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Acclaims: May 19, 2008

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Theatre Forward

 

Performance Gallery’s new production of Gilgamesh in Uruk: G.I. in Iraq
debuts Theatre Forward at the Aronoff Center in Autumn 2007

Collaborative partners Cincinnati Arts Association (CAA), the Enquirer Acclaim Awards, and the League of Cincinnati Theaters are pleased to announce the recipient of their inaugural Theatre Forward grant award –  Performance Gallery’s new production of Gilgamesh in Uruk: G.I. in Iraq.   A new competitive grant and production opportunity for Greater Cincinnati theatre artists, Theatre Forward is is generously sponsored by the Otto M. Budig Family Foundation.

Performance Gallery’s Gilgamesh in Uruk: G.I. in Iraq is a modern retelling of an ancient Mesopotamian myth, and will debut Theatre Forward at the Aronoff Center’s intimate Fifth Third Bank Theater with two weekends of public performances in Autumn 2007 (exact dates TBA).

“Gilgamesh” – the first known oral and written literature (on clay tablets circa 2500 B.C.) – is an epic adventure (including a Great Flood) about a superhuman hero/king whose arrogance leads to suffering, and who learns humility and humanity through grief and loss.  Ancient “Uruk” is modern-day Iraq.  According to Performance Gallery’s Blake Bowden, who is adapting the script, the company hopes to “bring the ancient text to life in a modern context.” Bowden wrote the stage adaptation of the “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy that played the Aronoff Center’s Jarson-Kaplan Theater in 2001, 2002, and 2003.

Performance Gallery was founded in Spring 2001 to support individual and collaborative artistic expression and to introduce area audiences to the rich nature of the alternative theater scene. Member artists include designers, composers and puppet artists, and Performance Gallery promises an ambitious, multi-media telling of Gilgamesh that will evolve with the current situation in Iraq.
 
“We want the production to challenge and inform,” says Bowden. “We want audiences to question their understanding of Iraq and America, of religion, of nationhood and citizenship, of the need to act and the need to wait and watch, of responsibility and freedom, of politics, of the link between literature and art and our society.”

Most recently, Performance Gallery was represented in the 2006 Cincinnati Fringe Festival with “godsplay,” and returns with a new entry this year, “The Nuclear Winter Circus,” which will be performed in a Main Street storefront space on March 30-31 (details TBA).
 
“We’re thrilled,” says Performance Gallery’s Artistic Director, Regina Pugh. “Theatre Forward is a wonderful new opportunity to bring some of the best local talent together to create a visually exciting and thought-provoking piece of new theater.”

“We are proud to be a part of this exciting arts collaboration,” says Steve Loftin, president and executive director, Cincinnati Arts Association.  “We look forward to supporting this new and timely work from the Performance Gallery, and it is our hope that Theatre Forwardwill enjoy a successful life at the Aronoff Center for years to come.”

According to League of Cincinnati Theatres president Jim Stump, “Theatre Forward shows belief in the entire theater scene.  It’s a significant contribution that can have an impact on local theater artists in a lot of ways, even in terms of raising their profile with Cincinnati audiences.”

Created as an incubator to encourage theatrical vision and innovation, Theatre Forward is a new opportunity for established and emerging theater artists and companies to bring their best new and innovative ideas forward for support.

The grant recipient will receive:

• $3,000 in seed money from the Otto M. Budig Family Foundation
• Two-week use of the Aronoff Center’s Fifth Third Bank Theater (including front of house expenses)
• $100 per performance to help offset additional expenses (e.g. stagehands), provided by the Enquirer Acclaim Awards Theatre Artist Project Fund
• Net box office receipts  

The grant recipient will be responsible for marketing the production; however, Theatre Forward will be included in CAA’s 2007-08 Season marketing materials, such as news releases, brochures, posters, and website presence.

Theatre Forward’s panel of distinguished judges included Ed Stern, producing artistic director, Playhouse in the Park; Terrell Finney, chair, OMDA division, University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music; Ken Jones, chair, department of Theatre & Dance, Northern Kentucky University; Joseph McDonough, playwright; and Teresa De Zarn, Broadway veteran and adjunct professor, department of Theatre & Dance, Northern Kentucky University.

 

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