Art House Productions Announces 2018/2019 Season

Art House Productions announces its full schedule of arts programming from September 2018 until June 2019. Beginning in September, Art House presents its first Artist-in-Residence: Raven Taisce White. Raven is a trans woman from South Carolina and her company, BIRDHOUSE perform a reimagining of their piece Hot Winter. Hot Winter follows five humans as they struggle to understand one another, unifying in difference and falling apart in sameness and is a surrealistic look at the performers' collective universe.

October: Art House's largest visual art exhibition to date and Jersey City's biggest visual arts event of the year, JCAST, showcases the work of artists from all over Jersey City and beyond. In addition, from October 24th through October 27th, Art House partners with Surati for Performing Arts and Education to present Diwali: The Festival of Lights, also known as Deepavali. There will be a weeklong series of performances of Surati's original musical "Ramaavan" - the story of Prince Ram and King Ravan based on the epic tale The Ramayana (directed by Rimli Roy.) On October 27th, there will be an outdoor Diwali street fair followed by an indoor afterparty with drinks, dinner, and dancing.

November: Art House in partnership with The Landmark Loews Theater presents the 9th annual Your Move Modern Dance Festival. Showtimes are November 2nd at 8pm, November 4th at 2pm, and November 4th at 5pm. Also in November, the Art House Gallery opens the Affordable Art Show. For the holidays there's no better gift than a gift made by an artist! Art House's inaugural Affordable Art Show will exhibit works costing $500 or less. Shop while enjoying holiday music and treats!

December: Art House produces Not Medea by Allison Gregory directed by Art House artistic associate, Adin Walker. In Gregory's play, myth and magic meet searing truths about parenting, love, and desire in this story that begins as Medea - and ends as something else entirely. Not Medea runs December 6th through December 16th on Thursdays through Sundays.

January 2019: Art House presents its first NOMAD residency in which a theater company without an artistic home of their own is invited to take over Art House's space and premiere an original work. The inaugural NOMAD resident company will be Third Space Theater with the premiere of Caveman Play by Savannah Reich and directed by Alex Tobey. Performances will be January 10th through January 13th. Third Space creates performances that react to the world at large by developing new works or re-imaginings. Founded in 2014 by Carnegie Mellon graduates, Third Space has produced Kragtar: An American Monster Musical at the West End Theater, The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant at The New Ohio, Fireface at The Brick, Good Girl Gone Bad at HERE Arts, and has produced over 30 episodes of the award-winning Blank My Life. Third Space has previously received residencies at The Brick, HERE Arts, Abrons Arts Center, Title:Point, NTSA, Theater Now New York, and The New Ohio. Also in January, Art House celebrates the 13th annual SnowBall gala.

February 2019: Art House presents its second Artist-in-Residence with LOVE, written and performed by Laura Gragtmans (Yale Repertory Theater, Dallas Theater Center, and others) and Vichet Chum (2018 recipient of the Princess Grace 2018 Playwriting Fellowship Award), directed by Emily Kitchens (Emm in Art House's production of Grace, or the Art of Climbing), and designed by Aaron Johnson (Salty at Access Theater.) In LOVE we follow Lilly and Billy as they move through a full day. They will gloriously fumble, stumble and make a mess in their pursuits of love. Part storytelling event, part theatrical narrative - LOVE earnestly makes a case for connectivity. LOVE was originally presented as part of the Ice Factory Festival at the New Ohio Theatre by guest curator Second Generation Productions. Performances of LOVE will be February 8th, 9th, and 10th.

Also in February the third Artist-in-Residence: Ogemdi Ude. Ude is a Harlem based Nigerian-American choreographer, director, community organizer, and performer. Her work is interdisciplinary, intertwining movement, sound, and visual art to investigate themes of blackness, culture, and memory. Her practice is grounded in her academic work in Afrofuturism and black performance theory. This extends to exploring performance as a liberatory and healing practice for black communities. She has worked and trained in Berlin, Vienna, and Melbourne and with choreographers including Maria Scaroni, Thomas DeFrantz, Melanie Lane, and Prue Lang and directors Lear deBessonet and Laurie Woolery. Her most recent work includes: Hiatus, commissioned by Elizabeth Streb's SLAM Emerging Artist Commissioning Program and pace, commissioned by Princeton University. She also serves as Community Coordinator for the Public Works initiative at The Public Theater. Performances of Ogemdi's work will be February 14th, 15th, and 16th.

