A.R.T Announces C1's GREATER GOOD By Kirsten Greenidge

Company One Theatre (C1) concludes its 20thseason with the world premiere of Greater Good, written by C1's Obie Award-winning Resident Playwright Kirsten Greenidge. Presented in collaboration with American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University as part of its Breakout series, previews begin Wednesday, July 17, with two press performances Saturday, July 20 at 7pm and Sunday, July 21 at 2pm. Performances continue Wednesdays - Sundays through August 17 at Commonwealth School (151 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston).

Tickets will go on sale at AmericanRepertoryTheater.org on June 14 at noon. Tickets, ranging from $25 - $45, will be available online, by phone at 617-547-8300, and in person at the Loeb Drama Center Ticket Services Office (64 Brattle Street, Cambridge). Member, group, student, and other discounts are available.

ABOUT GREATER GOOD

Welcome to Gleason Street where the teachers are underpaid, the head of school is overwhelmed, and we do NOT talk about that thing that happened at the last parent council meeting (so don't bother asking about it).

As the audience tours the struggling elementary school, each classroom explored and each encounter witnessed could upend our assumptions about the ways we educate, govern, and collectively strive toward the greater good. Equal parts playful and provoking, Kirsten Greenidge's Greater Good is a one-of-a-kind theatrical experience.

Greater Good will be staged throughout the halls and classrooms of Back Bay's Commonwealth School. Audiences will experience the play in small groups guided from room to room as the story moves backward through time, its scenes interlocking like puzzle pieces as we hurdle back towards last spring's fateful meeting of the parent council.

There's a real theatrical magic and serendipity about a play like this, said Steven Bogart, the play's director. The architecture of the venue itself is part of the storytelling, and we've had the ability to develop the play with this location in mind, supporting both Kirsten and the designers in allowing the school to be its own character.

Greater Good is set right here in Boston, the birthplace of access to public education, public libraries, and the crusade for equal access to education under the law, said playwright Kirsten Greenidge, who won an Obie Award for her play Milk Like Sugar. Boston, of course, also played a fundamental role in the founding of our country. The play lives in the convergence of those worlds: this one small struggling school becomes a lens through which we can examine the intersections of education, governance, and democracy in America.

At C1, we're all about our mission: to build community at the intersection of art and social change, said Karthik Subramanian, C1's recently named Interim Managing Director. In Greater Good, we see what can happen when institutions and individuals struggle to live up to their missions. It's a reality check, specifically for those of us who consider ourselves liberal or progressive. It's easy to get complacent in our values how can we challenge ourselves not to?

Greater Good is the culmination of Kirsten's three-year residency with C1, said C1's Director of New Work, Ilana M. Brownstein, who is also the project's dramaturg. This residency has allowed Kirsten the space, time, and resources to create a play that breaks theatrical boundaries, while also mentoring early and mid-career playwrights through our PlayLab program. We're also excited to announce that she will return for another three year term, through the continued support of the Mellon Foundation and HowlRound!

We are thrilled to partner once again with the American Repertory Theater on Greater Good, which is sure to be our most ambitious and expansive collaboration yet, said C1's Artistic Director Shawn LaCount. We couldn't imagine a better fit for this project than the A.R.T., who have such a rich history of bringing experiential theatre to life in the Boston area, from Sleep No More's residency at The Old Lincoln School in Brookline, to our smash-hit co-productions of We're Gonna Die, Wig Out!, and this season's Miss You Like Hell.

The A.R.T. is incredibly excited to mount our fourth production in collaboration with C1, said A.R.T.'s Artistic Producer Mark Lunsford. The company's vision and ambition align with the mission of the A.R.T. Breakout series, where we collaborate with artists pushing the theatrical form and provide space to mount boundary-breaking productions. Our joint commitment to fostering dialogue about the key issues of our time continues to make our partnership artistically and socially rewarding. We look forward to helping to bring this new play to life.

How to purchase tickets:

• Online at AmericanRepertoryTheater.org
• By phone at 617-547-8300
• In person at the Loeb Drama Center Ticket Services Office (64 Brattle Street, Cambridge)
• In person at Commonwealth School (151 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston) one hour prior to performance

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