Horse Head Theatre Presents the Houston Premiere of CHURCH

Horse Head Theatre Co.'s (HH) Houston Premiere of CHURCH by Young Jean Lee & original immersive pre-show experience will be presented at The Heritage Society's historical 1891 St. John Church located in Sam Houston Park (Allen Parkway & Bagby) from August 4 - 20, 2017. The immersive experience begins at 7:30pm, CHURCH begins at 8pm.

An exuberant sermon delivered by an eccentric and nomadic congregation of reverends, CHURCH provokes and delights audiences with song, dance and testimony. Testing the expectations of the religious and non-religious alike, CHURCH aims to recharge one's concept of self. Horse Head strives to inspire empathy and engagement with new ideas. CHURCH boldly explores the idea of self knowledge, not only as a philosophical dilemma, but also as a call to action.

"Forget what you think you know about a play titled CHURCH," says director Jacey Little (Horse Head & Mildred's Umbrella), "This will be unlike any 'church' experience you've had. Playwright Young Jean Lee cleverly uses the language, devices and troupes of Christian faith to have an expressly secular conversation about identity-driven action."

By all accounts, CHURCH is a sermon. Complete with scripture, prayer, song, praise dance and a few surprises, Lee's fictional "Fellowship of Friends" congregation is brought to life by four performers: "Reverend Cris" (Cris Skelton: BooTown, Unity, Queensberry, Horse Head's "God" & "Fool Cop" from The Judgment of Fools), "Reverend Alli" (Alli Villines: Houston Grand Opera, Alley Theatre & SRO - Standing Room Only Productions), "Reverend Brittny" (Brittny Bush: Main Street & Classical Theatre Company), and "Reverend Margaret" (Texas Repertory, Mildred's Umbrella & The Landing Theatre).

CHURCH features original music by Musical Director & Composer Greg Cote (Catastrophic, Rec Room, Main Street); choreography from the "queen of curious locations,"Lydia Hance, the founding Executive and Artistic Director of Frame Dance; Lighting Design by J. Mitchell Cronin (Horse Head, Catastrophic, Main Street & Prague Shakespeare Co., The Ensemble, Classical Theatre Co.); Costume Design by Laura Moreno (Horse Head, Unity, Cone Man Running); Properties Design will be provided by Houston artist Justin Dunford (Red-handed Productions, Bobbindoctrin, Classical & Horse Head theatres ); and dramaturgy by Connor Woods (Houston Shakespeare Festival, CSz Houston, Comedy Sportz). Our production team includes Stage Manager Sydnee Davis (The Landing Theatre Co.), and Co-Production Managers Julia Claire Wallace (Experimental Action, Performance Art Lab, Continuum, Lone Star Explosion 2014) & Jana Whatley who are long-time collaborative Houston artists and organizers.

The theatrical performance CHURCH will be presented inside of The Heritage Society's (THS) historic and beautifully preserved 1891 St. John Church beginning at 8pm. A visually stunning feast of old and new, THS is located in Sam Houston Park, nestled in the downtown Houston skyline at Allen Parkway and Bagby. Originally located on Magnum Road, the 1891 St. John Church was rescued, restored and relocated by The Heritage Society in 1968. In addition to hosting Horse Head, THS is generous sponsor and community partner for this production.

Inspired by Lee's "The Fellowship of Friends" Horse Head will create an original, immersive experience. Preceding the performance, Sam Houston Park (Houston's oldest park) will be populated by actors and hands-on activities, offering audiences an optional, immersive experience designed to disarm expectations and welcome them to the world of the play. Contributors to this original work will be director Jacey Little, dramaturg Connor Woods; actors Danté Anderson (Houston Grand Opera, Standing Room Only), Dano Colón (Time to Quit! Theatre [Sweden], Rec Room, Company Onstage), Mai Le (Next Iteration, Queensbury, Firecracker Productions, The Landing Theatre Co.), Britney Walker-Merritte (Horse Head's 2017 Sensitive Guys, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, University of Arkansas MFA grad); and the Horse Head company artists.

In addition to drawing inspiration from Lee's CHURCH, Horse Head is inspired by Houston's own history, as traveling congregations are deeply rooted our city's formation. In the 1839 the Houston's Morning Star reported, "It is a source of much astonishment and of considerable severe comment upon the religious character of our city, that while we have a theater, a courthouse, a jail and even a capitol in Houston, we have not a single church." Today, Houston is home to approximately 2,000 religious buildings. For our pre-show work, Horse Head is inspired by this, Lee's work, Houston's history as showcased by THS' nine additional on-site historical buildings located in Sam Houston Park, and modern 2017 cultural phenomenons intersecting with faith & tradition.

"It is my hope that our audiences will leave Lee's CHURCH reinvigorated with love for themselves, for our community and all of mankind -- and, most importantly, that this vigor will propel them to act on their existing beliefs by tangibly contributing to our community," says Little.

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