Burning Coal Theatre Company to Host Politheatrics 2012, 6/28-7/8

A festival of devised work centering on the theme of politics from across the southeastern United States and beyond, June 28 – July 8, 2012 at Burning Coal Theatre Company's Murphey School Auditorium, 224 Polk Street, Raleigh, North Carolina. All tickets to all performances $5. No reservations necessary. For further information, call 919-834-4001 or visit us online at www.burningcoal.org. A complete listing of performances and events will be forthcoming.

Politheatrics features:
Haymaker of Durham, NC
force/collision of Washington, DC
Neutral Ground Ensemble of New Orleans, LA
Awkward Elephant Project of Pittsburgh, PA
Urban Garden of Raleigh, NC
Machine Theatre of Charlotte, NC
Anna Jones of London/New York

Urban Garden Performing Arts, performing Mark Twain Joan of Arc, is local to Raleigh and dedicated to cross-pollinating arts audiences and practitioners. Since 2004 Urban Garden has produced 12 original live arts events in Indianapolis, IN, London, UK and Raleigh, NC. They are planning their first full scale season in the Triangle for the coming year. For more info visit www.urbangardenpa.org. The show features live music and original songs by the band, Bevel Summers.

Awkward Elephant Project, presenting BLACKOUT, aims to present original theatre and ensemble work relevant and applicable for the progressive audience. Founded by Alex Tobey, its work often explores taboo and controversial topics difficult to explore and receive, but always prompting a necessary dialogue with the self, the audience, and the artists. Awkward Elephant Project premiered as Necessary Dialogue in 2010 with columbinus, and will produce Daniel Talbott's Slipping in December.

3. force/collision, presenting SHAPE, is an interdisciplinary contingent of artists/collaborators whose mission is the creation of new performance works. Based in Washington, D.C., force/collision was created by theatre director John Moletress for the purpose of bringing together artists of mixed disciplines in order to spark dialogue and create space for the presentation of new work. The force/collision ensemble is John Moletress, Sue Jin Song, Collin Ranney, Karin Rosnizeck, Daniel Paul Lawson, Frank Britton, Ilana Faye Silverstein and Dane Figueroa Edidi. Associate artists include Erik Ehn and Erica Rebollar/Rebollar Dance. Force-collision.org

SHAPE, by Erik Ehn, is set in 1900 Ambrose Park, Brooklyn when it witnessed a vast spectacle of vaudeville dances, variety acts, folklore and songs with a cast of 500 African-Americans in the show Black America. In 1921, the Tulsa Race Riot destroyed the African-American community of Greenwood leaving close to 300 dead. Based loosely on the biographies of African-American vaudevillians Billy and Cordelia McClain, SHAPE concerns the life and labors of vaudevillian fairies exploited for their historical songs and dances, used by the dominant culture and abandoned at times of great need. force/collision will create a devised work which concerns the historical record of early 20th century African-American performance with text by associate artist Erik Ehn.

4. Neutral Ground Ensemble, based in New Orleans and presenting CHILDREN IN THE DARK, is made up of young artists. Its artistic vision is one that seeks the truth in art as performance. It looks for a new path in every single piece. CHILDREN IN THE DARK happens upon an old self-tortured soul, a group of ghosts enter into the man's head with hopes of providing some relief. This look at catharsis and fear is a theatrical experience through one man's American mind. 

Haymaker, performing FEDERAL BUDGET, is a performance company based in Durham, N.C., producing original work by collaging found texts and personal experiences. LIVING WITH THE TIGER (October 2011) marked Haymaker's premiere production in Durham, and was written and performed by its three principal artists, Akiva Fox, Emily Hill, and Dan VanHoozer.

Machine Theatre, presenting MUM'S THE WORD, has been creating new works for the stage, as well as curating and presenting up-and-coming playwrights/creators from the piedmont. The Machine has become known for a blend of slapstick comedy, acrobatics and storytelling that places the performer/spectator relationship at the center of the theatrical event.

MUM'S THE WORD is a fractured comic fever dream of a performance. MUM'S THE WORD brings privilegEd White suburbanites and African child soldiers into each other's orbit in MT's award winning satire of race, politics and family in the New South.

Anna Jones is a freelance theatre director and maker. She is currently under commission to the London Sinfonietta to devise a new piece based on the Greek myth of Persephone with puppeteer Seonaid Goody and composer Elspeth Brooke.

Anna's directing work in New York has been seen at Theaterlab, The Culture Project, The Brick Theater and in many site-specific venues, including a former coffin factory in Brooklyn and on Governor's Island for Figment. In the UK, she has devised and directed work at The Roundhouse
Studio, Cambridge Arts Theatre, Battersea Arts Centre and Southwark Playhouse.

From 2007-2009 Anna ran Bone Orchard theatre company and directed/devised five original productions, including TIMES 365:24:7 ("a teeming mosaic", New York Times) about the 24 hour nature of the news with the input of over 20 New York based journalists. She is now co-Artistic Director of NYLon Productions, a theatre company dedicated to telling powerful, timely stories and creating a bridge between the New York and London theatre scenes.

Anna has devised new work with children for England's National Theatre: Discover and taught directing workshops for teenagers at The Old Vic in London and has been a Teaching Artist for The New Victory Theater, the West Side YMCA and The Center for Arts Education in New York.
Anna trained at Cambridge University and the Yale School of Drama.

Ms. Jones will conduct a workshop on Approaches to Devising – Exploring Process on Saturday, June 30th from noon to 4 pm. Further details about the workshop will be forthcoming.

To post a comment, you must register and login.