World Theatre Day is on March 27th!

What does theatre mean to you?

More babies in DAT ‘zubs’!!  

Who else has a zub baby picture?

Another cute baby wearing a regulation DAT ‘zub’ as a hat!

We love babies in Dramatic Adventure ‘zubs’!!

The Daily Show blasts U.S. decision to cut UNESCO funding

Are we the good guys?

SWELL is a MUST SEE!

On March 15th Dramatic Adventure Theatre’s Associate Artistic Director, Kathleen Amshoff, opened her ambitious production of Swell to rave reviews at Culture Project’s Women Center Stage Festival at the Living Theatre.

Swell is an adaptation of the graphic novel by Juliacks. The protagonist Emmeline Grouse lives in a small town in Vermont, in a house overlooking an abandoned cemetery where she and her sister Lucy would often play. The play Swell explores the memory-shifting and kaleidoscopic journey of grief, immersing the audience in a lush visual landscape as Emmeline confronts her fears, dreams and imagination. 

“When you finally cross into the playing space, you feel like you’ve come upon something hidden, a secret world or a child’s fort!”

~ Nicole Villeneuve, Backstage

http://www.backstage.com/bso/reviews-ny-theatre-off-off-broadway/ny-review-swell-1006521352.story

“…a black-and-white world where graphic texture trumps dialogue.”

~ Andy Webster, NY Times

http://theater.nytimes.com/2012/03/22/theater/reviews/swell-based-on-juliackss-work-at-living-theater.html?src=tp&smid=fb-share

The performance score for Swell was developed collaboratively in rehearsal by Kathleen, Juliacks and the company. In adapting the comic, Kathleen says she built on her experiences devising plays for Dramatic Adventure Theatre’s projects in Zimbabwe and Ecuador.

“While in this process we were working from a book instead of a series of experiences, many of my techniques and tools -– giving actors assignments, improvising scenes, culling material and drafting and re-drafting -– came from my work generating DAT projects with a company.”

~ Kathleen Amshoff, Director

Other DAT alumni also contributed to the work.  Katey Parker (ACTion 2009) stars as the mother and created beautifully detailed shadow puppets.  J’nelle Bobb-Semple (ACTion 2010) leads applied theatre workshops around the topic of grief and in relation to the production.  

For more on the making of SWELL: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lanie-zipoy/from-page-to-stage-the-ma_b_1340911.html

Photos: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150752193726779.455213.216297756778&type=3

SWELL

Thursdays + Fridays at 7:30PM

Now - April 6 @ the Living Theatre (21 Clinton Street, NYC)

Tickets are available at www.womencenterstage.org

“The world only gets better because people risk something to make it better.”

— Paulo Coelho

Tonight! Unite to support the theatre community affected by the earthquake in Japan.

Today (Sunday, March 11, 2012) is the one-year anniversary of the earthquake that devastated Japan’s Tohoku region.  And as part of the Fukushima anniversary initiative, Shinsai: Theaters for Japan, our friends and colleagues at Scandinavian American Theater Company and Ping Chong & Company will co-present a reading of Swedish playwright Jacob Hirdwall’s Emperor Fukushima, a play written in response to the disaster. 

This is a great way to remember this tragedy and support theaters across Japan.

Sunday, March 11 @ 7pm.

La MaMa (47 Great Jones Street)

$10+ donation at the door*

*The Japan Playwrights Association will disburse proceeds to the Japanese theater community affected by the disaster.   

For a video about the event, visit: http://www.tcg.org/shinsai/video.cfm

ABOUT THE PLAY:

Written just two weeks after the earthquake, Hirdwall’s Emperor Fukushima juxtaposes the story of the wife of a worker at the Fukushima power plant with the story of a Russian tourist and former worker at Chernobyl, who narrowly escaped being killed in that disaster. The play explores issues surrounding nuclear power, also drawing on the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Emperor Fukushima was recently selected as one of the three best Swedish plays of 2011 and will be listed in the ETC (European Theatre Conventions) “blue yearbook” as one of the 100 best European plays of last year.

