ANDHOW ! Theater Productions

Beginning the American Spirit . . . A celebration

ANDHOW! THEATER COMPANY PRESENTS
BEGINNING THE AMERICAN SPIRIT
...a reading series of 4 "beginnings" of new plays to be followed by an audience oriented discussion of possible "endings."

What happens when one voice spurs a conversation, confrontation, love affair? What happens when several voices join the first voice to create a fabric of conversations, confrontations and love affairs? America happens.

ANDHOW!! Theater Company invited playwrights to submit the beginnings of new plays responding to the phrase Beginning the American Spirit. The beginnings will be presented as readings at the Blue Heron Arts Center on Monday nights through March 2002. After each beginning is read the audience will be asked to participate in a discussion of how the plays could end.

The beginnings to be presented are: That’s How Strong My Love Is, by Steve Coats, directed by Brian PJ Cronin; The Triangle Factory Fire by Robin Burland, directed by Jessica Davis-Irons; Yakima Man by Andrew Irons, directed by Annelies Lottmann; and I Am At My Best When I Am Singing Very Quietly by Brian PJ Cronin, directed by Jessica Davis-Irons.

The perfomance schedule for Beginning the American Spirit is as follows: Performances will be held at The Blue Heron Arts Center, 123 East 24th Street (between Park Avenue South and Lexington). Performance dates are Monday March 4, Monday March 11, Monday March 18, and Monday March 25. All performances are at 8pm. Tickets are $10. Reservations are available through ANDHOW! by emailing andhow@andhowtheater.com or by calling 347/512-4518. Blue Heron Arts Center is easily reached by Subway by taking the 6 train to 23rd Street.

ANDHOW! hopes that the evenings allow the playwrights to act catalyst for a community’s voice. The collaboration in the theatrical process, as ANDHOW! sees it, always stems from the playwright’s intention. We hope you will join us in an experiment. We want to see what happens, and celebrate the American Spirit in doing so, when a playwright begins a play discussing the very spirit that spurs the conversation at the end of the evening.

See the full Press Release.

Call to Authors:

November 6, 2001

Dear Playwrights,

The playwright is a catalyst for a community's voice. The collaboration in the theatrical process, as ANDHOW! sees it, always stems from the playwright's intention. We hope you will join us in an experiment. We want to see what happens, and celebrate the American Spirit in doing so, when a playwright begins a play discussing the very spirit that spurs the conversation at the end of the evening.

Write the beginnings of a play that stems from the idea of the Beginning of the American Spirit. You decide what that means. Be open to endings, or at least plot developments.

Our idea, in concrete terms, is this:

You write the beginning of a play, that for you, stems from the words The Beginning of the American Spirit. The beginning may be a scene, an act, whatever you decide.
We will cast the beginning and match you with a director.
We invite an audience.
They hear the beginnings of five plays read.
In a post show discussion, we ask them, what should happen next, in each of the plays.
You listen and respond.