Orbiter 3 Presents BREATHE SMOKE: A New Play by Douglas Williams

at 8:00 pm.

Orbiter 3, the acclaimed theatre company helmed by some of Philadelphia's most renowned playwrights, will produce their fourth world premiere Breathe Smoke this October.

Written by Douglas Williams and directed by Orbiter 3's Artistic Director Maura Krause, Breathe Smoke experiments with a form of playwriting new to the company. The unique process for this upcoming production is one half devised -- a practice in which all of the play's action and dialogue is generated through intensive experimental workshops -- and one half composed by Williams.

"This method has been unlike any other play I've ever written," says Williams whose plays have premiered at Azuka Theatre and PlayPenn.

"Usually I'll write 80 or 90 pages completely on my own, bring that draft into a rehearsal room and start from there. Here we got a team together with just a hint of an idea and developed the play completely from scratch. We're all on our feet creating this world together, it feels so alive - and a lot less lonely from a playwriting perspective."

Breathe Smoke, a co-production with the Painted Bride Art Center in Old City, tells the story of a controversial and sometimes violent musician as he plans his final performance. The play, which at times evokes more of a concert environment than a traditional theatre-going experience, will also feature a fluid soundscape that changes from night to night. Director and Orbiter 3 founding member, Maura Krause, has been in workshops with Williams and the ensemble to guide the process towards a truly unique theatrical event. Krause says:

"It is so satisfying to create material with the performers, and then turn right around to work off the pages Doug has generated from that material. Our ensemble already feels very cohesive, which allows us to do incredible, intimate explorations of the personas people create, and our relationship to art. We've begun to hone in on this experience of banal humanity crashing up against the deeply felt pageantry of live music, and I feel enlivened by the possibilities we're exploring together within that."

In just their first season Orbiter 3 was nominated for seven Barrymore Awards, including the Virginia Brown Martin Award. Beginning last July and continuing through 2017, Orbiter 3 will produce seven new plays in the city of Philadelphia. In 2018, the collective will dissolve.

Breathe Smoke will feature Makoto Hirano, Anita Marie Holland, C. Kennedy, and Jaime Maseda. The production features scenic and prop design by Sara Outing, lighting by AnDrew Thompson, sound by Adriano Shaplin, as well as costume design by Rebecca Kanach.

Members of Orbiter 3 include Emily Acker, Lauren Feldman, Emma Goidel, Sam Henderson, James Ijames, Mary Tuomanen and Douglas Williams, the collective is led by Artistic Director Maura Krause.

To post a comment, you must register and login.