Tag Archives: Gavin Witt

PRESS RELEASE: Single Carrot Theatre Hosts Continues Conversations Surrounding Lear

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Single Carrot Theatre Hosts Continues Conversations Surrounding Lear
Baltimore, MD – Single Carrot’s 11th Season is now open with its thought-provoking and
fast-paced regional premiere of Lear by Young Jean Lee. Like Shakespeare’s tragedy, Lee’s
text includes universal themes of family conflict, guilt, and madness; at the same time, it
takes a nuanced look race, wrestling with mortality, and the complex dynamics between
aging parents and their adult children. In the hope of continuing the conversations sparked by this vibrant production, Single Carrot will be hosting talkbacks with panelists from Morgan State University, Center Stage, the ACME Corporation, and Chesapeake
Shakespeare Company.
Race, Shakespeare, and Young Jean Lee
Sunday, October 15, following the 3pm performance
Join Gerrad Taylor of Chesapeake Shakespeare Company and Shirley Basfield-Dunlap of
Morgan State University for a discussion on the complex relationship between modern audiences and classical material. Share your thoughts on Young Jean Lee’s frenetic adaptation of Shakespeare’s famous tragedy, and engage with our panelists on issues of race, identity and performance.
Pride Night at Single Carrot Theatre!
Thursday, October 19, preceding the 8pm performance
Join us for cocktails, live pre-show music from Christen B, and a fabulous evening of theatre celebrating the 9th Annual LGBT Center Awareness Day! More about the artist: Christen B seamlessly blends electronic and acoustic instruments with transcendent vocals leaving listeners in a state of euphoria! This Baltimore native is changing the way people experience music. She allows the audience to watch as she masterfully layers unique sounds while looping them on the spot and leaving the crowd wanting more!
Adapting the Classics
Friday, October 20, following the 8pm performance
Join Gavin Witt of Center Stage and Lola Pierson and Stephen Nunns of The ACME Corporation as they discuss the complicated task of adapting famous classical texts for a modern audience. Nunns and Pierson collaborated last year on an original adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire, Stranger Kindness, which was recently named “Best Play” in City Paper’s Best of Baltimore Reader’s poll. Witt, along with Center Stage’s Kwame Kwei-Armah, is part of a national project to reimagine and update Shakespeare’s plays for a modern audience. Join them in a conversation on the nuanced process of bringing a well-known, perhaps beloved, text into the present.
About the Play:
Lear
By Young Jean Lee
Directed by Andrew Peters
Shakespearean drama meets millennial self-indulgence in this outlandish and driving take on King Lear. Boring, stuffy parents have been left for dead – consigning audiences to the not-so-tender mercies of a younger generation, a mix of heroes and villains indulging their own selfish whims. Despite sharp wits and sharper teeth, these Kardashian-esque kids are comically shallow, callous, and vain: more concerned with dancing and drama than their own doomed parents. But superficial pleasures can only reign for so long before their conscience catches up with them, unearthing ugly secrets, doubts, and fears. Regional premiere.
WHEN:
Previews: Wednesday, October 4 and Thursday, October 5 at 8pm
Running: October 6 – 29
Thursday- Saturday at 8pm
Sundays at 3pm
WHERE:
Single Carrot Theatre
2600 N. Howard Street
Baltimore, MD 21218
Entrance on 26th Street.
Free parking available in adjacent lot and on the street.
TICKETS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Tickets: $10-$29
Web: singlecarrot.com
Phone: 443-844-9253
Email: boxoffice(at)singlecarrot.com
Twitter: @singlecarrot
Instagram: @singlecarrot

PRESS RELEASE: Baltimore Center Stage Announces 2017 Play Lab Off Center Fall programming debut features local playwrights

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Baltimore Center Stage Announces 2017 Play Lab Off Center Fall programming debut features local playwrights
Baltimore—September 15, 2017. Baltimore Center Stage is pleased to announce the 2017/2018 debut of its Off Center programming with Play Lab on September 22-24, featuring To the Flame by Miranda Rose Hall and Handle It by Rachael Knoblauch.
Along with the previously announced productions of the 2017/18 Mainstage Season, Play Lab helps bring to life Center Stage’s “Season of Community,” where every program and production will explore the role of artists and institutions in building community. While the season’s opening production, The Christians, explores the role of leadership – particularly leadership involving “conflicting truths” – in building community, Play Lab takes a more literal approach to community engagement, inviting hometown artists Hall and Knoblauch to partner with theatergoers to develop their works.
“For the first time in the history of Play Labs, this fall will bring a double bill of two plays and two playwrights to Center Stage’s signature developmental workshop and reading series,” said Gavin Witt, Associate Director and Director of Dramaturgy. “And to bust our dramaturgical buttons with pride, both writers are what you’d call homegrown talents. It’s a pleasure to welcome these two dynamic young artists back into the building that they’ve made an artistic home—and to take the next step of this journey together.”
Attending a Play Lab provides attendees with a “behind the scenes” look at a playwright’s creative process. Audiences will appreciate each play’s exploration of challenging themes and the post-show “Talk Back” offering the opportunity to discuss the subject matter and development process. Play Lab also provides additional access to the newly renovated Calvert Street building, as these events are hosted in the historic Jay Andrus Rehearsal Hall.
Play Lab will be held on Friday and Saturday, September 22 and 23 at 7 pm and Sunday, September 24 at 2 pm, with all seats available for $10 ($5 for Center Stage members). A free open rehearsal will be held Saturday, September 23 at 2:30 pm. Both one-act plays will be read at each event and Center Stage’s ever popular complimentary Toast Bar will be open preceding the readings.
Additional Off Center programming, performed in Center Stage’s intimate and innovative new Third Space, will include White Rabbit Red Rabbit by Nassim Soleimanpour from December 12-23, and a new adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night on March 22-25. Twelfth Night will also reach a variety of traditionally underserved audiences in and around Baltimore during a two-week run by Center Stage’s touring Mobile Unit. For more information, visit www.centerstage.org or call the box office at 410.332.0033.
Play Lab is made possible by The Nathan and Suzanne Cohen Foundation Fund for Commissioning and Developing New Plays. Off Center is supported in part by a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC). To discover more about Maryland State Arts Council grants and how they impact Maryland’s arts sector, visit msac.org. Funding for the MSAC is also provided by the National Endowment for the Arts. Center Stage’s Season Sponsor is M&T Bank and the season is also made possible by The Shubert Foundation and the Baltimore County Commission on Arts and Sciences.