“Theater artists in Japan, centered around those living in the Tohoku region that was devastated by the great earthquake and nuclear accident, extend our hand to theater artists around the world to rebuild Tohoku and Japanese society, restoring the conditions that surround the art of theater, such as environments for creative activity, theater buildings, companies, rehearsal spaces, education and audiences. We seek to work with our international peers to demonstrate the potential of human beings and the theater to overcome adversity as well as the primordial power of expression on stage." 
—Yoji Sakate, President of Japan Playwrights Association

At this Shinsai event, Tuomas Hiltunen and actress Dawn Saito, directed by Kristina Golmohammadi, will read a translation by Rochelle Wright.  The reading will be accompanied by original music by Fredrik Söderberg. 

“The more I dig into ‘A Girl Without Wings’, the more beauty I find! This play is so richly connected to our dynamic experiences in Ecuador, I can’t even believe it.”

—

Jesse Baxter, Artistic Director of Dramatic Adventure Theatre 

A Girl Without Wings: www.agirlwithoutwings.com

World Day of Theatre for Children is on March 20th.

Share the magic of theatre with a child… it’ll be the cutest thing ever!

“Growth as an actor and as a human being are synonymous.”

— Stella Adler

Just how special and rare IS the Condor?

Pulled from the archives, a music video compiled from Dramatic Adventure Theatre’s first encounter with Ecuador!  

And our love affair with Ecuador continues, growing stronger with each new experience.

In Search of Scottish Volunteers & Partners

Dramatic Adventure Theatre is heading to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer with our latest original production, “A Girl Without Wings”.

Our Resident Playwright, Jason Williamson, crafted “A Girl Without Wings” on the ground in Ecuador.  It’s a modern riff on an ancient story, told with puppets!  It’s the story of a girl and a condor, an Andean myth meets indie love story. It’s a piece we’re all very proud of and excited to share.  (More to come!)

We will be in Edinburgh from roughly July 27 to Aug. 20 (exact dates are still being determined). And in true DAT fashion, we want to make the most of our time in Scotland. 

So, to strengthen our impact, we are putting together a team of Edinburgh based collaborators, volunteers, and partners!

Here is what we are hoping to find/ accomplish:

1.) A LOCAL SCHOOL
We would like to connect with a local arts school and, or a local school that is struggling to provide an arts education for its students. We would like to offer free theatre workshops for interested students. (And we would love to teach those classes in collaboration with a few Edinburgh based theatre artists.) We realize that it will be summer, which is why we would like to connect with a school now and arrange something special.

2.) A CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION
We would also love to connect and collaborate with a charitable organization in Edinburgh that is doing positive work in the community. Based on the content of our play, I would love it if this organization provided clothes or shoes for families in need as we hope to gather shoes to donate.  A grief based organization could also be an appropriate match.  This could be a great opportunity for DAT to help raise awareness for this charity.

3.) THEATRE ARTISTS
We would also love to connect with Edinburgh theatre artists based in Edinburgh.  We would love to workshop together, share techniques, ideas, etc..  And we would love to have a band of local theatre artists join us as we reach out to the community.

4.) MEDIA TEAM
We need help promoting our play, finding unique and effective ways to drive audiences to see this piece which is suitable for all ages. We are looking for local radio/tv personalities, journalists, bloggers, and just plain folks (on social networks) to share the work that we do within their circles of influence in Edinburgh.

5.) STREET TEAM
We are looking for volunteers to join our street team to help us post posters and hand out postcards, flyers, and finger puppets during the festival. This team will also help us brainstorm unique ways to reach out to potential audience.

6) HOMESTAYS
We would also love to arrange homestays. We will have aproximately 14 artists traveling with us and could easily pair off into 7 different homestays, for example. This is a great way for Dramatic Adventure Theatre to save money, but it’s also one of the quickest ways to build strong friendships. And of course, our homestay hosts would then have new friends in NYC that they could potentially stay with on their travels. This kind of exchange is very important to us as a company and will really enrich everyone’s experience in Edinburgh!

