Eco-Playwriting to Take Centerstage in 7th Annual BIG GREEN THEATER Festival

The Bushwick Starr will present BIG GREEN THEATER (BGT), an annual eco-playwriting program and green theater festival celebrating environmental education, sustainability in the arts, and community enrichment. In the 7th year of BGT, student playwrights from PS239 and PS075 are tackling the theme of climate change; more specifically, climate justice and the interconnectedness between local and global.

Created in collaboration with Superhero Clubhouse, the festival will play performances April 28 - 30 (Fri. at 8pm: $20 Special Benefit Performance; Sat. and Sun. at 1pm + 4pm: Free!).

BIG GREEN THEATER is a beloved community based program that brings the youth of Bushwick directly in touch with the professional world of theater. For a four-month period every year, The Bushwick Starr conducts an afterschool program with local 4th and 5th grade public school students, teaching them a combination of playwriting and environmental education. The young writers, a wonderful and lively group of 9-11 year-olds, devise a series of short "eco-plays" inspired by what they're learning, which are then presented at the BGT Festival. The plays are performed by an ensemble of professional actors, directors, and designers using only green theater methods (recycled materials for sets and costumes, fluorescent and LED lighting, paperless programming, etc.).

The theater is committed to being a part of community environmental awareness, and this program is our way of actively working toward change through a creative and interactive process. With BGT, we are introducing a new model for arts spaces to provide community-driven green initiatives that serve a global cause.

"The plays are little gems of creativity: From talking worms, to singing cormorants, to hurricanes personified as characters, they burst with imagination and show a deep concern for the world and the creatures that inhabit it. At The Bushwick Starr, Superhero Clubhouse crafts eco-theatre with Brooklyn students, fighting climate change one play at a time." - American Theatre Magazine

BIG GREEN THEATER is directed by Jeremy Pickard; Lighting design by Jay Maury; Sound design by Almeda Beynon; Songs Composed by Wesley Zurick; Set design by Michael Minahan; Costume design by Preesa Bullington; Production Manager: Lico Whitfield.

Performances take place at The Bushwick Starr theater, located at 207 Starr Street, Brooklyn, NY [between Irving and Wyckoff]. Directions: Via Subway take the L Train to Jefferson Street, exit at Starr Street, walk against traffic on Starr, and the theater is 3/4 of a block on the right. For detailed driving directions, visit: www.thebushwickstarr.org/DIRECTIONS. Ticket reservations can be made at www.thebushwickstarr.org.

Superhero Clubhouse (SHC) is a sustainable collective of theater artists and environmental advocates. We believe that individuals possess the power to make positive change, and consider those working for the betterment of the earth to be heroes of our time. We make original eco-plays via a collaborative, green and rigorous process. Through the creation of allegorical mythologies, experiments in storytelling and science-inspired events, we work to ignite environmental conversations among audiences and communities in order to revolutionize theater and save the world.

SHC is an equal partner in the BIG GREEN THEATER program. Each year, we collaborate with SHC's "Captain", Jeremy Pickard, and his troupe to develop and implement the kids' writing portion, as well as bringing their words to the stage by creating the culminating performance festival. SHC has years of experience with creating youth-based green theater as a means for environmental education. We are thrilled to have them lend their expertise and creativity to this program.

The Bushwick Starr is an Obie Award winning non profit theater that presents an annual Season of new performance work. We are an organization defined by both our artists and our community, and since 2007, we have grown into a thriving theatrical venue, a vital neighborhood arts center, and a destination for exciting and engaging performance. We provide a springboard for emerging professional artists to make career-defining leaps, and we are a sanctuary where established performance companies come to experiment and innovate. Our past Seasons have included new work from groundbreaking artists such as The Mad Ones, Clare Barron, Dave Malloy, The Debate Society, the TEAM, and Half Straddle.

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