YELLOW BRICK ROAD

A bold theatrical adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s classic novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Yellow Brick Road is a bold theatrical adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, under the direction of Tomi Tsunoda. This devised theater project uses Baum’s classic novel as a launch pad for exploring contemporary conversations around climate crisis, displacement, bureaucracy, survival, and dependency. Combining conventions of traditional Japanese performance forms with both found texts and original performance material developed by NYU Abu Dhabi students, Yellow Brick Road aims to fracture this iconic American fairytale and reimagine it as a prism for examining the narratives of global crisis.

Tomi Tsunoda is a multidisciplinary theater artist and educator from New York City. She is an Assistant Professor of Practice at the NYU Abu Dhabi Theater Program, and has taught previously at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Vassar College’s Powerhouse Apprentice Program, and the Harlem Educational Activities Fund. Tomi has been a member of the International Soundpainting Think Tank since its inception in 1998, and has been pioneering the use of Soundpainting in theater since 2002. She was the co-founder of multiple arts organizations such as Brooklyn Soundpainting Company and Breedingground Productions, through which she co-produced over 200 projects from 2000-2010. Her performance works have been showcased at venues throughout New York, including LaMama, Lincoln Center Institute, Ensemble Studio Theater, CAP21, and the Brooklyn Museum. Tomi is currently developing site-specific choral performance works around the globe that engage renewed understandings of the natural world in the face of climate crisis.

Note: Due to language and subject matter, this performance is open to audiences ages 14 and above.