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Theatre creates locally-based work for a multigenerational audience
Hyattsville Maryland, November 15, 2006:
Mary Resing and Jessica Burgess announced today that they have formed a new company, Active Cultures, the vernacular theatre of Maryland. Based in the urban, inner-Beltway communities of Northern Prince Georges County, Active Cultures will become the first theatre component in the Gateway Arts District, centered on Rt. One. The mission of the company is to create smart and juicy theatre for a diverse, multigenerational audience.
The theatre was created to address a need in American theatre. "American theatre has become so generic" says Ms. Resing, "The same plays are done all around the country, in exactly the same way. A theatre in Seattle might produce exactly the same season of plays as a theatre in Lakeland, Florida. And most of those plays were written by men sitting in their apartments in New York. We want to change that." Active Cultures will develop and produce plays which are deeply entwined with local interests and artists. "We start with a sliver of an idea, a moment, a story, that seems important to the people around us", says Resing, "Then we find artists who connect with the idea and expand it into a theatre piece."
Active Cultures will produce its first work, a new musical called HANSEL AND GRETEL EAT CRABS, in late January 2007. HANSEL AND GRETEL EAT CRABS explores the fears of parents in an exurban age. Details will follow in a separate press release.
Founder Mary Resing will serve as artistic director while founder Jessica Burgess will join the board and serve as an artistic advisor. Mary Resing was in the literary office of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in DC for 8 years, most recently serving as director of New Play Development. While there, she oversaw the development of 15 new works for the stage, including GRACE by Craig Wright and WONDER OF THE WORLD by David Lindsay Abaire. She recently returned from a stint as a US Fulbright scholar to Armenia, where she worked with HighFest, an international theatre festival. Jessica Burgess is artistic director of the Hatchery Festival, a summer festival of new works, and recently co-produced the Beckett Centenary Festival. Last year, she directly a wildly popular production of BEARD OF AVON at Rorschach Theatre in DC and a Bunraku-inspired version of the UGLY DUCKLING at Adventure Theatre.
FOR RELEASE 9 A.M. EST, NOVEMBER 15, 2006
Contact: Mary Resing
Active Cultures Theatre
Phone: (301) 526-9921
4411 Underwood Street
University Park, Maryland
www.activecultures.org
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