A.C.T. to Host First New Strands Festival in January

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.)'s Director of New Works, Beatrice Basso, announced today A.C.T.'s first-ever New Strands Festival at A.C.T.'s Strand Theater (1127 Market Street, San Francisco) running January 21-24, 2016. Featuring new theatrical pieces, works in progress, readings, and experimental work by A.C.T.-commissioned local and national playwrights, renowned dance companies, musicians, animation artists, and more, the New Strands Festival enables artists and audiences to connect and collide, inspire each other, share and nurture one another's projects and nurture their artistry, and for artists to intersect with projects as they take shape and participate in the life of A.C.T.'s all-new performance venue. Performances at the New Strands Festival are free and open to the public. Reservations are strongly encouraged and will be available in early January 2016 at www.act-sf.org/newstrands.

New Strands is A.C.T.'s newly expanded commissioning and development program, devoted to supporting artists in the creation and completion of original theater for A.C.T.'s multiple performance venues. Year-round, A.C.T. offers artists and companies under commission mentorship, feedback, time, and space to work in ways that suit each project specifically, with the goal of seeing their creations on one of A.C.T.'s stages and beyond. From translations and adaptations to original work, A.C.T.'s commissions include interdisciplinary projects, San Francisco-inspired stories and pieces that have an international scope.

Says Basso: "The New Strands Festival was created as a way for local and national artists to present their works in progress and experiments to Bay Area audiences in an atmosphere of openness and collaboration. At its heart, the New Strands Festival is about sharing the artistic process with each other and the community and embracing diverse disciplines and perspectives. For four days this January, The Strand Theater will be activated from top to bottom, morning to night, with performances ranging from contemporary music experiments to readings of new works and everything in between. We look forward to offering this free event to audiences who are interested in seeing the artistic process come alive!"

The lineup for The New Strands Festival will include*:

• Works in progress by ZACCHO DANCE THEATRE
• A new collaboration by SHELDON SMITH, CAREY PERLOFF, and performers STEPHEN BUESCHER, GREGORY WALLACE, PETER ANDERSON, and BASIL TWIST
• A reading with author KHALED HOSSEINI and composer DAVID COULTER of A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS, being adapted for the stage by URSULA RANI SARMA
• Contemporary music experiments by BYRON AU YONG, LUCIANO CHESSA, and DOHEE LEE
• Readings by playwrights CHRISTINA ANDERSON and MELINDA LOPEZ
• Open lab with choreographer KEITH HENNESSY
• Solo animation show and LED screen video work by MIWA MATREYEK
• After-hours music by BANDA SIN NOMBRE, the creators of THE UNFORTUNATES, and Bay Area DJs

*A complete lineup and schedule will be announced in early January 2016.

The New Strands program is made possible by Hewlett Foundation's New Works Endowment, The Edgerton Foundation Fund for New American Theatre, and the Priscilla and Keith Geeslin New Strands Fund.

To post a comment, you must register and login.