Known for her many excellent performances in various Cleveland stage ptoductions, Nina Domingue takes her talent to New York City performing in “YA MAMA!” FringeNYC is the largest multi-arts festival in North America, with more than 200 companies from all over the world performing for 16 days in more than 20 venues.

Karamu alum Nina Domingue performs in NYC’s Fringe Festival

Performing at the New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC), “YA MAMA!” is Nina Domingue’s poignant autobiographical solo show that chronicles her seemingly perilous and oftentimes humorous journey towards motherhood. From the death of her mother to Hurricane Katrina, event after event serve as critical landmarks in her adventure.

FringeNYC is the largest multi-arts festival in North America, with more than 200 companies from all over the world performing for 16 days in more than 20 venues. 

Written by Nina Domingue and directed by Cathy Hartenstein, “YA MAMA” premiered in January of 2011 in the BIG [Box] performance series at Cleveland Public Theatre, a venue known for presenting bold and adventurous theater. Yearly, Big [BOX] provides local artists with a nurturing and supportive environment to self-produce their work.

“YA MAMA! is autobiographical. I took landmarks from my own experiences of being mothered and my journey to motherhood and crafted them into a solo show that really looks at how one perspective informs and influences the other,” says Domingue “A ‘mother’ is something that everyone can relate to in one context or another. For some, the presence of that figure is as large as the non-presence. For me, and so many others, there is a story there that I wanted to explore. Motherhood is universal and the reason I think this play resonates with so many people,” she continued. 

Nina Domingue is an actress and director and teacher who has performed nationally and internationally for the past 15 years. Domingue was seen most recently in “No Child...” by Nilaja Sun at Cleveland Public Theater; which was extended three times.

Domingue was named “Best Actress in a Play” in 2005 by the Cleveland Theater Collective for her work as “the lady in red” in the Karamu House Theatre production of “for colored girls.” In 2004, she received an award for "Memorably Distinctive Performances" by Cleveland Public Theatre for several shows throughout the 2003-2004 theatrical seasons.

In addition to “YA MAMA!” Domingue has other celebrated solo pieces, “Mo Pas Conin” and “Wade in the Water,”set in her native New Orleans and “A Jewel of a Tale,” recently performed as part of the Cleveland Playhouse Children's Series. She made her Off-Broadway and National Black Theater Festival Debuts in a piece entitled “It Hasn’t Always Been This Way” by Ntozake Shange, directed by Diane McIntyre and produced by Woodie King, Jr.

Ya Mama! performs Aug. 12 –Aug. 20, 2011. All tickets are $15 in advan$18 at the door at Venue #3 CSV-Cabayitos, 107 Suffolk Street, NY, New York, 10002. The production runs Aug. 12 at 5:30pm, Aug. 13 at 9 p.m., Aug. 15 at 8:30 p.m., Aug. 18 at 7 p.m., Aug. 19 5 p.m. and Aug. 20 at 4:45 p.m. For more information call 866.468.7619 or visit www.fringenyc.org .