Indian Ink is a timeless romance set against the backdrop of India's emergence from the British Empire in the 1930s. The play tells the story of free-spirited poet Flora Crewe who travels to India. While there, she has a short, yet romantic affair. The play uses its timeless quality to shift from the past to the present. In the present, a son is trying to uncover the mysteries of his family and a biographer becomes infatuated with the ghosts he is chasing. In this play, the political is interwoven with the personal in a true Stoppardian fashion. The London Times called the play, "Comic, touching, and elegiac in turns, a civilized portrait of a love affair between two civilizations."

This work is one of Stoppard's more passionate plays. Opening in London in early 1995, Indian Ink premiered in the US in 1999 at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. Some of the inspiration for the play came from Stoppard's four years spent in India as a child. This production marks Jiri Zizka's fourth collaboration with Stoppard. Stoppard has a long

relationship with the theater, whose productions of his plays include Arcadia, Travesties, On the Razzle, The Invention of Love, The Real Inspector Hound, and the upcoming Every Good Boy Deserves Favor.

"Stoppard's repertoire has become synonymous with The Wilma Theater. We opened our present facility with Arcadia in 1996, and have since produced The Invention of Love in its pre-Broadway East Coast run. Tom has been a great friend to this theater, and we are proud to produce this most romantic of his plays," said Wilma Theater Managing Director Naomi Grabel. "He has definitely found an East Coast home at our theater."

This production is sponsored by The Delaware River Port Authority and The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Starbucks, Merck & Co., Inc., and the Doubletree Hotel.

Tom Stoppard (playwright) wrote his first play, Enter a Free Man, while working as a journalist in Bristol. He was introduced to American audiences in 1967 with the Broadway hit, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, which was followed by The Real Inspector Hound, After Magritte, Jumpers, Travesties, Dirty Linen, New-Found-Land, Night and Day and Arcadia. His Off-Broadway productions include Enter a Free Man and the double bill of Dogg's Hamlet and Cahoot's Macbeth. For television, Stoppard's work includes the highly-acclaimed adaptation of the 1889 British novel by Jerome K. Jerome called Three Men in a Boat, seen on American public television in 1979. Professional Foul, a play he wrote for television, has won awards from BAFTA and the Broadcasting Press Guild. His radio plays include If You're Glad, I'll Be Frank, Albert's Bridge (Italia Prize Winner), M is for Moon Among Other Things, The Dissolution of Dominic Boot and Artist Descending a Staircase. Tom Stoppard has written screenplays for the films Despair, The Romantic Englishwoman, The Human Factor, Brazil, Empire of the Sun, The Russia House, Billy Bathgate and received the Academy Award for his screenplay of Shakespeare In Love. He directed and wrote the screenplay for the film version of Rosencrantz and Guildentstern Are Dead.

Jiri Zizka (Director) became the Artistic Director of the Wilma in 1979 where he has directed over 40 productions including Orwell's Animal Farm, Camus' The Stranger, Brecht's Mother Courage, Capek's The Insect Comedy, Weiss' Marat/Sade, his own adaptation of Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, Brecht/Weill's The Happy End, Orwell's 1984, (at the Wilma, Kennedy Center and Off-Broadway), Fo's Accidental Death of an Anarchist, and a US premiere of Havel's Temptation (a co-production with Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival). Mr. Zizka has also directed a feature film of Havel's Largo Desolato, adapted by Tom Stoppard, starring F. Murray Abraham for PBS's "Great Performances." He wrote and directed Inquest of Love, a film for PBS/WHYY, which was nominated for an Emmy Award (Mid-Atlantic) and received the Golden Eagle Award for Excellence. His most recent theater credits include George F. Walker's Love and Anger, Martin McDonagh's The Cripple of Inishmaan, Mark Saltzman's The Tin Pan Alley Rag, David Gow's Cherry Docs, Tom Stoppard's Arcadia, On the Razzle, The Real Inspector Hound with Peter Shaffer's Black Comedy, and Stephen Sondheim's Passion. This season, Zizka directed Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and he is preparing to direct Tom Stoppard and Andre Previn's Every Good Boy Deserves Favor at the Kimmel Center's Verizon Hall in November 2002.

David Gordon (Set Designer) has designed over 150 productions for opera companies and regional theaters both here and abroad. For the Wilma he has designed Black Comedy & The Real Inspector Hound, Bed and Sofa, Love and Anger, On the Razzle, Indiscretions (Barrymore Nomination), Arcadia, Escape From Happiness, Rendezvous with Reality (Barrymore Nomination), The Ruling Class (1997 Barrymore Award for Outstanding Scenic Design), and The Tin Pan Alley Rag.

Jerold R. Forsyth (Lighting Designer) has designed more than 200 productions to date. Philadelphia area credits include: The Wilma Theater (41 productions), Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival, Villanova University Theatre, Walnut Street Theatre, Amaryllis Theatre, Arden Theatre, American Music Theater Festival, The People's Light and Theatre Company, Bristol Riverside Theatre, Venture Theatre, Philadelphia Festival Theatre for New Plays, and Philadelphia Drama Guild. Additional East Coast credits include The Kennedy Center, New York Shakespeare Festival, Lincoln Center, York Theatre Co., Village Theatre and Opera Ebony - New York. Awards include the 1995 Barrymore Award for Outstanding Lighting Design and The Philadelphia Inquirer - Most Notable Lighting Design in 1993 and 1995.