Perhaps you could connect us with individuals who might be willing to help out in certain aspects of this project.  And perhaps you would want to get involved in some way.

Let us know if you would like to get involved or if you have any questions.

Making a difference together,

Jesse Baxter
Artistic Director of Dramatic Adventure Theatre
jessebaxter@dramaticadventure.com

18 Rules for Living

(#16 is a DAT favorite!)

Reblog: New York Theatre in Stara Lubovna

Originally posted on 9. January 2012 by ETP Slovensko 

The members of Dramatic Adventure Theatre led by Jesse Baxter visited the Community Center in Stara Lubovna on Wednesday January 4th, 2012. During their visit, they worked with children of different ages and also with teenagers. The mission of this New York Company is to engage in cross-cultural dialogue and provide the artists as well as the distant communities with an opportunity to develop their creativity and express themselves through dramatic art. More about Dramatic Adventure Theatre at: http://www.dramaticadventure.com

Workshop that they prepared for the children was aimed at developing the imagination of the children, understanding various patterns of behavior and playing role models in different situations. The children also learned team work and reviewed basic numbers and body parts in English.

All of the participants were eager to join the activities and they can´t wait for the next visit of the New York Theatre.

NOTE FROM DAT: We thoroughly enjoyed working with this energetic group of Roma youth and are thrilled to have connected with ETP.   We look forward to returning to the Stara Lubovna Community Center in Slovakia soon!  Details to come.

“I know that the narratives that I choose in life determine the sort of life that I live.  I create who I am with the stories I tell.  I write myself into existence by the stories that I tell about my life.”

— Anne Bogart

Big Changes for DAT

From November 12, 2011

Hi Friends!

We have some big changes happening here at DAT.

If you haven’t seen already, the website is getting a supreme overhaul! Mary K is studying Arts Management at UMass, and thanks to her strategic planning class, we are filling up the pages with new text. Jesse has been working around the clock to make the updates a reality. So give the new site a spin, and please excuse our dust as things continue to get updated.

We’re going to Slovakia!! We are taking a team of highly talented artists through Slovakia for ten days in January to explore the culture and terrain and gain inspiration for personal projects. We are very excited!

Ecuador is in high demand and this summer we are preparing to deliver! Projects will include a Passenger Project to the Galapagos, a Teaching Artist Residency to Quilotoa, and a Mask Dance Intensive. We’ll keep you posted with new info!

Edinburgh! We’re heading there for the Fringe Festival!!! So many updates are on the way!

We’re getting puppets! It’s going to be amazing!

Ahhhhhh! So much excitement! Check out the changes and stay tuned for more!

And, if you haven’t ‘liked’ us on Facebook, please do so. It’s the fastest way to hear breaking news 

DAT has moved to Queens!

From September 30, 2010

It’s official!  Dramatic Adventure Theatre’s office headquarters has been moved to Queens.

We’re still working on moving out of the boxes and into our new digs, so please be patient with us while we update everything and get the mail forwarded.

In the meantime, here’s our new address:

Dramatic Adventure Theatre41-28 52nd StreetSuite 2RQueens, NY 11377

Best Wishes,

DAT

The Kennedy Center

From September 6, 2010

On Saturday, September 4th, Dramatic Adventure Theatre teamed up with Baltimore based Run of the Mill Theater for a performance of the new commissioned work, “Prayer of the Condor”.

The performance was in the first block of The Kennedy Center’s Page to Stage event which ran all Labor Day Weekend.  The play received a great response, and we had a great experience collaborating with Run of the Mill.

The Core Company Members have briefly discussed another workshop reading this fall in New York City, but there will be more discussion about this and the rest of DAT’s coming year at the Company Planning Retreat next weekend.

Thanks to everyone who came out to the show!