Sundance Institute Theatre Club Support1 Vital Voices in Theatre Sundance Institute Theatre Club
You walk into a theatre and sit—it may be Broadway, off- Broadway or in the basement of a Brooklyn storefront. The house lights dim and a new story comes to life before your eyes. Did you ever wonder how this play came to be? Obviously, a writer, composer or director had an idea. But then what? How did this new work of art get from the artist’s head to the page and then to the stage?
For many new works you have encountered, over many years, this is where Sundance Institute Theatre Program played a leading role. Through year-round activities including Labs, Workshops & Retreats, Grants, Fellowships & Awards, the Theatre Program provides a safe harbor from commercial pressure for theatre artists of all sorts to experiment with their burgeoning visions.
With global activities including six annual Labs around the world, the Theatre Program champions new work for the stage that goes on to be enjoyed by thousands of audience members each year. We invite you to meet our artists and discover their works by joining the Sundance Institute Theatre Club and the second season of our annual series subscription.
1 Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is a global nonprofit organization founded by Robert Redford in 1981. Through its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, composers and playwrights, the Institute seeks to discover and support independent film and theatre artists from the United States and around the world, and to connect audiences to their work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling as art and as a compelling and powerful way to inform, inspire and unite people. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
2 theatre club & subscription
Sundance Institute Theatre Club Our alumni carry the torch of theatrical invention into uncharted forms and stories, keeping theatre relevant and dynamic. Experience our second season of discovery with the Sundance Institute Theatre Club. Subscribe today to connect with exceptional new works by alumni artists on the New York stage and support the year-round work of the Sundance Institute Theatre Program.
Theatre Club Season Subscription Join Artistic Director Philip Himberg and Producing Director Christopher Hibma for five extraordinary evenings. Grand Concourse, The Oldest Boy, Posterity, ToasT and Iowa were each written or directed by theatre artists who were supported by the Sundance Institute Theatre Program at one time in their careers. These artists’ new works are making their premier in New York this season and we would like to share them with our community. Through the Theatre Club Season Subscription, individuals will be given a unique opportunity to connect with the alumni at five pre-theatre dinners and performances, highlighting the innovative work that has emerged from the Sundance Institute Theatre Program.
Theatre Club Membership We have a variety of ways we invite you to play an important role in our Sundance Institute Theatre Club community. If you can’t join us for the performances, support the Theatre Club as an Ensemble Member and directly contribute to our year-round work in support of the theatrical trailblazers of our time, or become a Muse Member and support the very first Sundance Institute Alumni Writing Studio at Flying Point. Become a member today to provide development opportunities for theatre artists and receive updates on Theatre Program news and productions along with invitations to attend Sundance Institute events year round.
3 season productions
performance series *dates subject to change; restaurants to be announced at a later date
October 21, 2014 GRAND CONCOURSE By Heidi Schreck 6:00 P.M. Pre-Theatre dinner hosted by Heidi Schreck 7:30 P.M. Performance at Playwrights Horizons @ Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, 416 W. 42nd St.
November 21, 2014 THE OLDEST BOY By Sarah Ruhl 6:00 P.M. Pre-Theatre dinner hosted by director Rebecca Taichman 8:00 P.M. Performance at Lincoln Center @ Newhouse Theatre, 50 Lincoln Center Plaza
March 25, 2015 POSTERITY Written & directed by Doug Wright 6:00 P.M. Pre-Theatre dinner hosted by Doug Wright 8:00 P.M. Performance at The Atlantic Theatre Company @ The Linda Gross Theater, 336 W. 20th St.
April 26, 2015 TOAST By Lemon Andersen 6:00 P.M. Pre-Theatre dinner hosted by Lemon Andersen and director Elise Thoron 7:30 P.M. Public Lab performance at The Public Theater @ 425 Lafayette St.
May 6, 2015 IOWA By Jenny Schwartz 6:00 P.M. Pre-Theatre dinner hosted by Jenny Schwartz and Todd Almond 7:30 P.M. Performance at Playwrights Horizons @ Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, 416 W. 42nd St. 4 performance synopsis
Heidi Schreck as an actor at the 2008 Theatre Lab
GRAND CONCOURSE Written by Heidi Schreck* Directed by Kip Fagan
Called to a life of religious service, Shelley is the devoted manager of a Bronx soup kitchen, but lately her heart’s not quite in it. Enter Emma: an idealistic but confused young volunteer, whose recklessness pushes Shelley to the breaking point. With startling compassion, Heidi’s play navigates the mystery of faith, the limits of forgiveness, and the pursuit of something resembling joy.
