The Civilians (Steven Cosson, Artistic Director), the acclaimed Brooklyn-based investigative theater company, will return to Colorado Springs with their lauded production of This Beautiful City following acclaimed engagements across the country. The Civilians' company members Emily Ackerman, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Matt Dellapina, Brad Heberlee, Robbie Collier Sublett and Alison Weller will perform the show for 3 performances only on December 4 and 5 at 7:00 p.m. and December 6 at 2:00 p.m. at South Theater on the Colorado College campus. All performances are free and will be followed by post-show talkbacks with performers and members of the community. This special return engagement is hosted by Colorado College and KRCC (Southern Colorado Public Radio).
"Our interaction with the community of Colorado Springs was a profound and life changing experience for all of us in the company," explained Artistic Director and co-writer Steven Cosson. "This connection to the Springs has stayed with us in spirit as we've produced the show around the country and we are delighted to come back in person to share our work with the people who inspired it."
This Beautiful City is a play with music, created from interviews with actual persons, that explores the Evangelical movement and its unofficial U.S. capital. Because of the presence of several national Evangelical headquarters, the influential megachurch New Life (formerly led by Ted Haggard), and numerous and diverse churches, questions surrounding religion and civic concerns are brought to the foreground of everyday life in this city. The Civilians' project looks at Colorado Springs as a microcosm of issues facing the country as a whole-the shifting line between church and state, changing ideas about the nature of Christianity and how different beliefs can either coexist or conflict within a community.
In keeping with the company's focus on investigative theatre, the group compiled hundreds of hours of interviews over the course of 10 weeks in Colorado Springs. Every leading church in the area participated in the project, as did numerous civic organizations, progressive activists and individuals from all walks of life. An initial presentation took place at Colorado College in February, 2007 with the title Save This City. This Beautiful City was further developed at the Sundance Theatre Lab in the Summer of 2007 and premiered at the Humana Festival for New American Plays in Louisville, KY and Washington, DC's Studio Theatre. Major productions have subsequently been mounted at Los Angeles' Kirk Douglas Theatre and at New York City's Vineyard Theatre. These return performances will be the first time that many of the original interviewed residents will see the final version of the play onstage.
This Beautiful City was written by Steven Cosson and Jim Lewis from interviews conducted by the Company, is directed by Steven Cosson and features Music and Lyrics by Michael Friedman.
Founded in 2001 by Steven Cosson, The Civilians is an investigative theater company, creating new work from the creative exploration of real life. Working with a dynamic combination of journalism and art, The Civilians creates theatrical events that promote an inquisitive curiosity about the world and an engagement with the most vital questions of the present. The Civilians has created nine original works that have been produced Off Broadway and in over 40 cities nationally and internationally, at theaters such as The Public Theater, Center Theatre Group, La Jolla Playhouse, A.R.T., HBO's US Comedy Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival, London's Soho Theatre, and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (Fringe First Award, 2006). The company's recent work, This Beautiful City enjoyed a critically-acclaimed Off-Broadway run at the Vineyard Theater in 2009 receiving Lucille Lortel, Drama League and Drama Desk nominations and the long-running hit Gone Missing ran for seven months at Off-Broadway's Barrow Street Theater and was cited by The New York Times as one of the "10 Best Plays of 2007." In addition to this project, The Civilians are deeply involved in their newest work about the Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn and The Great Immensity, about the environmental crisis and climate change. www.thecivilians.org
For more information and to view audio and sound clips of This Beautiful City, visit www.thecivilians.org.
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