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 24^th 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 23^rd 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.

ANDHOW! Theater Company, since its realized inception in 1999, has worked to form a community of theater artists who create new and fantastic worlds and bring them to the stage. With a loose affiliation of artists as the base of ANDHOW!, new artists are welcomed with each project with the hope that those “special ones” return fresh creativity, finding their own niche in the ever evolving ANDHOW!. With collaboration as its cornerstone, ANDHOW is a growing organism whose components must change with age.

Past ANDHOW! Productions include: PASCHAL FULL MOON, by Andrew Irons; SPACEGRRLS by Sharon Eberhardt; DIALOGUE a reading series; TENNESSEE TIMES TWO, a benefit performance.

Note: For further information on “Beginning the American Spirit” or to arrange for an interview, please contact Andrew Irons as listed above or visit www.andhowtheater.com.