Janus Stefanowicz (Costume Designer) has designed for many Philadelphia theaters including The Wilma Theater (most recently Les Liasions Dangereuses, Yellowman, Patience, Passion, Perfect Pie, Black Comedy, The Real Inspector Hound, Spin, and The Invention of Love), Philadelphia Festival Theater for New Plays, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Philadelphia Young Playwrights Festival, Arden Theatre Company and The People's Light and Theatre Company. She earned an MA in Theater at Villanova University and an MFA at Temple University. She teaches costume design at the University of Pennsylvania and Villanova Graduate Theater Department. Since 1995, Ms. Stefanowicz has been nominated for six Barrymore Awards, and in 1998, won the Barrymore Award for Best Costume Design for On the Razzle for The Wilma Theater.

Adam Wernick (Composer and Sound Designer) has worked on more than 30 productions at The Wilma Theater as a composer, sound designer and music director. His sound design for Quills received a Barrymore Award and his scores for Arcadia and Quartet received Barrymore Award nominations for Outstanding Original Music. Adam has also received the prestigious F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Theater Artist. He works extensively for The Shakespeare Theatre in Washington D.C. where he has collaborated with directors Michael Kahn, Garland Wright, Joe Dowling, and others. His scores for Richard II and Hamlet each received Helen Hayes Award nominations.

Indian Ink features a cast of 13 actors:

Wayman Ezell (Coomaraswami, the Rajah & Politician) appeared last season as Mr. Van Tassel in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow at the Wings Theater in New York. He has also portrayed major roles in The Passion of Dracula, Abelard and Heloise, The Bat, Aria da Capo, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest and Romeo and Juliet. On the musical stage, he has appeared in Evita, Kismet, A Little Night Music, The Fantasticks, Cabaret, West Side Story, The Peddler's Parade, A Chorus Line, and a new musical Mandela. Film: Joe's Apartment, Raw Deal, Clockers. Television: Starring roles in the ABC-TV movie Barrington and the series Lady Blue with Danny Aiello; the Cosby Mysteries and The Sleeping Beauty. An accomplished musician, Ezell plays five instruments and has toured the US and Japan as musical director of the Prince Street Players. He has won both the American Orpheus Vocal Competition and the National Young Concert Artist Awards. He completed his studies at Eastern Michigan University, the Berkshire College of Fine Arts, and the universities at Oxford and Cambridge.

April Feld (Resident's Wife) was recently seen in Vagabond Acting Troupe's An Ideal Husband. Other US credits include work with Princeton Rep, NY's Liminal Stage and American Jewish Theare. London credits include work with The Original Shakespeare Company, Man in the Moon Theatre, MOMI, and the Royal National Theatre Studio. Additionally she has performed with Bread & Puppet, Two Penny Circus, and Rhode Island Feminist Theatre. April trained in New York (Circle in the Square; The Actors Space) and London (Royal National Theatre Studio; Original Shakespeare Company). She is extremely pleased to be working with The Wilma Theater.

Barbara Haas (Eleanor Swan) recently portrayed Aunt Julie in Hedda Gabler at the Century Theatre in New York, a role she has also played at American Repertory Theatre. Cited one of Boston's best performers for Felicity in Shadow Box, she also helped develop Derek Walcott's Odysee there, with director Greg Doran (RSC). With Daniel Sullivan, Adrian Hall, Ron Daniels, and other notable directors, she's played such diverse characters as Arkadina, Yentl, and William's Miz Wire in New York and regional theatres. Film & TV credits include Aida Melfi on The Sopranos, as well as Keeping the Faith, Two Family House, Stonewall, Nadjari's The Shade, Rainer's Murder & Murder, PBS and soaps.

Sam Henderson (Eric, Englishman) is a 1999 graduate of University of The Arts in Theatre Studies. He has appeared as Danny in The Chosen at the Arden Theatre where he also appeared in Candida, Much Ado About Nothing, and Bunnicula. He has also appeared in Kill The Old Torture Their Young at Quantum Theatre, The Birthday Party and King Lear at The Lantern Theatre, and The Merchant of Venice at The Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival.

Sean T. Krishnan (Anish Das) recently played Zai Garshi & Marabout in the World Premiere of Tony Kushner's Homebody/Kabul Off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop, directed by Declan Donnelan, Father in Rice Boy at Yale Rep directed by Liz Diamond, and Dilip in Indian Ink at the Studio Theatre in Washington DC. Various NY theater also includes Disha's On Caring for The Beast, Anuvab Pal's Chaos Theory, and Tanika Gupta's The Waiting Room. Orginally from Toronto, Canada, other theatre work includes The Tarragon, Theatre Passe Muraille, and Ford Center for the Arts. Film/TV credits include Changing Lanes opposite Samuel L. Jackson, Law & Order and John Woo's Once a Thief to name a few.

