​​Rattlestick Theater And New York Theatre Salon Announce Additional Programming For GLOBAL FORMS THEATER FESTIVAL

Today, Rattlestick Theater and New York Theatre Salon announced additional programming and schedule for the fourth edition of the Global Forms Theater Festival (GFTF) - an eleven-day celebration filled with workshop productions, online panel discussions, and more.

The festival, which showcases and supports the works of immigrant theater artists living in the United States, explores humanity, freedom, home, and isolationism through a multicultural lens. The four main offerings include: Global Stage (in-person workshop presentations), Global Learn (virtual knowledge-sharing sessions), Global Gab (virtual panel discussions), and Global Share (artist video series).

Global Learn - (Knowledge-sharing sessions)

Global Learn is a series of three virtual Knowledge-Sharing Sessions curated around this year's GFTF theme, Green Theater. Presented over Zoom, these educational workshops will be delivered by a range of immigrant artists from all over the world, exploring the intersections of design, movement, and healing through a climate lens. Curated by immigrant artist and producer James Clements (Scotland), these workshops are designed to inform, excite, and connect.

Dance Heals (RSVP HERE)

Hosted by Song Ravinan (Thailand)
Tue, June 6, 7 PM ET (via Zoom)
Dance heals! This workshop will explore working with movement, metaphor, and meaning through Daria Halprin's exercises. The workshop asks how to use our expressive bodies in life, art, and therapy. The participants will navigate the breath and its relation to the Earth, our emotions, and how it affects our movement. The discovery in mirroring the life force and acknowledging our needs and wants through the elements of nature. (Suggested: participants should wear attire that is comfortable for them to move in)

Sustainable Set Design (RSVP HERE)

Hosted by Derya Celikkol (Turkey)
Wed, June 7, 11 AM ET (via Zoom)
In this workshop, actor and production designer Derya Celikkol will talk about what artists can do to create a sustainable set design for both the stage and film. The workshop will cover resources for second hand sourcing, DIY props/sets from recycled/found materials and how to sustainably donate/sell/reuse materials when a project is finished. Celikkol will ask artists to prepare real/imaginary projects in order to implement what they have learned into practical terms in real time.

Decolonizing the Costume Process (RSVP HERE)

Hosted by Hahnji Jang (South Korea)
Thurs, June 8, 3 PM ET (via Zoom)
Working with designer and activist Hahnji Jang, learn how to approach costume design and costume making with sustainability, intersectional identity and decolonization in mind. Local sustainable costume resources will be covered in addition to broader costume strategies to affirm the individuals & characters you are dressing.

Global Share - (Artist video series)

Global Share presents a series of artist-made videos that showcase distinctive aspects of their cultures. These videos both celebrate cultural practices and incorporate this year's environmental theme. Curated by immigrant artist Dorothea Gloria (Philippines), the Global Share videos offer an immersive experience into the fascinating traditions and environmentally conscious practices of different countries. This year's artists include Hari Bhaskar (India), Anna Cherkezishvili (Georgia), Josh Bromfield Davis (Australia), Dorothea Gloria (Philippines), Maximilian Johnsson (Sweden), Mariia (Masha) Makutonina (Ukraine), Gilda Mercado (Mexico), Joseph Obel (Kenya), Annasole Podestà (Italy), and Giorgia Valenti (Italy). Topics vary from cooking traditional Italian soups to creation of traditional Kenya instruments to discovering Mexico's climate ecosystem and diversity. These captivating and educational videos by International Artists are part of Global Share's commitment to fostering cultural exchange and environmental consciousness. Join us and celebrate these global traditions by viewing these videos, which will be available on Rattlestick's facebook during the festival. Learn more here.

Global Gab - (Panel discussions)

Global Gab is a virtual, cross-cultural conversation series. Currently in its 3rd season at Rattlestick, Global Gab continues to bring relevant and thought-provoking conversations to the immigrant artist community. This series is curated and hosted by Jody Doo (Singapore).

