Ato Essandoh to Host Colt Coeur's 6th Annual CELEBRATION OF PLAY-MAKING, 5/1

Ato Essandoh ("Vinyl" (HBO), Mother Courage and Her Children, Shakespeare in the Park) will join Adrienne Campbell-Holt (Cal in Camo, Colt Coeur & Rattlestick Plawrights Theater), Genesis Oliver (How to Live on Earth, Colt Coeur), Adam Harrington (How to Live on Earth, Colt Coeur), Eden Marryshow (Pass Over, Cherry Lane), and Anna Loyd Bradshaw in a performance of new plays by Brooklyn public school students ages 11 to 15. The event is the culmination of Colt Coeur's week-long theatre intensive offered free-of-charge to public school students. The evening will take place at JACK Theater, 505 ½ Waverly Avenue in Brooklyn and will begin with a 6:30pm performance, followed by a reception. The event is free and open to the public however reservations are encouraged. Email coltcoeur@gmail.com to rsvp.

Colt Coeur is a Brooklyn-based theater company founded in 2010. We contemplate questions that inspire us and devise theater pieces which respond to and engage with the world in which we live. Our original, story-driven, visceral theater straddles the line between mainstream and experimental, elevates design while valuing strong storytelling, and pulls you close and doesn't let go. Artistic Director Adrienne Campbell-Holt leads a 16-member ensemble of actors, playwrights and designers to nurture the next generation of theater artists through the development and production of new plays and by providing arts education in underserved NYC public schools. Over 6 years, Colt Coeur has produced 6 world premieres; developed 22 plays; and provided free arts education to 100+ students. Steven Levenson's SEVEN MINUTES IN HEAVEN was selected by Ars Nova for ANTFEST and ran for 3 weeks at HERE. Lucas Kavner's FISH EYE was included in NY Magazine's "Best of 2011." Eliza Clark's RECALL had a 4-week run at Wild Project. Nikole Beckwith's EVERYTHING IS OURS extended due to demand. Ruby Spiegel's DRY LAND made NYPost's Top 10 of 2014 list and MJ Kaufman's HOW TO LIVE ON EARTH was featured on MSNBC's "The Last Word." The company's latest world premiere, Cal in Camo, by William Francis Hoffman, runs May 6-June 12 in a co-production with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater.

Educational programming is personal for us, because we also attended under resourced urban schools and free community arts programs were our lifeline. From our free workshops to our full scale productions offered at low-ticket prices, we nurture the next generation of theater artists and attract diverse audiences. We forge an ongoing community dialogue through our Play Hotel series of workshops, open rehearsals, & free readings.

RSVP to coltcoeur@gmail.com. For more information go to: www.coltcoeur.org.

This program is made possible with public funds from the State of New York, the Decentralization

Program of the New York State Council on the Arts, administered in Kings County by Brooklyn Arts Council; and the New York City Department Of Cultural Affairs In Partnership With The City Council.