HATEF**K

March 3 - March 31, 2019

World Premiere

presented by WP Theater and Colt Coeur
by Rehana Lew Mirza 
directed by Adrienne Campbell-Holt 

“Smart, mouthy, and sexy!” -New York Times

“Complex and provocative! Fun to watch! ” -Timeout

“Magnetic tension that draws us in!”  -Theatermania

“Taut and tart. A smartly and wittily written play!”  -News India Times

WP Theater teams up with Colt Coeur to present the world premiere of the 2017 Kilroys List play Hatef**k. Passions ignite when Layla, an intense literature professor, accuses Imran, a brashly iconoclastic novelist, of trading in anti-Muslim stereotypes. But as their attraction grows into something more, they discover that good sex doesn’t always make good bedfellows. Conflicting cultural identities collide in this thornily clever antidote to a “meet-cute” romance, which reunites Heroes stars Kavi Ladnier and Sendhil RamamurthyAdrienne Campbell-Holt (WP Theater’s What We’re Up Against) returns to WP Theater to direct this bracingly insightful new play by Rehana Lew Mirza.

Rehana Lew Mirza

(Playwright) Rehana Lew Mirza’s play Hatefuck was on the 2017 Kilroy list and has been previously developed by Colt Coeur and WP, as well as Playwrights Horizons, New Group, Ma-Yi, and Primary Stages. Her other plays includes Ladybits (readings: Lark Playwrights Workshop, Local Lab); A People’s Guide to History in the Time of Here and Now (workshops: Primary Stages, PH School, Tisch); Soldier X (productions: Ma-Yi; Brooklyn College; 2015 Kilroy; NYSCA/Lark commission); Neighborhood Watch (NNPN/InterAct commission); Lonely Leela (workshop prod: LPAC); and Barriers (productions: Desipina, Asian American Theater Company). Her musical Bhangin’ It (with collaborators Sam Willmott and Mike Lew) has been workshopped through Project Springboard, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat/3R, Goodspeed, Orchard Project, and at La Jolla Playhouse where she and Mike Lew are Artists-in-Residence. She and Mike also share a Mellon Foundation National Playwright residency administered in partnership with Howlround at Ma-Yi Theater. Additional honors: HBO Access Fellow, Colt Coeur artist residency, Lilly Award (Stacey Mindich “Go Write A Play”), and TCG/New Georges Fellowship. MFA: Columbia University; BFA: NYU Tisch.

Adrienne Campbell-Holt

(Director) Adrienne is the Founding Artistic Director of Colt Coeur and the recipient of the 2018 Lucille Lortel Visionary Director Award. Upcoming: world premieres of Hatef**k by Rehana Lew Mirza (WP/Colt Coeur), andWe are Among Usby Stephen Belber (City Theater). Recent world premieres/productions: Downstairs,by Theresa Rebeck (Primary Stages),Thirst, by C. A. Johnson (Contemporary American Theater Festival), Zürich, by Amelia Roper (Colt Coeur/NYTW), What We’re Up Against by Theresa Rebeck (WP Theater), Empathitraxby Ana Nogueira (Colt Coeur), Cal in Camo (co-pro Rattlestick & Colt Coeur), Theresa Rebeck’s The Nest (Denver Theatre Company), One Child Born (Oberon at American Repertory Theater), How to Live on Earthby MJ Kaufman (Colt Coeur), Chiara Atik’s 52nd to Bowery (EST Marathon), Dry Land by Ruby Rae Spiegel (Colt Coeur), Reunion by Greg Moss (South Coast Rep), Everything Is Oursby Nikole Beckwith (Colt Coeur)Recallby Eliza Clark (Colt Coeur),Fish Eye (Colt Coeur), and Seven Minutes in Heaven by Steven Levenson (Colt Coeur). Adrienne is currently developing the new musical Other World with Hunter Bell, Jeff Bowen, Ann McNamee & WETA Workshop, as well as Afterwords, with Zoe Sarnak and Emily Kaczmarek. BA Barnard College, Columbia University. She is also the director of #makeitfair

