A.R.T. and Center for Wellness Announce Upcoming Wellspring Events

American Repertory Theater has announced today Fall 2020 workshops offered through The Wellspring, a new partnership with the Harvard Center for Wellness and Health Promotion (CWHP).

The pilot series of programs aims to respond to the wellness needs within our community and foster connection and well-being during this period of social isolation by integrating artistic, health, and wellness practices. Upcoming programs include free online workshops connected to Kit Yan's Queer Heartache and Sara Porkalob's Dragon Mama from A.R.T.'s Virtually OBERON series and family yoga associated with the family holiday musical Jack and the Beanstalk.

Wellspring events are online, free, and open to the public, who are invited to register or view them on demand at AmericanRepertoryTheater.org/Wellspring. Information about associated productions is available at AmericanRepertoryTheater.org.

Writing and Freeing Your Voice with Kit Yan

Wednesday, November 17 at 7PM

Registration required and now open

In this workshop, explore your inner landscape through guided free writing, then refine your writing through a series of performance exercises created to help free your voice through your own words. The workshop, which will occur over Zoom, is open to all levels of experience; sharing is optional.

Offered in conjunction with Queer Heartache, from award-winning queer, trans, Asian-American poet from Hawaii, Kit Yan and directed by Jessi D. Hill. Queer Heartache is Yan's solo slam poetry show that explores their identities, asks what queer hearts and families are made of, and interrogates the forces that constantly work to break them apart. The show is a testament to the resilience of queer love in all its forms. If you've ever had your heart broken, wondered how your pets self-identify, or wanted to tell someone your gender is none of their business, this show is for you.

Queer Heartache is available on demand anytime now through November 27. Access to the event lasts 48 hours from your order date. Household tickets $20 each with pay-what-you-can option available at AmericanRepertoryTheater.org/Queer-Heartache.

Beanstalk Yoga

Available on demand Monday, November 30, 2020 - Monday, January 4, 2021

No registration required

Laughter Yoga

Join yoga instructor Jason Jedrusiak for a family-oriented warm-up for your body and your mind as you get ready for Jack and the Beanstalk. Laughter yoga invites you to laugh, play, and connect through simple movements and silliness.

Story Time Yoga

Go on a journey with Jack and friends by putting the story and feelings into your own body on an adventure through yoga, movement, and play. Featuring puppets, laughter, storytelling, silliness, creativity, and more.

Offered in conjunction with Jack and the Beanstalk: A Musical Adventure. The annual family holiday show goes virtual this Thanksgiving with a new, streaming musical that takes us on an epic journey through Storyland. The vivid imaginations of Harvard undergraduates Julia Riew and Ian Chan (the creators of last season's Thumbelina) transform the classic fairy tale into a contemporary celebration of the power of kindness, courage, determination, and creativity to overcome life's obstacles. Rebecca Aparicio makes her A.R.T. directorial debut with this production after serving as Assistant Director on Endlings and Gloria: A Life.

Jack and the Beanstalk will be available on demand November 27, 2020 - January 4, 20201. Access to the event lasts 48 hours from your order date. Household tickets $20 each with pay-what-you-can option available at AmericanRepertoryTheater.org/Jack-and-the-Beanstalk.

Storytelling as Self-Care with Sara Porkalob and Andrew Russell

Thursday, December 10 at 7PM

Registration required and available beginning Monday, November 16

Anyone can be a storyteller, and storytelling is one of the most rigorous tools we have to fight social injustices, build community, and facilitate personal healing. Via interactive storytelling exercises, participants will mine their unique lived experience for content and engage their imagination via accessible improv.

In addition to being interactive and fun, this session will provide participants with a toolkit of exercises for future use in facilitation, community-building, and other creative and collaborative endeavors. No prior storytelling experience required. Participants should be prepared to take notes.

Offered in conjunction with Dragon Mama. How does a Dragon earn her wings? Maria Porkalob, Jr., yearns for a gayer, more POC-filled life than Bremerton, WA, can offer. When presented with an opportunity to make a quick fortune, Maria must make an important decision: leave her debt-ridden mother, four young siblings, and newborn daughter Sara for the wild unknown of Alaska, or stay close to home, family, and intergenerational trauma. Traversing 25 years filled with queer love in a barren land, the 2019 Elliot Norton Award-winning Dragon Mama features ghosts, Filipino gangsters, and a dope '90s R&B soundtrack.

Dragon Mama is available on demand now through December 10. Access to the event lasts 48 hours from your order date. Household tickets $30 each with pay-what-you-can option available at AmericanRepertoryTheater.org/Dragon-Mama.

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