*Theatre Program Fellow (2012 Playwrights & Composers Retreat at Ucross Foundation)
5 performance synopsis
Director Rebecca Taichman at the 2014 Theatre Lab
THE OLDEST BOY Written by Sarah Ruhl* Directed by Rebecca Taichman*
The toddler son of an American woman and a Tibetan man, is recognized as the reincarnation of a high Buddhist teacher. Differing cultures contend with competing ideas of faith and love when two monks seek permission to take Tenzin to a monastery in India to begin his training as a spiritual master. His parents must decide whether to send their young son away or keep him home.
*Theatre Program Fellow (2000 Theatre Lab & Fourth Freedom Forum Playwriting Award Grantee) *Theatre Program Fellow (2006 Theatre Lab, 2008 Theatre Lab, 2009 Theatre Program in East Africa Advisor) 6 performance synopsis
Doug Wright at the 2014 Theatre Lab
POSTERITY Written and directed by Doug Wright*
Norway’s most celebrate sculptor is commissioned to create the last official portrait of her most famous writer, but Henrik Ibsen proves to be an irascible, contentious sitter, as the two men wage war over his legacy and his likeness.
*Sundance Institute Theatre Program supported project (2010 Playwrights & Composer Retreat at Ucross Foundation and 2014 Theatre Lab); Doug Wright’s Pulitzer Prize winning play I Am My Own Wife was also supported by the Theatre Program (2000 Theatre Lab)
7 performance synopsis
Lemon Andersen in his play Country of Kings at the Public Theater in 2009
TOAST Written by Lemon Andersen* Directed by Elise Thoron*
ToasT is an electrifying new play by acclaimed spoken word artist and Tony Award- winning writer Lemon Andersen (The Public’s County of Kings: The Beautiful Struggle, HBO’s “Def Poetry”), directed by Andersen’s County of Kings collaborator Elise Thoron. ToasT ingeniously weaves major characters from black oral narratives into a gripping story about a group of inmates fighting to keep their minds free amidst the 1971 riots that rocked Attica Prison. Honoring the spoken word narratives recited in pool halls, bars and prisons across America by generations of black poets, ToasT is a stunning new play about men trying to live free in a system—and a world—designed to keep them chained.
*Sundance Institute Theatre Program supported project (2012 Playwrights & Composers Retreat at Ucross Foundation, 2012 Theatre Lab and recipient of a Post- Lab Support Workshop in partnership with Baryshnikov Arts Center)
8 performance synopsis
Jenny Schwartz at the 2013 Theatre Lab at MASS MoCA
IOWA* Written by Jenny Schwartz* Music & Lyrics by Todd Almond* Oratorio Lyrics by Jenny Schwartz*
Mom found her soul-mate on Facebook, and he lives in Iowa. So Becca says goodbye to her beloved math teacher, bulimic best friend, neighborhood pony and her mildly deficient teenage life, and she follows her wayward mother to a new, uncharted beginning. But in this fanciful, absurdist and intoxicating musical play from the imagination of Jenny Schwartz and Todd Almond nothing can prepare them for what they’ll find.
*Sundance Institute Theatre Program supported project (2013 Theatre Lab at MASS MoCA); *Theatre Program fellows (2008 & 2009 Playwrights Retreat at Ucross)
9 supported theatre projects
Projects Supported by Sundance Institute Theatre Program (1997–Present)
CAUGHT Christopher Chen • SKELETON CREW Dominique Morriseau • GHOST SUPPER (SPALDING GREY, YOU’RE INVITED, TOO) Sheila Tousey • THE GOOD BOOK Denis O’Hare & Lisa Peterson • POSTERITY Doug Wright • SO GO THE GHOSTS OF MEXICO, PART II Matthew Paul Olmos • T Dan Aibel • THE LAST OF THE LITTLE HOURS Annie Baker • FIRST DAUGHTERS SUITE Michael John LaChiusa • THE MADWOMAN IN THE VOLVO Sandra Tsing Loh • THE BUTCHER OF CRAWFORD Andia Kisia • FEMME 1, FEMME 2, FEMME 3 Sammy Sangwa • STRINGS Angella Emuwron • IOWA Jenny Schwartz & Todd Almond • GLASS GUIGNOL Lee Breuer & Mabou Mines • ADLER & GIBB Tim Crouch • HANDS Ken Greller • APPROPRIATE Branden Jacobs-Jenkins • WHEN WE WERE YOUNG & UNAFRAID Sarah Treem • SONG FOR THE