SENDHIL RAMAMURTHY

(Imran) can currently be seen recurring on the new NBC hit series “New Amsterdam” and is best known for his lead roles in Tim Kring’s NBC sci-fi dramas, “Heroes” and “Heroes Reborn”. Sendhil’s extensive film and television credits include Amblin TV and NBC’s drama series “Reverie”, opposite Sarah Shahi and Dennis Haysbert; Hannah Marks and Joey Power’s romantic comedy After Everything (2018) with Marisa Tomei and Joe Keery; Stan Lee’s Sky television series “Lucky Man” opposite James Nesbitt; the USA series “Covert Affairs”; a memorable arc as Mindy Kaling’s love interest on the final season of NBC’s “The Office”; Bravo’s “Odd Mom Out”; Liz Garcia’s The Lifeguard opposite Kristen Bell; and Gurinder Chada’s comedy It’s A Wonderful Afterlife, which premiered at Sundance in 2013 and 2010, respectively. He is currently shooting Magic Hour opposite Miriam Shor and directed by Jacqueline Christy. In theater, Sendhil starred in the RSC production of Carlo Goldoni’s A Servant to Two Masters in London’s West End, Tom Stoppard’s Indian Ink at the Soho Repertory Theatre, and Ayub Khan-Din’s East is East at the Manhattan Theatre Club.   

KAVI LADNIER

(Layla) a New Yorker living in LA is thrilled to be back in NYC to work with Adrienne Campbell-Holt & Sendhil. ANON(YMOUS) (The Public); Tulpa (Target Margin); Crosscurrents (UBU Rep) Regional: Pentecost (Yale Repertory); Rehana Lew Mirza/Mike Lew’s Child of Colonialism (Lark Theatre) & The DNA Festival (La Jolla Playhouse SD). LA: A Midsummer Night’s Dream & Henry V (Kingsmen Shakespeare Company,) The Vagina Monologues. Other NY theatre: SEVEN.11 Convenience Store Theatre (Desipina & Co.). Television credits include recurring roles on Amazon’s “Just Add Magic”, NBC’s “Heroes”, ABC’s “General Hospital”. Other TV included: “Future Man”, “Good Game”, “Criminal Minds”, “CSI NY”, “CSI Miami”, “Law & Order”, “Las Vegas” & “Cosby”. Kavi co-produced and starred in the feature film Boris and The Bomb which is premiering this Spring. Other film credits: Cold Pressed, Low Budget Ethnic Movie (2019) Karma Calling; the Indian National Award-winning feature film Janani, various short films and the web series “And Boris”. She has also lent her voice to narrate several international health, water and education campaigns.

Colt Coeur

(Co-Producer) Colt Coeur is a Brooklyn-based theater company founded in 2010.  Artistic director Adrienne Campbell-Holt leads a 16-member ensemble of actors, playwrights and designers to nurture the next generation of theater artists through the development and production of new plays and by providing arts education to students from underserved NYC public schools. Over 8 years, Colt Coeur has produced 9 world premieres; developed 40 plays; and provided free arts education for over 120 students. All 9 world premiere productions have launched some of the most exciting voices in American Theater today. With Steven Levenson’s Seven Minutes in Heaven; Lucas Kavner’s Fish Eye; Eliza Clark’s Recall; Nikole Beckwith’s Everything is Ours; Ruby Rae Spiegel’s Dry Land; MJ Kaufman’s How to Live on Earth; William Francis Hoffman’s Cal in Camo; Ana Nogueira’s Empathitrax; and Amelia Roper’s Zürich, Colt Coeur has established itself as a home for a new generation of theater artists. In addition to our productions, Colt Coeur serves the community by hosting a free week-long Playmaking workshop for local middle and high school students during their Spring Break. And we have expanded our dedication to underserved creators by establishing the Parity Plays Fest in 2014, presenting four readings of plays from female or trans playwrights and directors. In 2017 we welcomed our first class of Resident writers and directors: Kate Cortesi, Jeremy O. Harris, Rehana Lew Mirza, Danya Taymor, Pirronne Yousefzadeh & Catherine Yu. After presenting our first commissioned play, Zürich, Colt Coeur has also embarked on our second commission with playwright Antoinette Nwandu.

  • HATEF**K gets intimate!

  • Hatef**k First Rehearsal