Wow. Just wow. A remarkable line-up of writers, directors and actors have signed on to participate in the American Theater Company’s 25th Anniversary with the ambitious Silver Project, a year-long festival of 30 world-premiere short plays. The Silver Project will run over ten evenings between Feb. 8, 2010 and June 20, 2010 at ATC, 1909 W Byron St, Chicago.
In addition, ATC has officially announced the addition of three new ensemble members: Usman Ally, Patrick Andrews and Jaime Castañeda. (see story here) They join fellow ensemble members Kareem Bandealy, Joseph Minoso, and Sadieh Rifai.
The Silver Project was initiated by ATC Artistic Director PJ Paparelli, who asked over 30 playwrights across the country to choose a year between 1985 and 2010 and write a short play that explores the company’s mission: “what does it mean to be an American?” The artists who have signed onto the project are as follows:
Stephen Belber (Emmy-nominated writer of The Laramie Project and Tape)
Kristiana Rae Colon (Chicago Def Poet; writer of The Darkest Pit)
Kristoffer Diaz (The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity and Welcome to Arroyo's)
Zayd Dohrn (Sick, Magic Forest Farm, Long Way Go Down)
Laura Eason (Sex with Strangers, Around the World in 80 Days)
Maria Irene Fornes (Mud, Promenade, The Conduct of Life)
Yussef el Guindi (Back of the Throat, Our Enemies: Lively Scenes of Love and Combat)
Steve Harper (Lions and Donkeys)
Andrew Hinderaker (Suicide, Incorporated at Gift Theatre, June 2010)
David Henry Hwang (Tony Award-winning writer of M. Butterfly)
Naomi Iizuka (Award winning writer of 36 Views; Language of Angels)
Laura Jacqmin (And When We Awoke There Was Light and Light, Ski Dubai)
Kyle Jarrow (Obie Award-winning writer of A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant)
Rolin Jones (The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow; Showtime’s Weeds and Friday Night Lights)
Joel Drake Johnson (A Blue Moon, The Fall to Earth)
Stephen Karam (Speech & Debate, columbinus)
Nambi E. Kelley (Hope VI, How Kintu Became a Man)
Greg Kotis (Tony Award-winning writer of Urinetown, Yeast Nation, Pig Farm)
Joe Kraemer (The American Occupation; Literary Manager/Dramaturg of The Juilliard School's Drama Division)
Neil LaBute (Tony-nominated writer of Things We Said Today, This is How It Goes, Reasons to be Pretty; The Shape of Things)
Dan LeFranc (60 Miles to Silver Lake)
Craig Lucas (Pulitzer and Tony-nominated writer of Prelude to a Kiss, Light in the Piazza –book)
Laura Lynn MacDonald (Peer Gynt at Gorilla Rep, Mattress World with Blue Damen Pictures)
Rohina Malik (Unveiled)
Itamar Moses (Bach at Leipzig, Celebrity Row, The Four of Us)
Carlos Murillo (Dark Play or Stories for Boys, Diagram of a Paper Airplane)
Justin D. M. Palmer (As Fat as You Can, War with the Newts)
Joshua Rollins (American Rex)
Tanya Saracho (Our Lady of the Underpass, The House on Mango Street)
Regina Taylor (Crowns, Magnolia)
Brian Tucker (St. James Infirmary, Bathing Van Gogh)
Beau Willimon (Farragut North)
Directed and performed by over 50 Chicago artists, the plays will be presented in five parts throughout the year and as a complete cycle during the annual Theatre Communications Group Conference June 16-20, 2010 here in Chicago. As a prologue for the evening, Paparelli will collaborate with internationally-acclaimed Cuban playwright Maria Irene Fornes on a world premiere piece exploring America over the last 25 years.
“We are celebrating our anniversary by creating an historic event that brings together some of the country’s leading playwrights with Chicago’s most innovative artists to explore 25 years of American life,“ said Paparelli. “Both The Silver Project and our new ensemble members exemplify our company’s future. We see ourselves as a theatrical crossroads for extraordinary artists that give voice to America today.”
The schedule will be broken up into performances on Feb. 8, March 1, May 24,
June 1 and June 7. The full cycle will be performance June 16 – 20, starting at 6 p.m. each evening.
For more information, go to www.atcweb.org
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