Project: Project Adds 6/27 Talkback on Devised Theatre After 'SHIVER' at Boston Playwrights' Theatre

Due to high demand for conversation about the creation of devised theatre, Boston's ensemble-created theatre troupe, Project: Project, will host a talkback about the two-year process of creating Shiver: A Fairytale of Anxious Proportions1 after the show's performance on Saturday, June 27 at 8pm at Boston Playwrights' Theatre (949 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston).

Project: Project Core Member Jeff Mosser, who also directed Shiver describes the differences between traditional and devised, ensemble-created, plays saying, "devised work throws the assembly line model of theatre making out the window. The ownership is from the group, not the individual. That's what makes this process so challenging and satisfying, and devising and ensemble-based troupes are changing the attitude toward this method one show at a time."

The talkback panel will include the company's five core members who spearheaded the creation of the play over the last two years: Alli Engelsma-Mosser, Louise Hamill, Nina Louise Morrison, Jeffrey Mosser, Cecelia Raker. Biographies included below.

The talkback will focus on Project: Project's process, but Mosser asserts that the methods used by ensemble theatre troupes vary greatly. "No two ways of devising are the same. All you can do is use your strengths, say yes to your collaborators, and learn some new skills along the way to a final piece. At Project: Project, we're egalitarian, but we have roles - a structure that bends norms surrounding new play development."

Shiver: A Fairytale of Anxious Proportions runs at Boston Playwrights' Theatre (949 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston) through Sunday, June 28. Tickets are $20 and available online at web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/946932, via phone at 866-811-4111 or at the door. Full performance schedule available below.

Alli Engelsma-Mosser (Choreographer, P:P Core Member) recent includes 44 Plays for 44 Presidents (Bad Habit Productions), T: An MBTA Musical (Improv Boston and Club Oberon) and Project: Project's last production, How May I Connect You? She has performed with Jan Street Dance Theatre and the Minnesota Conservatory for the Arts. Alli has taught dance and theatre at Louisville Ballet Company, Kentucky Shakespeare Festival, Shakespeare Behind Bars, and Great River Shakespeare Festival. She is the Annual Fund and Corporate Giving Officer at the Huntington Theatre Company, and Director of Development with Bad Habit Productions. She studied theatre and dance at Winona State University and received her MS in Arts Administration from Boston University.

Louise Hamill (Charlotte, P:P Founder, Core Member) was recently seen in Distant Neighbors and 123 with Fresh Ink Theatre Company, How May I Connect You? and What Are You Doing Here? with Project: Project, and the Boston Theatre Marathon. She has also worked with The One-Minute Play Festival, Happy Medium Theatre, Heart and Dagger Productions, Boston Lyric Opera, and the Mill 6 Collaborative, among others. She is the Artistic Director and co-founder of Fresh Ink Theatre Company, which focuses on developing and producing new scripts with New England area playwrights, and co-founder of Project: Project, a troupe producing ensemble-created, original stories that combine scripted material with improvisation. Louise has a BA in Theatre from Connecticut College and studied at the British American Drama Academy.

Nina Louise Morrison (Co-Lead Playwright, P:P Core Member) is a playwright, director and actor. She is a Huntington Playwriting Fellow, a member of Project: Project and Accomplice Writers. Her plays have been read and produced by the One-Minute Play Festival, Company One, Fresh Ink Theatre, 20% Theatre Company, Kitchen Theatre Company, Wax Wings, Bostonia Bohemia and Interim Writers. She was a semi-finalist for the 2014 National Playwrights Conference and she is the recipient of a Richard Rodgers Fellowship and a Shubert Foundation grant. Before moving to Boston, Nina was the Senior Program Associate at the Philadelphia Theater Initiative. She also trained at the National Theatre Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center, the New Actors Workshop, and Oberlin College. She currently teaches at the University of New Hampshire, Mount Ida College and GrubStreet. She received her MFA from Columbia University.

Jeffrey Mosser (Director, P:P Founder, Core Member) Project: Project: How May I Connect You? (Or, Scenes in a Key of D:) and What Are You Doing Here?, Actors Theatre of Louisville: Theatre for Two: The Wedding Party, Imagination, The Threepenny Space Opera. Bad Habit Productions: 44 Plays for 44 Presidents. Fresh Ink Theatre: Girls' Sports. Otherside Productions: T: An MBTA Musical. Footlight Club: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. Jeffrey has trained with Pig Iron Theatre Company, Liz Lerman, Augusto Boal, ImprovBoston, Dominique Serrand, Giovanni Fusetti, Double Edge Theater, and the inmates from Shakespeare Behind Bars located within Luther Luckett medium-security prison... but my favorite place to be is in the theatre with you. Thank you, Louise, Nina, Cecelia, and Alli. Thank you, you generous artists all. Thank you, Boston.

Cecelia Raker (Co-Lead Playwright, P:P Core Member) is playwright, director, and dramaturg. Her new piece dry bones rising premiered at Venus Theatre in Laurel MD last month, and she is a 2015 finalist for the Massachusetts Cultural Council's Artist Fellowship in Dramatic Writing. Her work has been developed and produced with One Bird Productions, the Boston Theater Marathon, the Great Plains Theater Conference Playlab, the ART's Loeb Experimental Theater, Harvard Playwrights' Festival, The One-Minute Play Festival, Bostonia Bohemia, Company One, and a variety of other venues. Cecelia has recently directed plays for Bostonia Bohemia and Sleeping Weazel. She also teaches at Beaver Country Day School and holds an AB in Theater Arts from Harvard College. Thanks the amazing P:P Core for an awesome ride, and to Ben for all his continued support and love. ceceliaraker.tumblr.com

1. A Phobic Folklorist Fugues the Fuck Out.

Performances:

Friday, June 19, 8:00pm

Saturday, June 20, 2:00pm

Saturday, June 20, 8:00pm

Sunday, June 21, 2:00pm

Thursday, June 25, 8:00pm

Friday, June 26, 8:00pm

Saturday, June 27, 2:00pm

Saturday, June 27, 8:00pm

Sunday, June 28, 2:00pm

Location: Boston Playwrights' Theatre, 949 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02115

Tickets: $20; Online: web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/946932; By Phone: 866-811-4111; At the door at the Boston Playwrights' Theatre (949 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston)

Cast:

Scot Colford - Wilhelm, Ensemble

Lauren Foster - Princess, Dragon Professor, Ensemble

Caitlin Gjerdrum - Chambermaid, Ensemble

Gabriel Graetz - Jacob, Ensemble

Louise Hamill - Charlotte

Laurel Hill - Boy, Ensemble

Adam Thenhaus, Half Man, Innkeeper, Ensemble

Production and Design Team:

Director - Jeffrey Mosser

SM - Walker Allison

ASM - Lori Niquette

Choreography - Alli Engelsma-Mosser

Set - Marc Ewart

Lights - Ian King

Costumes - Sarah Winters

Sound - Lindsey Anderson

Lead Playwrights - Nina Louise Morrison, Cecelia Raker

Project: Project is a troupe producing ensemble-created, original stories that combine scripted material with improvisation. Preferring creating to interpreting, P:P explores and experiments with form, storytelling, and the role of the audience.

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