This week's guest blog addresses two of my favorite things: Passion and Sharing. This Dramaturg is very passionate about the show she's worked on and she wants to share it with my readers. Enjoy the guest blog.
Excelsior!
A year ago this week, I started my MFA in Dramaturgy at Columbia. I
was welcomed into an amazing, artistic community where theater artists
with incredibly rich and varied backgrounds collided together. From
teachers, to an adv./marketing representative for a utility company,
to a temp at an apple peeling company: this kaleidoscope of
experiences has resulted in the creation of exciting, theatrical
pieces.
Today, 20 of us from different disciplines in Columbia´s Theatre
program are catapulting our collaborations into the NYC theatre scene
by presenting two powerful one-act plays about family and death: My
Artichoke Heart & What the Sparrow Said. These two plays will receive
their world premiers next week in the inaugural season of the Dream Up
Festival.
We’ve come quite far in just a year. And to top it all off, this is just the
beginning. I hope you can join our journey!
Warmly, Ellen Joffred
For Immediate Release:
August 18, 2010
My Artichoke Heart & What the Sparrow Said
Two Powerful One-Act Plays about Family and Death
DREAM UP 2010 Festival
World Premiere
"The work of these Columbia playwrights, directors, actors, dramaturgs
and stage managers is simply not to be missed. They are the future."
- Anne Bogart
New York, NY: Two new powerful one-acts—My Artichoke Heart and What
the Sparrow Said—will be presented as part of the DREAM UP Festival at
Theater for the New City, beginning on September 1.
These collaborative works were created and produced by graduate
students in the Columbia University School of the Arts Theatre
program, under the guidance of noted American theatre director, Anne
Bogart. And with a sincere belief in their talent and the power that
resides within both of these plays, Bogart urged these emerging
artists to take these theater pieces to the streets of New York. This
has now led to their world premiere in the inaugural season of the
DREAM UP Festival.
My Artichoke Heart, written by Naïma Phillips (Shubert Fellow), is the
journey of a matriarchal elder, Karina, through the memories, fears,
hopes, and the internal struggles of her final days. It is an
investigation into the ingredients that make up a person's life and
determine the legacy that they will leave behind. Struggling with her
isolation, and a fading sense of memory, Karina calls upon the help of
transitional spirits to fill the gaps of missing family members and
unresolved memories.
What the Sparrow Said, written by Danny Mitarotondo (Albee Writing
Fellow), is a theatrical rollercoaster, catapulting us into an
unforgettable conversation between two estranged brothers, Blaze and
Dan, at an outdoor café in LA, just hours after their mother's
funeral. Toeing the line between high farce and tragedy while pushing
the boundaries of dramatic language, Sparrow reveals just how far we
are willing to go to feel and the price we all pay to connect to one
another in our modern, ever more isolating, society.
The plays, directed by Simón Hanukai (Naked Souls Artists Alliance)
and Shannon Fillion (NYTW) respectively, with lighting design by David
Bengali (Stolen Chair Theatre Company), is a double-billing featuring
nine actors from the MFA Acting program at Columbia University: Rafael
Benoit, Sarah Eismann, Eddie Jackson, Wei-Yi Lin, Natalia Miranda
Guzmán, Jensen Olaya, Marine Sialelli, Blaze Mancillas and Matthew
Hurley, as well as dramaturgy by MFA candidates Jess Applebaum, Jay
Jaski and Ellen Joffred.
Tickets are $15 and are available at https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/758535
Performance location and dates:
Theater for the New City (155 1st Avenue)
Wednesday, Sept 1 @ 7pm
Thursday, Sept 2 @ 7pm
Friday, Sept 3 @ 7pm
Saturday, Sept 4 @ 5pm
Sunday, Sept 5 @ 1pm
Please contact: Producer, Seena Hodges @ 803.447.3771 (seenahodges@gmail.com)
Jay Jaski @ 646.279.1183 (JJ2468@columbia.edu)
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