POETIC THEATER PRODUCTIONS goes GREEN!

Poetic Theater Productions goes green with the production of GOLIATH in the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity! 

What attracted Poetic Theater Productions to produce a show within the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity was the festivity’s focus on eco-friendly/socially conscious not-for-profit theatre.  The festivity’s mission makes sense: theater ought to be more about filling a need, addressing important, relevant issues in today’s world, both on the stage and in its application. Here are some of the ways GOLIATH was eco-friendly and socially conscious:

GREEN Auditions at the eco-friendly Wild Project theater
The wild project is a production company and venue for contemporary theater, film, and visual art. They hope to bring the community together by providing inspiring and entertaining art from emerging artists, exploring green technologies, and finding innovative ways to help our world and each other.  Inspired by our participation within the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity, the Wild Project chose to support our production of GOLIATH as our sponsor.  We held our auditions in the Wild Project theater- a space that utilizes skylights for natural lighting, has a garden on the roof to help with insulation, water efficient flushing options in the bathrooms, organic eco-friendly cleaning supplies, and solar panels for all the non-theater lighting.  It was a fantastic place for our auditions and a great way to start off our eco-friendly production of GOLIATH!

Laptops and Smart Phones Rather Than Printed Rehearsal Scripts
We started the process by trying to reduce paper waste as much as possible.  While the script still underwent some changes we utilized handheld smart phones and laptop computers to avoid printing copies of the script that would be used for only one or two readings or rehearsals.

 

Found Design Elements

Goliath’s Director (and Co-Artistic Director of Poetic Theater Productions) Alex Mallory envisioned a minimalist design utilizing items that one could find on the street.  The full scenic design included three milk crates and a few pages from the New York Times.  The minimalist approach that only utilized re-purposed elements was eco-friendly, cost-efficient and was the perfect non-obtrusive complement to the poetic text of the show.

Our awesome Associate Producer, Eden Jeffries, with set (and back-up) in tow!

Using the real uniforms

As NYtheatre.com describes so well, GOLIATH “is the story of a young soldier, David, who heads off to the Iraq war to become the man others expect him to be, and loses the man who he wants to become in the process.”  David’s father is a Vietnam veteran, David’s drill sergeant also plays an integral role in the show.  Instead of designing and creating new costumes we followed our costuming consultant Sydney Gallas’s advice to go to Kaufman’s Army & Navy where we were able to rent a real uniform that was used in Iraq, a jacket used in Vietnam, and a real drill sergeant’s uniform.  Using these items was not only the eco-friendly route, but added a somber reminder that these characters being portrayed in the show represent men and women who serve our country.

Dontonio Demarco (rear) and M. Scott Frank (front) in real ACU uniforms rented from Kaufman's Army & Navy

Support for the men and women serving abroad: VFW’s Operation Uplink

Throughout the run of GOLIATH we encouraged our audience to donate to Operation Uplink, a program of Veterans of Foreign Wars that enables troops stationed overseas to call home free of charge through sponsored “Free Call Days”. This program is funded entirely by donations.  In addition to funds donated by our audience members, all proceeds from the sold-out June 11th performance of GOLIATH (50% of all ticket sales) will be donated to the program. The mission of VFW is to foster camaraderie among United States veterans of overseas conflicts, to serve our veterans, the military, and our communities, and to advocate on behalf of all veterans. In addition to raising awareness of this extremely important program run by the VFW, we were able to raise hundreds of dollars to support the program, enabling many of our soldiers to call home and talk to their families.

Warrior Writers

Before each performance of GOLIATH poets and artists from our community including Quinn Warren, Wade Ray, Elliott D. Smith, Akua Doku, Joseph Reese, and Urban Word NYC youth poets Ishmael and Mega presented original poetry as well as poetry by current and former members of the armed service through the Warrior Writers Project: an organization that brings together recent veterans and current service members to be in creative community and utilize art-making processes to express themselves. This was an important element to us as it gave us an opportunity to share the words of veterans on our stage and to prepare our audience for the topics touched upon in GOLIATH.

You can read some of the poetry we presented on the Warrior Writers website.
I Am Who Survived Forgive Me by Aaron Hughes
6 Marines in the Picture by Cloy Richards
You Are Not My Enemy by Drew Cameron
Blood Sweat and Tears by Cloy Richards


Urban Word NYC
On June 7th and 16th we featured poetry performances from Urban Word NYC poets Ishmael and Mega.  Urban Word NYC champions the voices of New York City youth by providing platforms for critical literacy, youth development and leadership through free and uncensored writing, college prep and performance opportunities.  As we continue to expand out community as Poetic Theater Productions, it is important to us to hear the words of talented up and coming youth and to introduce Urban Word NYC’s amazing program to our audiences. We hope to explore more ways to collaborate with Urban Word NYC in the future.

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We are so grateful to Planet Connections for encouraging us to keep finding new ways to be green and support good causes! Thanks to everyone who saw the show and we hope to see you at the next one- keep up with us at www.poetictheater.com!

THE DECLARATION: Green Design Inspiration

Today we hear from James Muzzi, the costume designer for The Declaration, currently playing at the Robert Moss Theatre (performance deets below!). We love how he transformed a vintage dress to bring Lady Louisa to life, all while staying eco-conscious.  Check out the fabulous results below!

The Cast of The Declaration

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From James:

The challenge was to create a low cost, green costume dress for a man for the production of the new play, “The Declaration."