Richard G. Lyntton (David Durrance) is delighted to make his theatre debut in the USA. His London, Guildford, and Edinburgh Theatre credits included Jacques in Bless the Bride, Shreve in Techno-Frantic Love, Canoris in Men Without Shadows, Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream, the Bridegroom in Blood Wedding, and Wilmore in The Rover. Film and television: Welcome to Sarajevo (Miramax), My Father's Gun (NFL Films), The Knock (Carlton TV, UK), Roger, Roger (BBC TV), Rough Justice (BBC TV), Inside Outside Lydia's Head (Covet Garden Films), ĪDim' (Lenfilm Studios, Russia), Kelso's Quandry (Lunchbox Communications) and numerous film festival shorts. Richard is a graduate of Mountview Theatre School, London. Thank you Michelle and Cathy Parker for your love and support.

Omar Mullick (Nazrul) works as a filmmaker and actor in New York. Films shot include Ghost Bird by Irena Salinas (Sundance), Jackass (MTV), CKY3 and Haggard skate videos with Joseph Frantz. He is currently in pre-production on a short titled My Blood Orange to be shot in June. Acting work: Beyond the Ruins (Sundance) by Ted Bourne, Rocket Girl by Anna Minikinnen. Theater: The Pitchfork Disney (Site Installation Theater Ensemble), Suburbia (Brat Productions), Look Back in Anger, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. He is pleased to make his Wilma debut.

Manu Narayan (Nirad Das) Regional Stage: Florizel in A Winter's Tale at Missouri Rep, Romeo in Romeo and Juliet at Swine Palace (Baton Rouge, LA), Ferdinand in The Tempest and Dull in Love's Labour's Lost at Shakespeare and Company (Lenox, MC). Manu starred with Cyndi Lauper and Fisher Stevens in David Henry Hwang's Largo at New York Stage and Film 2001 Powerhouse season. New York: Bintou at the Play Company, I am Mou at Circle East, Josephine's Song workshop (by Kent Gash) at York Theatre. National Tour: Miss Saigon. Television: Law and Order-Special Victims Unit. Manu is an accomplished Saxophonist and a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University.

Buck Schirner (Resident) recently appeared as Doc O'Conner in The Laramie Project (Winner of the 2001 Barrymore Award for Best Ensemble) at the Philadelphia Theatre Company, where he also appeared in Side Man. He was also in St. Nicholas, by Brat Productions in Philadelphia and Equus by the Mum Puppettheatre. His other credits include: The Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Peterborough Players, and BoarsHead: Michigan Public Theater.

Ashok Sinha (Dilip, Questioner) Off-and Off-Off Broadway venues include the The Joseph Papp Public Theater, the New York Theatre Workshop, Ensemble Studio Theatre, the Salon, and the Manhattan Theatre Source. Los Angeles area venues include A Noise Within and the Laguna Festival Theatre. He is a board member of Disha, New York's South Asian theatre company, and holds an MFA in Acting from the California Institute of the Arts.

Elizabeth Webster (Nell, Englishwoman) Elizabeth is a company member at The People's Light and Theatre Company where she recently portrayed Ida Ferrier in Les Trois Dumas. There, she also appeared in A Christmas Carol, Book of Days, The Skin of Our Teeth, Heartbreak House, The Blue Room, and Desdemona: A Play About a Handkerchief. She was a finalist for the F. Otto Haas Emerging Philadelphia Theatre Artist Award and a recipient of the Lotta M. Crabtree Trust Fund Grant for continued theatre study.

Grace Zandarski (Flora Crewe) a resident of New York, Ms. Zandarski has appeared in numerous regional theaters across the country, including A.C.T. (Good), Berkeley Rep (The Revenger, The Night of the Iguana), three seasons at The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Ashland (Romeo and Juliet, Enrico IV: The Emperor, The Road to Mecca, Pericles, The Merry Wives of Windsor, At Long Last Leo, Peer Gynt), McCarter Theatre (Iphigenia at Aulis and The Three Sisters) and Portland Center Stage (Miss Julie). New York City Theater: Thunder in the Air. Television includes guest spots on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Picket Fences, and animation voice-over for Tenchi and Aeon Flux. Numerous commercials and voice-overs. On the faculty of The Actors Center, Fordham and the A.R.T. Institute at Harvard. A graduate of the American Conservatory Theatre and Princeton University, Grace is a native of Dunmore, PA.

William Zielinski (Eldon Pike) William Zielinski was last seen at the Wilma in The Threepenny Opera. Area credits include The Merchant of Venice (The People's Light and Theatre Company), Once (Brat Productions), The Lonesome West (Act II Playhouse), Through The Looking Glass (Lantern Theatre) and The Laramie Project (Philadelphia Theatre Company), which won the 2001 Barrymore Award for Best Ensemble. William is a four-time Barrymore nominee and was a finalist for the 2000 F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Artist.