Cleveland Public Theatre partners with Oberlin College and Conservatory
to present Water Ways (Part One of the Elements Cycle)
Opening January 25, Preview January 24
Artistic Director Raymond Bobgan and Oberlin College and Conservatory present the co-production of Water Ways (Part One of the Elements Cycle) an original, devised work created by Oberlin College and Conservatory students under the guidance of Oberlin faculty and CPT’s Raymond Bobgan and Chris Seibert.
Water Ways focuses on our deep human connection to water and our local proximity to and reliance upon a Great Lake.
In Water Ways, controversy over water rights breaks out in the desert amidst the celebration of a new well. The viewpoints of politicians, activists, land-owners and business are quickly eclipsed by the news that the well is a failure—it is dry. As a supernatural storm rises up, the group is confronted by a group of fantastic water spirits who have lost their power. As the spirits reach, out the humans relearn reverence and ultimately learn that they must sacrifice for hope to rise again.
The action of this magical-realism play moves throughout CPT’s historic 100 year old Gordon Square Theatre as audiences travel to view installations, short films, dances, musical compositions and theatrical scenes.
Water Ways was developed as a partnership with Oberlin College and Conservatory’s OASIS program, an innovative approach to learning and cross departmental collaboration. Students come from multiple majors including Creative Writing, Dance, Technology in Music and Related Arts, Music and Cinema Studies.
Water Ways is the first of a five part series being created by CPT, The Elements Cycle. This performance series tests our own preconceived relationships with the environment and seeks to raise awareness and promote deep thinking about our place in the world. The Elements Cycle features five original productions which will be created and produced over three seasons, one on each of the elements and a culminating show that brings them all together with the fifth element: people. The next part of the elements cycle, Earth Plays, will open February 2013.
Water Ways (Part One of the Elements Cycle) opens at Cleveland Public Theatre Friday, January 25 and runs through Monday February 4, (with a preview Thursday, January 24) in the Gordon Square Theatre, 6415 Detroit Avenue in Cleveland’s Gordon Square Arts District. Performances are at 7:30 pm Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Monday. Tickets are $10- $25.
Support for the project was provided by Office of the President, Oberlin College; Office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences, Oberlin College; The Great Lakes Colleges Association New Directions Initiative, supported by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; The Guttfreund Enrichment Fund of the Oberlin College Theater and Dance Program; The Oberlin College Winter Term Committee; Oberlin College Teaching Grant Program; and the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District.
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