Intersection of Storytelling and Climate Crisis (RSVP HERE)

Hosted by Jody Doo (Singapore)
Featuring panelists Chantal Bilodeau (Canada), Una Chaudhuri (India), Alex Rugman (UK)
Mon, June 5, 7 PM ET (via Zoom)
The first Global Gab session of this year's GFTF takes a deep dive into "Green Theater." Are eco-themed productions just a fad or an important tool in combating the climate crisis? Can plays actually blend characters and plot with meaningful messages about our environment? And most importantly, how can productions make lasting impacts, from our local communities to across the globe? Our panelists are passionate about addressing the climate crisis and the crucial role that theater and storytelling can play in this fight.

Creating Sustainable Theater (RSVP HERE)

Hosted by Jody Doo (Singapore)
Featuring panelists Nana Dakin (Thailand), Alejandro Fajardo (Colombia), Tianding He (China)
Wed, June 7, 7 PM ET (via Zoom)
How can theater-makers balance their desire to create show-stopping productions while also minimizing their carbon footprint? What is our responsibility to Mother Earth? And how can we protect our precious resources while doing every story justice. And whose responsibility is it to Create Sustainable Theater then? We have invited theater makers from a plethora of disciplines to tackle this gab-worthy topic together.

Global Learn, Global Gab, and Global Share join the previously announced Global Stage (Workshop Productions):

The Discarded (RSVP HERE)

By Tianding He (China)
Showing Thurs, June 1, 7:30 PM ET, Fri, June 2, 7:30 PM ET and Sat, June 3, 7:30 PM ET
The Discarded is a thought-provoking, experimental, work-in-progress performance that combines live theater, object performance, and multimedia installations to shed light on the impact of waste and migration on individuals and communities. Inspired by the themes of George Büchner's Woyzeck, The Discarded presents a poetic and experimental performance that explores the intertwined journey of a piece of garbage used by a New Yorker and sold to developing Asian countries to become new products, and an Asian immigrant who immigrated to New York and eventually becomes a garbage collector. Both of them travel across the globe, experiencing deconstruction, ambition, self-doubt, and revelation. These two stories seem unrelated at first, but as the journey goes on, their trajectories begin to overlap. The performance invites the audience to engage with the characters on a deeper, more personal level, as they confront the realities of waste, migration, and the human condition.

The Sacrifice of Cassamba Becker (RSVP HERE)

By João Victor Toledo (Brazil)
Showing Thurs, June 8, 7:30 PM ET, Sat, June 10, 2 PM ET, Sat, June 10, 7:30 PM ET
Conceived during the global coronavirus pandemic, The Sacrifice of Cassamba Becker is a one man show written and performed by João Victor Toledo (Brazil). The play, whose central character is Cassamba Becker, the grande dame of Brazilian theater that made a dump on some beach in Brazil her home, discusses urgent issues such as poverty, consumerism, global warming, and political crisis. The Sacrifice of Cassamba Becker is at heart a political-marginal imagination that wants to rethink the present moment to envision something broader and sexier, in order to transform the garbage of the world into housing, sacrifice into freedom, and thus imagine a place where it is finally worth living.

Steppe (RSVP HERE)

By Mariia (Masha) Makutonina (Ukraine)
Showing Fri, June 9, 7:30 PM ET, Sun, June 11, 2 PM ET, Sun, June 11, 7:30 PM ET
Steppe is a one-act play that tells an intergenerational story of an unexpected friendship against the backdrop of an ecological disaster. The story is inspired by the effects of war in Ukraine on the Chalk Flora Nature Reserve and the unexpected revelations that appear in places of purgatory. In a lobby of an administrative government office, partially under reconstruction, two people wait. Dmytro is a 50-year-old environmentalist who has been taking care of Kreidova Flora Nature Reserve in Ukraine before the war forced him to leave. Daryna is an economics student who is here to obtain her indefinite stay. Over the course of three brief visits to the government center, they strike an unexpected friendship.

All events are free to the public. GFTF events are open to the public from zero dollars to pay-what-you-wish. Rattlestick's Patron Program fuels our season of brave and transformative works that speak to the most pressing issues facing our global community. For more information visit: https://www.rattlestick.org/membership. Additional information on the Global Forms Theater Festival and ticket sales can be found here: https://www.rattlestick.org/global-forms.

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