THE ORCHARD PROJECT ANNOUNCES ARTISTS SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE 2017 ORCHARD PROJECT SUMMER LAB PROGRAM AND PERFORMANCE SERIES
Participating Artists and Teams Creating New Work in Residence Include Mo Rocca, Taylor Mac, Dell Arte International, Alarm Will Sound, Itamar Moses, Lightning Rod Special, and more.
New Programs This Summer: Integrated Childcare for Participating Artists, An Expansion of the Orchard Project’s Cabaret and Musical Theatre Program, and the Launch of BUSK!: A Street Performance Event to Launch the Saratoga Summer
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — The Orchard Project is proud to announce the artists, teams and ensembles participating in its eleventh summer residency program, running from June 1-July 2, 2017. Twenty-six artists and ensembles were selected from the nearly 600 theatre artists who applied to develop big, new ideas. The Orchard Project is a laboratory program where theatre artists and companies come to innovate, develop, and refine new shows. Past productions developed at the Orchard Project have gone on to be performed on Broadway and around the globe for more than 1.5 million people, winning every theater award from TONY® to OBIE to Oliviers, and being turned into acclaimed films.
“The Orchard Project clears the runway for amazing artists to make great work,” Artistic Director Ari Edelson said. “I couldn’t be more excited about the upcoming season, when we will support a more diverse group of artists than ever before and launch our new Family Initiative to support working families.”
In addition to its laboratory program, the Orchard Project is holding a series of public events, including 8:00pm Cabarets on Friday, June 9, Saturday, June 17, and Friday, June 23. On Sunday, June 4th from Noon-6:00pm, it will launch BUSK!, a spontaneous, outrageous, family-friendly event showcasing world-class performers alongside local talent. BUSK! aims to offer something to everyone — from local bands and magicians to spectacular circus artists and stunt performers. BUSK! will culminate in an evening cabaret at Putnam Den, kicking off at 8:00PM. All Orchard Project events are free, with special reserved seating for members. For more information about becoming a member, call 646-760-6767.
The artists selected to participate in the Orchard Project laboratory program will come to Saratoga Springs from around the world to accelerate projects at various stages of development. They include:
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Lub Dub Theatre Company (NY), developing their immersive piece filled with music and magic, The Doubtful Guest;
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Atlas Circus Company (NY), working on a new piece incorporating circus, clowning and slapstick;
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Beloved street performers The Red Trouser Show (MA), creating a new show;
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Mia Chung (NY) and Peter Stopschinski (TX), creating a new musical about the Korean War;
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Lightning Rod Special (PA), creating a butoh-bouffon musical about birth and babies;
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New Perspectives (United Kingdom), adapting award-winning Romanian film Tales From The Golden Age;
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Dell Arte International (CA), collaborating with Til Lalezar (Denmark) on the large scale devised work, Life Boats;
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Michelle Tattenbaum and Itamar Moses (NY), developing Mr. Moses’ non-verbal play cycle, Ideas;
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Paul Lucas (NY), creating a second piece in his well-received Transcripts series of works;
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Playwrights in residence Bernard White (CA), Neena Beber (NY), Lila Rose Kaplan (MA), Heidi Armbruster (NY), and Sarah Gancher (NY);
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Shakespeare Theatre of St Louis (MO), working with Alarm Will Sound (NY) and Taylor Mac (NY), working on Taylor Mac’s adaption of Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus.
The Orchard Project is also continuing and expanding its Cabaret and Musical Theatre Program, launched last year in partnership with the Putnam Den. This year, the Orchard Project has made annual favorite Julian Fleisher director of cabaret and musical theatre, and will be hosting new work by a slew of the most exciting artists around:
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Mo Rocca (NY)
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David Cale (NY)
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Rebekah Allen (NY)
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Howard Fishman (NY)
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Jack Bartholet (NY)
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Ryan Scott Oliver (NY)
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Molly Rice (PA) and Milia Ayache (Lebanon)
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John Arthur Hill (CA)
THE FAMILY INITIATIVE
In 2017, the Orchard Project’s Family Initiative looks to raise the bar for all arts organizations by saying child care should not just be an occasional option but standard operating procedure. While the Orchard Project has always been family friendly, as of this summer it will provide form-fitting childcare to visiting artists. The Orchard Project Family Initiative will not be restricted to one week or one project, and will provide different resources to parents based on age and need.
Says Edelson, “The simple truth is that the field makes it tremendously difficult for theatre makers with young families to have the time and space to create new work, and if anyone is interested in the representation of diverse voices on stage, such a commitment is most important at institutions like the Orchard Project, which overwhelmingly seed the content produced by theatres around the country.”
ABOUT THE ORCHARD PROJECT
Hundreds of theatre companies and creative artists from around the United States and world have applied each year to develop their big ideas at the Orchard Project. In its original home in Hunter, NY, the Orchard Project supported more than 700 artists and 200 shows. In 2015, The Orchard Project expanded and moved to Saratoga Springs, NY, where it added a new series of public programs, Orchard Project Presents, allowing the public and theatre industry to get sneak peeks of ground-breaking new work.
The Orchard Project supports work that go to a wide variety of other theaters – from Broadway to the West End to independent theaters across the world. Recent productions include Amelie (Broadway), The Iphigenia Quartet (Gate Theater), Empathy School (Abrons Arts), All the Way (Broadway, Asolo Rep, Arena Stage, Dallas Theatre Center, OSF, A.R.T, HBO Films and more), The Object Lesson (BAM Next Wave Festival and New York Theatre Workshop), and I Promised Myself to Live Faster (Humana Festival).
Writers, teams, and ensembles join the Orchard Project for overlapping residencies, during which they are provided with free rehearsal space, room and board, and the support of fellow artists.
The Orchard Project’s elite education program, the Core Company, draws talented young artists from across the country. The young artists who are members of the Core Company train and create new work alongside resident artists and companies — and support the professional artists in residence.
Past Orchard Project supported companies include The Royal Court, the Public Theater, Tectonic Theatre Project, The Atlantic Theater Company, Pig Iron, The Rude Mechs, American Repertory Theater, Paines Plough, The TEAM, Mabou Mines, and many others. Work developed at the Orchard Project has gone on to win awards including Obies, Drama Desks, Olivier Awards and the 2014 TONY Award for Best Play for All The Way, which was written at the Orchard Project in 2010 and 2011. By even the most conservative estimate, these shows have been seen by more than 1,500,000 people in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, and as far afield as Tokyo and Stockholm.
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