DISAPPEARED Tanya Saracho • A CAGE OF FIREFLIES Daniel Akiyama • TOAST Lemon Andersen • AMERICAN DREAMS Sapphire & Jaye Austin-Williams • DOGEATERS Jessica Hagedorn • MYSTERY SCHOOL Paul Selig • STAGE DIRECTIONS Israel Horowitz & John Hodian • THE EVA LUNA PROJECT Della Davidson & Mark Reiff • THE GIMMICK Dael Orlandersmith • TRUE HISTORY AND REAL ADVENTURES Sybille Pearson & Mel Marvin • VERS LA FLAMME Martha Clarke • HAPPY END Elisabeth Hauptmann & Michel Feingold • HOLLYWOOD ARMS Carol Burnett & Carrie Hamilton • IN REAL LIFE Charlayne Woodard • LAS HORAS DE BELEN Ruth Maleczech • MESHUGAH Emily Mann • OO-BLA-DEE Regina Taylor • SANCTUARY Roger Bennington • TWO SISTERS & A PIANO Nilo Cruz • ANIMAL MAGNETISM Mabou Mines • EVERYTHING THAT RISES MUST CONVERGE Karin Coonrod • ISAAC David Schulner • LEAP Terry Tempest Williams • OFFSPRING OF THE COLD WAR Carlos Murillo • THE INVISIBLE MEDIUM W. David Hancock • THE LARAMIE PROJECT Tectonic Theatre Project • 39 VIEWS Naomi Iizuka • CARSON MCCULLERS Sarah Schulman • CONJUNCTO Oliver Mayer • HAMBONE Javon Johnson • HAUNTED TRAVELER Barry Yourgrau • I AM MY OWN WIFE Doug Wright • KAFKA SONGS Christopher Drobny • PHILOKTETES John Jesurun • SPRING AWAKENING Steven Sater & Duncan Sheik • 99 HISTORIES Julia Cho • MAKING IT Joe Hortua • SWITCH TRACK Yael Farber • TALK Carl Hancock Rux • THE PAST Denis Johnson • WHEN GRACE COMES IN Heather McDonald • WINTER TIME Chuck Mee • YELLOWMAN Dael Orlandersmith • YIDDISHER TEDDY BEARS Richard Foreman & Stewart Wallace • ADORATION OF THE OLD WOMAN José Rivera • BEL CANTO Daniel Alexander Jones • CROWNS Regina Taylor • FRAULEIN ELSE Francesca Faridany • LOVE & TAXES Josh Kornbluth • THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA Craig Lucas & Adam Guettel • THE PARADISE PROJECT John Kelly, Michael Torke & Mark Campbell • A DOLL HOUSE Lee Breuer • ANOTHER FINE MESS Steven Drukman • DHAMMASHOK Rubén Polendo • FABULATION Lynn Nottage • FOR MY FAMILY Ricky Ian Gordon • REUNION The SITI Company • THE FINAL TOUR Doug Cooney • THE RUBY SUNRISE Rinne Groff • THE TRICKY PART Martin Moran • WELL Lisa Kron • 33 VARIATIONS Moisés Kaufman • AFTER THE WAR Philip Kan Gotanda • DEAD PUPPET TALK Roman Paska • KRUM Hanoch Levin • MACBETH QUARTET Travis Preston • PASSING STRANGE Stew & Heidi Rodewald • RIDICULOUS FRAUD Beth Henley • THE HOUSE OF MIRTH A.R. Gurney & Michael Torke • WORLD THROWN TIZZY Joe Hortua • BFF Anna Ziegler • THE COLBY SISTERS OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA Adam Bock • THE FRE Taylor Mac • SOJOURNERS Mfoniso Udofia • REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY Jackie Sibblies Drury • THE VAGRANT Mona Monsour • THE VENGEANCE PROJECT Paula Vogel • WAR IS F**KING AWESOME Qui Nguyen
10 supported theatre projects
Projects Supported by Sundance Institute Theatre Program (1997–Present)
BLUE DOOR Tanya Barfield • GREY GARDENS Doug Wright, Scott Frankel & Michael Korie • MEASURE FOR PLEASURE David Grimm • MOST WANTED Mark Bennett & Jessica Hagedorn • NEW YORK IS BLEEDING Said Sayra- fiezadeh • SOME MEN Terrence McNally • TAKING FLIGHT Adriana Sevan • TERRE HAUTE Edmund White • CITIZEN JOSH Josh Kornbluth • CURRENT NOBODY Melissa James Gibson • DOLL Scott Frankel & Michael Korie • GEOMETRY OF FIRE Stephen Belber • KIND HEARTS & CORONETS Robert Freedman & Steven Lutvak • NOBODY’S LUNCH The Civilians • OF EQUAL MEASURE Tanya Barfield • STEVE & IDI David Grimm • THE EVIL DOERS David Adjmi • A WORD IS BORN Danny Hoch • GHOST WRITTEN Naomi Iizu- ka • HAVE YOU SEEN STEVE STEVEN? Ann Marie Healy • LOCAL TIME Noah Haidle • SONG FOR NEW YORK Mabou Mines • THE BEAUTIFUL CITY The Civilians • THE GOOD NEGRO Tracey Scott Wilson • THE WOMEN OF BREW- STER PLACE Tim Acito • UNTITLED LUCREZIA BORGIA PROJECT Bradford Louryk • WIG OUT Tarell Alvin McCraney • …AND JESUS MOONWALKS THE MISSISSIPPI Marcus Gardley • BOSSA NOVA Kirsten Greenidge • CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION Annie Baker • DRC (OR HOW I LEARNED TO ACT IN SEVEN STEPS) Theatre Mitu • FUNKED