March 2019: Art House produces Reid Farrington's The Passion Project performed by Laura K. Nicoll. The Passion Project is a vibration between performance, film, and installation. Carl Th.Dreyer's 1928 immortal masterpiece, "The Passion of Joan of Arc" is the main narrative along with the history behind the making of the film, a discussion with a Danish archivist, the story of making this project, as well as Joan's own story -- her trial, torture, and execution. The Passion Project explodes the film into the three dimensions; placing the audience inside the film, sitting next to Joan, subjecting them to the relentless rhythm of 35 mm film projection. Claudia La Rocco of The New York Times has said about the production, "What Beauty there is in Mr. Farrington's work. Like Dreyer's film it is both luminous and cruel." Audiences will also be invited to workshops and special talkbacks in which Farrington and Nicoll will be screening the source material and talking about the process of making this and other new media performance. In addition Reid Farrington and frequent collaborator Sara Farrington will be workshopping their new piece BrandoCapote and will be holding open rehearsals and presentations. Exact dates and times for these performances, workshops, and process showings in March will be announced soon.

Also in March, Art House hosts its second NOMAD Residency with a Jersey City-based theater company. Submissions for the second NOMAD Residency will be open soon!

April 2019, Art House, in partnership with NJCU, workshops a new musical, The 88, written by Tony-nominated playwright, Reg E Gaines, with music by Grammy-award winner, Calvin Gaines.

On the festival front, Art House will continue presenting JC Fridays, a free citywide arts festival happening on September 7th, 2018, December 7th, 2018, March 1st, 2019 and June 7th, 2019. For more info go to www.jcfridays.com.

May 2019: Art House will present the inaugural Jersey City New Play Festival which will be the culmination of work from the eight writers in the INKubator program. These writers spend a year developing new plays under the mentorship of INKubator's resident director, Alex Tobey, and include Molly Bicks, Stephen Kaplan, Emily Kitchens, Dan O'Neil, Lia Romeo, Michael Shayan, Catherine Weingarten, and Ruth Zamoyta. Also part of the Jersey City New Play Festival will be a staged workshop presentation of a new play by Dipika Guha, Herculine and Lola, directed by Adin Walker.

June 2019: Art House will continue the 2nd annual, Sixth Borough Comedy Festival putting a premium on diversity and inclusion in the arts. Also in June Art House will continue the 2nd annual, ACCESS JC Fridays festival, which will showcase a variety of happenings including visual arts exhibitions, live music, performance acts and educational demonstrations, all showing work from artists with disabilities or offering accessible participation options.

Art House's Executive Director, Meredith Burns, says "This year we are thrilled to announce the entire season from Fall 2018 until Summer 2019 and we couldn't be more excited about what we have planned. From the workshop production of a new musical by Tony-award winning artists, to plays, dance performance, comedy shows, gallery exhibitions, artist residencies, and classes for adults and children, it's an ambitious program that offers so many ways for you to engage and connect with the arts. If you love the arts, we know you will find something to enjoy when you come to Art House. It is our vision that Art House be a vibrant cultural center where a broad spectrum of artists can develop and premiere their work. We are proud that Jersey City is the most diverse city in the United States. We aim to make Art House an important thread in the fabric of this vital community where artists can help build bridges between different communities. We also want to encourage and support artists who create work that is part of the political and cultural dialogue of the moment. We hope you'll join us this season and contribute your time, energy, and passion to realizing our vision for what the arts can achieve here."

For a full listing of all events, please visit www.arthouseproductions.org

About Art House Productions

Art House Productions (AHP) was founded shortly after the devastating events of September 11, 2001 in order to create a safe and healing place for artists and community members to connect through creative expression. Since then, AHP has grown significantly. In 2007, AHP became a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization and was presented with the Key to the City by Jersey City for being a pioneer of artistic and cultural programming and a model of what the arts can do for evolving urban centers. Now in its 17th year, AHP presents a professional season of two Actors' Equity Association mainstage productions, four curated visual art exhibitions, over six youth and adult arts education programs both in school and after school, and the free, quarterly arts festival, JC Fridays, which serves over 15,000 people annually.

AHP's mission is to engage, inspire, entertain and challenge audiences with highly intentional visual and performing arts programming; provide arts education to promote lifelong learning to diverse communities; and celebrate the essential power of the arts to illuminate humanity. AHP provides a home for innovative performing, visual, and literary artists to develop new work; presents emerging and under-recognized artists who are making significant contributions to their respective fields; and serves as a safe space for established artists to take creative risks.

Made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, A Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; administered by the Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs/Tourism Development, and by the County of Hudson, Thomas A. DeGise, Hudson County Executive, and the Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders.

Accessibility

Art House's 5,500 square foot facility has elevator access, gender-neutral family bathrooms, and wheelchair ramp accessibility. For accessibility requests and inquiries, please contact info@arthouseproductions.org or call 201-918-6019