Woolly Mammoth Announces Programming Surrounding CLYBOURNE PARK

Last year, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company's production of Clybourne Park launched the theatre's connectivity initiative, which aims to bring uniquely designed audiences to each production to expand and deepen the conversation engendered by the play. Events around Clybourne Park included widespread online conversation around the show- initiated by neighborhood bloggers-as well as Audience Exchanges and Mammoth Forums with DC community members.

Following the momentum of last year's intense conversations related to race and gentrification in DC, Woolly has programmed an unprecedented schedule of special guests including journalists, city leaders, artists, professors, and local business owners to spark post-show discussions with audience members. There will be a post-show activity scheduled for every performance during the run of Clybourne Park from July 21 - August 14, 2011. All post-show events are free, and attendance at the performance prior to a post-show activity is not required.

Clybourne Park has received national and international awards recognition, including playwright Bruce Norris' 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, as well as the 2011 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play, and the 2011 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Resident Play and Outstanding Director.

In the 1950's, a white community in Chicago splinters over the black family about to move into their neighborhood. Fast forward to present day: as we climb through the looking glass of Lorraine Hansberry's classic A Raisin in the Sun, the same house now represents very different demographics. Neighbors pitch a horrifying yet hilarious battle over territory and legacy that reveals how far our ideas about race and gentrification have evolved-or have they?

Post-Show Formats:

Audience Exchanges
Each invited guest joins a Woolly facilitator on stage immediately after a performance to jump-start an audience-wide conversation by sharing their personal reflections on the show and its themes. Audience Exchanges are scheduled to follow all evening performances of Clybourne Park (Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays).

Mammoth Forums
Town-hall style discussions featuring a panel of guests who will share their insights and explore a topic the production examines. Mammoth Forums are scheduled to follow the Sunday matinee performances of Clybourne Park and last approximately one hour.

Artistic Forums
Dynamic dialogues featuring local artists from a range of disciplines that are creating work which examines aspects of their community. Artistic Forums are scheduled to follow the Saturday matinee performances of Clybourne Park and last approximately one hour.

Post-Show Schedule:

· Thursday, July 21st following the 8pm performance

Audience Exchange featuring David Hilfiker, author of Urban Injustice: How Ghettos Happen and founder of Joseph's House.

· Friday, July 22nd following the 8pm performance

Audience Exchange, guest to be announced.

· Saturday, July 23rd following the 3pm performance

Artistic Forum featuring Danny Harris, writer and photographer, People's District.

· Saturday, July 23rd following the 8pm performance

Audience Exchange featuring Sarah Browning, Director of Split This Rock.

· Sunday, July 24th following the 2pm performance

Audience Exchange featuring Howell S. Baum, professor at the University of Maryland School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation and author oF Brown in Baltimore; School Desegregation and the Limits of Liberalism.

· Sunday, July 24th following the 7pm performance

Audience Exchange, guest to be announced.

· Wednesday, July 27th following the 8pm performance

Audience Exchange, featuring Erricka Bridgeford, Director of Training at Community Mediation Maryland.

· Thursday, July 28th following the 8pm performance

Audience Exchange, guest to be announced.

· Friday, July 29th following the 8pm performance

Audience Exchange, featuring Kristin Leahey, Production Dramaturg of the 2010 production of Clybourne Park at Woolly.

· Saturday, July 30th following the 3pm performance

Artistic Forum, guest to be announced.

· Saturday, July 30th following the 8pm performance

Audience Exchange, guest to be announced.

· Sunday, July 31st following the 3pm performance

Mammoth Forum "Media as Storyteller" featuring:

o Lydia DePillis, author of "Housing Complex" blog for the Washington City Paper.

o Shani Hilton, author of Confessions of a Black Gentrifier.

· Wednesday, August 3rd following the 8pm performance

Audience Exchange, featuring James Sykes, member of the US Veterans Inc. community.

· Thursday, August 4th following the 8pm performance

Audience Exchange, featuring Elhae Izadi reporter for WAMU's DCentric.

· Friday, August 5th following the 8pm performance

Audience Exchange, featuring Sylvia Robinson, General Manager of Emergence Community Arts Collective.

· Saturday, August 6th following the 3pm performance

Artistic Forum featuring Tendani Mpulubusi, documentary filmmaker (Barry Farm: Past and Present).

· Saturday, August 6th following the 8pm performance

Audience Exchange, featuring Antoinette Ford and members of the Double Nickels Theatre Company.

· Sunday, August 7th following the 3pm performance

Mammoth Forum "Gentrification is..." featuring:

o Justin Maher, PhD candidate in American Studies at the University of Maryland.

o Edward Jones, long-time resident of Bloomingdale neighborhood.

· Wednesday, August 10th following the 8pm performance

Audience Exchange, featuring Anu Yadev, artist and activist.

· Thursday, August 11th following the 8pm performance

Audience Exchange, guest to be announced.

· Friday, August 12th following the 8pm performance

Audience Exchange, guest to be announced.

· Saturday, August 13th following the 3pm performance

Artistic Forum featuring Abel Lopez, Artistic Director of GALA Hispanic Theatre.

· Saturday, August 13th following the 8pm performance

Audience Exchange, guest to be announced.

· Sunday, August 14th following the 3pm performance

Mammoth Forum "What do you work for?" featuring:

o John Chambers, Founder and Chief Executive Gardener of BloomBars.

o Acacia Salatti, Deputy Director of the Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

ONLINE ENGAGEMENT

Blogs and Podcasts
During the run of Clybourne Park, Woolly will produce an engaging series of blogs and podcasts that will highlight the themes of race and gentrification found in the play. Woolly blog posts will appear twice a week with podcasts every other week, featuring a special series entitled "Conversations Between Neighbors," which explores the ways that members of a community interact and the dialogue that goes on between them. The Woolly Blog can be found at woollymammothblog.com, and all Radio Woolly podcasts are available for download on iTunes.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
Clybourne Park runs July 21 - August 14, 2011; Wednesdays - Saturdays at 8pm, Saturdays and Sundays at 3pm. There will be one Pay-What-You-Can performance on Thursday, July 21st. *Sunday, July 24th performances will be at 2pm and 7pm.

TICKETS
Tickets for Clybourne Park start at $45 and can be purchased through the Woolly Mammoth Box Office at 202-393-3939, online at woollymammoth.net, or in person at 641 D Street, NW (7th & D). For directions and parking information, please visit www.woollymammoth.net.

ABOUT WOOLLY
Now in its 31st Season, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company continues to hold its place at the leading edge of American theatre. Acknowledged as "the hottest theatre company in town" (The Washington Post), "known for its productions of innovative new plays" (The New York Times), Woolly Mammoth is a national leader in the development of new plays, and one of the best known and most influential mid-sized theatres in America.

Woolly Mammoth is a selected participant in EmcArts' Innovation Lab for the Performing Arts, a program generously funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

 

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