UP FAIRY TALES Kirsten Childs • IN THE WAKE Lisa Kron • LIL’S 90TH Darci Picoult • MARIE AN- TOINETTE David Adjmi • ORIGIN STORY Dan LeFranc • ORPHAN ISLAND Sarah Treem • WHEN JANUARY FEELS LIKE SUMMER Cori Thomas • AN ILIAD Denis O’Hare & Lisa Peterson • DIAGRAM OF A PAPER AIRPLANE Carlos Murillo • NGWINO UBEHO (COME & BE ALIVE) Odile Gakire Katese • PALOMINO David Kale • SAINT-EX Jenny Giering & Sean Barry • THE LILY’S REVENGE Taylor Mac • THE DROWNED MAN: A HOLLYWOOD FABLE Punchdrunk • A SMALL FIRE Adam Bock • AN ESCAPE ARTIST John Kelly • BLACK MARIA Sitawa Betty Wamalwa Muragori • BOOK OF LIFE Odile Ga- kire Katese • BWAGAMOYO Shailja Patel • CIVILIZATION (OR ALL YOU CAN EAT) Jason Grote • LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE William Finn & James Lapine • LOOK, WE ARE BREATHING Laura Jacqmin • OUT OF ORBIT Jennifer Maisel • SILENT VOICES Lucy Judith Adong • WHEN LAST WE FLEW Harrison Riv- ers • AFRICA KILLS HER SUN Mrisho Mpoto, Irene Sanga & Elidady Msangi • ANNIE BOSH IS MISSING Janine Nabers • DESPERATE TO FIGHT Meaza Worku Berehanu • FROGGY Jennifer Haley • HE IS HERE HE SAYS I SAY Margaret Namulyanga • LIGHT YEARS TO THE DELLING SHORE Sam Marks • LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE Quiara Alegria Hudes & Lila Downs • MO FAYA Eric Wainaina • SAFARI YA MWANDALE Irene Sanga • STUCK ELEVA- TOR Byron Au Yong & Aaron Jefferis • WILD WITH HAPPY Colman Domingo • FUN HOME Jeanine Tesori & Lisa Kron • UNTITLED WORLD’S FAIR PLAY The Debate Society
11 theatre club & subscription
Sundance Institute Theatre Club Subscription and Membership Season Subscription ($1,250 of your contribution is tax-deductible) $2,500 per person • Theatre Club Membership • Invitation for one to 5 theatre performances in New York • 5 pre-theatre dinners hosted by a Sundance Institute Theater Program alumni *Tickets are transferable, share the experience of Sundance Theatre with a family member, friend or colleague.
Invite a Friend As a Season Subscriber and a benefit of your membership, you have the opportunity to invite up to two additional guests to join you for any one of our Theatre Club evenings. ($350 of your contribution is tax-deductible) $500 per performance
Please tell us which performance(s) you would like to purchase additional tickets for (please indicate 1 or 2 tickets per show):
GRAND CONCOURSE THE OLDEST BOY POSTERITY TOAST IOWA $500 $500 $500 $500 $500 Total additional contribution:
Annual Theatre Club Membership (100% of your contribution is tax-deductible)
Muse: $5,000 Muse members: • Support a playwright’s artistic journey. The very first Sundance Institute Alumni Writing Studio at Flying Point, generously hosted by Joan and George Hornig, will provide up to 10 writers this season the opportunity to put “pen to paper” through this unique writing experience offered only to Sundance’s most treasured alumni. Be a part of a writer’s journey and support their experience at Flying Point! • Receive invitation to a private reception and performance in the Hamptons. Enjoy an evening with artists and hear readings of brand new works from our supported playwrights at Flying Point! • Receive quarterly updates on Theatre Program news and productions • Receive invitations to Sundance Institute events year round • Recognized as a supporter of the Sundance Institute Theatre program in annual Lab books
Ensemble: $1,000 Ensemble members: • Provide vital general operating support to the Theatre Program’s year round artist development efforts • Receive quarterly updates on Theatre Program news and productions Visit sundance.org/theatreclub Or print out this form and check the appropriate donation level above and return it to: Sundance Institute, Attn: Accounting/ Theatre Club, P.O. Box 684429, Park City, UT 84068-4429 or fax to: 310-360-1969 12 theatre club donation form
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For more information contact: Laura Shumate at 310-492-2338 or [email protected].
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