Highwood Theatre to Launch ONLY HUMAN: FINDING UNITY THROUGH DIVERSITY

Our planet is filled with diversity: race, age, social status, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs and political affiliation. But what is left when all of that is stripped away? The Highwood Theatre's second annual Open Source Theatre Project Only Human: Finding Unity through Diversity seeks to answer that question through the universal medium of art. The project consists of a variety of performances which will explore our connections to one another, revealing that despite our differences, we're all only human.

Building on the great success of last year's Open Source Theatre Project, Only Human: Finding Unity through Diversity highlights our multi-faceted and unique community. The performance series will focus on art - a medium that transcends the spectrum of human differences. Each evening will consist of performances by several local, professional artists and performance groups covering a range of genres - from dance and music, to improvisation, visual art, and film - creating an atmosphere that challenges the preconceived notions of a traditional theatre performance.

Audiences will have the opportunity to engage and respond over the course of the evening with their own creativity. "Artistic expression is a wonderful way to discover new things about yourself and each other. The Open Source Theatre Project allows people to create art based on their emotional reactions to the performances in an environment free from criticism and judgement. Creating art will start conversations and open people up to each other's ideas and reactions to the performances," Executive Director Kevin Kearney explains.

The audience, divided into groups, will rotate through several different performance spaces, allowing them to engage with one another between performances. Over the course of the evening, the audience will become a more cohesive community, learning about themselves and each other as they express their thoughts, feelings and emotions through their own forms of art. Artistic Director Matt Nicola is enthusiastic about the performers, "We're really excited to be welcoming these artists to Highwood and we're looking forward to the conversations generated by each unique performance." Some of the artists and performance groups include jazz musicians, stand up comedians, filmmakers, folk dancers, musical improv ensembles, painters and more.

Only Human: Finding Unity through Diversity runs July 10th - 19th and is part of Highwood's 2014 - 2015 Mainstage Season, The Human Network - exploring our stories, emotions, and connections to one another. It is being produced by Your Theatre division, which is dedicated to producing high-quality professional theatre productions with mixed teams of talented adult and student actors.

Directions to The Highwood Theatre in Silver Spring

The Highwood Theatre in Silver Spring is located at 914 Silver Spring Avenue, Suite 102. Street parking is available near the venue, and there is a county garage less than one block away. Parking is free on weekends. Arriving by metro? From the Silver Spring metro station (Red Line), head Northeast on Colesville Road toward Wayne Avenue. Turn right onto Wayne Avenue, Right onto Georgia Avenue, and left onto Silver Spring Avenue. The Highwood Theatre will be on your right. This route takes about ten minutes.

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