Sundance Institute Theatre Club Support1 Vital Voices in Theatre Sundance Institute Theatre Club
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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