Center Stage Announces THIRD SPACE(S) Artistic Initiative

Center Stage announced this week a new artistic initiative, Third Space(s), a series of performances that bring new and experimental work and unconventional stagings of classics into unexpected locations. Three Third Space(s) productions are planned during the 2013-14 Season.

Third Space(s) is an artistic initiative dedicated to producing exciting work in unconventional spaces both within Center Stage's existing theater building and in locations throughout Baltimore. Highlighting the connections and interactions between story, space, performers, and audience, the initiative will broaden Center Stage's capacity to produce intimate, innovative, and cutting-Edge Theater.

"We are excited to be able to announce this new initiative as part of our commitment to exploring the many facets of performance," says Artistic Director Kwame Kwei-Armah. "Third Space(s) productions will allow Center Stage to engage audiences in new, innovative ways that explore what theater can be."

Center Stage plans three Third Space productions this season, kicking off during the Baltimore Book Festival with The Container, written by Clare Bayley and directed by Johanna Gruenhut. The Container brings a small audience into an actual shipping container with a group of refugees fleeing to England.

Hidden inside a shipping container somewhere in the middle of Europe, five refugees risk everything to achieve a common aim: to reach England and start a new life. How far will they have to go to get what they want?

Performances of The Container will be September 27-29, during the Baltimore Book Festival, at 7 pm on Friday, and 2 pm and 6 pm Saturday and Sunday, on the corner of Charles Street and E. Mount Vernon Place (East side). Due to the nature of the space, there are only 12-15 seats available per performance. Tickets are free and can be reserved by calling the Box Office at 410.332.0033. A stand-by list will be available by visiting the Center Stage festival booth in the circle by the Washington Monument.

Two additional Third Space(s) productions are being scheduled throughout the season, with more information available soon. An as-yet untitled World Premiere play by Baltimore native Ken Greller is being written for a unique location right at the heart of the Center Stage building. Marrying the beauty of our historic architecture with a story of life, love, and loss, this piece will be performed for an intimate audience in the theater's hoistway. The third new piece is to be announced shortly.

Center Stage

Under the leadership of playwright, actor, and director Kwame Kwei-Armah OBE (Artistic Director) and national arts leader Stephen Richard (Managing Director), Center Stage is an artistically driven institution committed to engaging, entertaining, and enriching audiences of today and tomorrow through joyous and bold performance. The professional, nonprofit theater company is dedicated to the creation and presentation of a dynamic and diverse array of new and classic work, and each year hosts an audience of more than 100,000 in its historic home in Baltimore's Mount Vernon neighborhood. With its signature focus on civic and community engagement, Center Stage, The State Theater of Maryland, enters its second 50 years with a commitment to exploring how art and entertainment communicate in the 21st century, and to igniting conversation in Baltimore and beyond.

Center Stage is supported by a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC), an agency dedicated to cultivating a vibrant cultural community where the arts thrive. An agency of the Department of Business & Economic Development, the MSAC provides financial support and technical assistance to nonprofit organizations, units of government, colleges, and universities for arts activities. Funding for the MSAC is also provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Maryland Public Television is a Media Partner for Center Stage's 2013-13 Season.

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