters and audiences both in the U.S. and in Asia.  She challenges traditional notions of the American aesthetic and identity by creating performances infused with a multiplicity of perspectives and languages, and by incorporating influences from outside the U.S. – of style, form, and content. As a theater-maker, she frequently uses a collaborative creative process with performers and designers and pushes the form with an eye not only on spoken text, but physicality, musicality, and interactivity.

As playwright/director in New York City, Ogawa’s 2003 A GIRL OF 16 (Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center) was hailed by The New York Times for its “stunning visual sense.” Her 2008 OPH3LIA (HERE) was called “riotously alive…great theater” by The New York Times. Ogawa’s ARTIFACT was featured in CUNY’s 2007 Prelude Festival and the 2009 Performance Mix Festival (Joyce Soho). She was commissioned by The Foundry Theatre to create a work in collaboration with Adhikaar, a human rights organization serving the US Nepali community. The resulting piece, JOURNEY TO THE OCEAN, was presented by The Rubin Museum in 2011.  Her play LUDIC PROXY commissioned by The Play Company, explored our relationship to technology (from nuclear power to VR and video games) through the events of Chernobyl, Fukushima, and into the future. Its 2015 premiere at WalkerSpace was described as “beautifully conceived” by the NYTimes.  She was a playwright in residence at The New Museum for X:ID a research-driven pop-up repertory theater designed to examine the shifting ethical boundaries surrounding intercultural cross-play on contemporary American stages. Most recently, she wrote, directed and performed in the 6-person cast for her play THE NOSEBLEED (formerly titled Failure Sandwich) at the Incoming! Series at the Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival 2019 and directed Kristine Haruna Lee’s play SUICIDE FOREST in its world premiere production at The Bushwick Starr. UPCOMING: The Nosebleed premiere, 9000 Paper Balloons (created by Spencer Lott and Maiko Kikuchi) and more.

Leah C. Gardiner is an Obie Award-winning director known for the “incisive clarity” (The New York Times) of her work with physicality and text. Recent work includes the revival of Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls… (The Public Theater – Lortel Award; Outer Critics honoree; five Antonyo Award wins; Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel Award noms; Times Critics Pick), If Pretty Hurts… by Tori Sampson (Playwrights Horizons), and the premiere of Kevin Artigue’s Steinberg nominated Sheepdog (South Coast Rep). She has directed two Pulitzer Prize finalists, and countless other new plays by writers including Tanya Barfield, debbie tucker green, Dan Deitz, Anna Deveare Smith, Penelope Skinner, Kevin Artigue and Roy Williams. She is working with NY Times best-selling “Instapoet” Rupi Kaur to adapt her work for theatre. Other credits include: the national tour of Wit with Judith Light; Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Manhattan Theatre Club; Atlantic Theater Company; Soho Rep; NYSAF; Arena Stage; ACT; Berkeley Rep; Alliance; Baltimore Center Stage; Studio Theatre; CATF; Houston Shakespeare Festival; Barrington Stage; Philadelphia Theatre Company. As writer/director: Cultures Collide, a play with music created exclusively for the U.S. Congress, produced by Sony Entertainment. As short film director: The Belle of New Orleans (Alliance Theatre), and WHY (Arena Stage/Flash Acts Festival). As a film producer: Mother of George starring Danai Gurira (Best Cinematography, Sundance). As an actor: playing herself in Ira Sachs’ Little Men opposite Greg Kinnear. Leah holds a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.F.A. in directing from the Yale School of Drama.