PRESS RELEASE: Baltimore Center Stage Announces The Christians Cast and Artistic Team – Center Stage launches its “Season of Community” with an examination of Leadership

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Baltimore Center Stage
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Baltimore—August 30, 2017. Baltimore Center Stage is pleased to announce the cast and artistic team for The Christians, the theater’s first production of the 2017/18 Season.
Christians Logo
The Christians launches a “season of community” at Baltimore Center Stage, where every program and production will explore the role of artists and institutions in building community. Prescient in its investigation of the commercialization of religion, The Christians, one of the most produced plays in recent years in the American regional theater, is a new play about the cost of challenging one’s beliefs, the responsibility of leadership, and the seemingly insurmountable distance that exists when people of strong convictions and common faith discover that they might not believe the same thing.
This production brings the community on stage via soul-stirring anthems from the New Psalmist Baptist Church Choir, the Greater Baltimore Church of Christ Choir and the Community Choir of Baltimore Center Stage.
“The Christians specifically examines leadership and faith. Faith is fundamentally what we have all been discussing since 9/11. The church in this play is a metaphor for our communities and our country.  What happens when you no longer trust those you have entrusted to lead you?” said Baltimore Center Stage Artistic Director Kwame Kwei-Armah. “I’m thrilled to bring this production to Baltimore and for Center Stage to serve as a convener of many more conversations about leadership … in Baltimore, in Maryland and in our country.”
The majestic set converts the historic Pearlstone Theater into a modern-day megachurch. Activities to engage theatergoers in conversation, such as “Table Talk” for impromptu, audience-driven conversations, as well as post-show panel discussions with leaders from different faiths and opportunities to meet the actors, will occur throughout the run.
The cast includes Lawrence Clayton* (Elder Jay), Jessiee Datino* (Jenny), Adam Gerber* (Associate Pastor Joshua), Howard W. Overshown* (Pastor Paul) and Nikkole Salter* (Elizabeth).
The artistic team includes Lucas Hnath (Playwright), Hana S. Sharif (Director), Mike Carnahan (Scenic Designer), Michael Alan Stein (Costume Designer), Jen Schriever (Lighting Designer), Hana S. Kim (Projection Designer),Gavin Witt (Production Dramaturg), Pat McCorkle, Katja Zarolinski, McCorkle Casting, Ltd. (Casting Director), Tiffany Fulson (Assistant Director), Nathan A. Roberts, Jaret Landon, Charles Coes (Original Music/Arrangements), Nathan A. Roberts, Charles Coes, (Sound Design) Jaret Landon (Music Director), Edward Goldstein (Music Contractor), Todd Harrison (Drums), Jaret Landon (Keyboards), Max Murray (Bass), Michael Raitzyk (Guitar).
*Member of Actors’ Equity Association.
The Christians opens Thursday, September 14, with previews September 7–13, and closes Sunday, October 8. Press night is Opening Night, September 14. For more information, visit www.centerstage.org or call the box office at410.332.0033.
This production is made possible by DLA Piper. This performance is supported in part by a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC). To discover more about Maryland State Arts Council grants and how they impact Maryland’s arts sector, visit msac.org. Funding for the MSAC is also provided by the National Endowment for the Arts. Center Stage’s Season Sponsor is M&T Bank and the season is also made possible by The Shubert Foundation and the Baltimore County Commission on Arts and Sciences.

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About Baltimore Center Stage
Baltimore Center Stage is a professional, nonprofit institution committed to entertaining, engaging and enriching audiences through bold, innovative and thought-provoking classical and contemporary theater. Named the State Theater of Maryland in 1978, Baltimore Center Stage has steadily grown as a leader in the national regional theater scene. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Kwame Kwei-Armah OBE and Managing Director Michael Ross, Baltimore Center Stage is committed to creating and presenting a diverse array of world premieres and exhilarating interpretations of established works.
Baltimore Center Stage believes in access for all—creating a welcoming environment for everyone who enters its theater doors and, at the same time, striving to meet audiences where they are. In addition to its Mainstage and Off Center productions in the historic Mount Vernon neighborhood, Baltimore Center Stage ignites conversations among a global audience through digital initiatives, which explore how technology and the arts intersect. The theater also nurtures the next generation of artists and theater-goers through the Young Playwrights Festival, Student Matinee Series and many other educational programs for students, families and educators.