The dress was inspired by Lady Louisa, the character for whom it was made.   I imagine that this character is a Long Island housewife who likes to glam it up to sell Tupperware.  (The Lady Louisa is based on a real life character named Aunt Barbara who is, in fact, one of the top Tupperware salespeople in the country.)  In the play, she is selling “Copperstone” to a crowd of political supporters at a fundraiser for our hero.  Aunt Barbara, like Lady Louisa, is a drag queen.  She is so totally glam that she wears this dress with long black gloves and a rhinestone bracelet. 

When I thought about Tupperware parties, I was drawn to the 1960s theme.  One of my first stops was at the 26^th Street garage flea market in Manhattan.  When I told the vendor what I needed the dress for,  she was whipping out evening wear like I was making something for the mother of the bride.  I settled on a 1960s cream brocade cocktail dress that I rescued from the flea market for $25. 

Vintage at only $25!

In building the costume, my goal was to use as much of the original dress as possible.  The challenge was to open it up to fit a man.  I removed the panels along the princess line and attached them to the shoulder seams to give the dress a little flare.  Then I added the black and white print cotton velvet print velvet, secured from the remnant bin of my closet, to gain the extra width needed for a queen-sized dress.

The extensions on the shoulders give the actor a prop to help bring his character to life.  For example, during the fundraiser he throws his arms up in the air, extending the tails like a bird, adding to the already over the top character. The Natural White cock bird feathers, secured from a street vendor in the garment district for about $20, add just enough flare without putting the costume over the top. 

In keeping with the green theme, the feathers were gathered from molting birds – no birds were harmed during the creation of this costume.

For $75, a trip to the flea market, remnant store and notions store in the garment district, Lady Louisa is green and glamorous.

The Declaration
benefiting Marriage Equality New York
produced by Off Sides Entertainment
Written & Directed by Rick Leidenfrost-Wilson

Sunday, June 19 at 5:45PM
Thursday June 23 at 6:10PM
Saturday, June 25 at 8:00PM
Sunday, June 26 at 1:00PM

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Green Alert: White House Wives: Operation Lysistrata!

We are impressed by the myriad ways that the team of White House Wives: Operation Lysistrata! has committed to being eco-conscious in their theatrical endeavors, proving that small efforts add up to big impact. 

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Twinbiz, the producers of "White House Wives: Operation Lysistrata!" is proud to share with you a few of  our Company's efforts to "Go Green" during the run of our show in Planet Connections Theatre Festivity!  We have two more shows left in our run: Thursday, June 16th @ 6pm and Saturday, June 18th @ 6pm at The Robert Moss Theatre, 440 Lafayette Street, 3rd floor (across from the Public Theatre, take the R, N, or #6 train).  Visit our show page to buy tickets, read cast bios, or to find out how you can participate in supporting our charity, AdoptAPlatoon at: http://planetconnections.org/whitehousewivesoperationlysistrata/.  Enjoy reading our green initiatives!

- Yvette sent in the application to the festival on the back of a previous draft of the script. 

- Yvette signed up to become an Organ Donor when she renewed her driver's license.  

 - Terria, Pam, Yvonne and Yvette ate at an eco-friendly restaurant that makes its food fresh daily and give any un-purchased food at the close of business day to charity.
- Mary rode her bicycle to and from rehearsals 
- Pam took the LIRR into Manhattan instead of driving.  
- The cast recycles their MetroCards by refilling them instead of buying a new one every time.  Yvonne who lives in Los Angeles with husband, Larry, has been re-using a MetroCard Larry purchased during his last trip to New York a year ago!  It expires September 2011.  

- Yvette makes trips to her grocery store's recycling machines with a cart full of her family's bottles and cans.  She gets back five cents for each can or bottle returned.
- Larry donated 40 year old prop guns to the production which are used in the closing showstopper number.
- Natasha created an online marketing Facebook page for our show.  She was also designated a "Green Walker" in this year's AIDS Walk.
- Leslie Lynn turns her garbage into compost which nourishes her garden, and sews old clothing and scraps into quilts.  Leslie Lynn also sewed all of the bedding that graces the "Rosewood Bed," the centerpiece of our set, as well as the throw pillows found on the couch and chairs using materials she had from previous bedding projects.
- In the spirit of re-using, "The Declaration," another show in the Festivity, shared a key set piece with our show, their twin-sized hospital bed.  We transform their bed into the "Rosewood Bed," found in the Lincoln Bedroom of the White House and which was intended for Lincoln himself to sleep in.  Of course, the actual Rosewood Bed is much bigger and more ornate, as it is hand crafted from wood and graced by a canopy.  With the help of our set designer, Patrice, and Leslie Lynn, we have done our best to create a little theatrical magic! 
- Donald discontinued our family's delivery of bottled water from Poland Spring and had a water filter installed in our kitchen sink.  We now use stainless steel thermos' to carry our drinking water in.
- Pam, Terria and Yvette all donated key set pieces to the show from their own homes.
- Props and set decorating pieces came from Materials for the Arts, as well as from our own cast.  Pages from old scripts were used as fillers for the "Lincoln Bedroom Historical Restoration Project" folder props.
- Kate donated Pam's costume as LAURA BUSH to the show.  You may notice it matches the outfit worn by the First Lady on our postcard.  The entire cast donated their own personal clothing as costumes for the play - We had our postcards printed by a company which uses earth friendly papers and soy based inks.

And now for the piece de resistance...
In the photo below, Gabriel Harell who works at Bread and Puppet Theatre constructed a phallus out of recycled materials especially for "White House Wives: Operation Lysistrata!" 

Top: Natasha Yannacanedo, Pamela Jusino, Yvonne Farrow, Leslie Lynn Meeker, Mary Tierney and Kate Konigisor. Bottom: Terria Joseph sporting the phallus. (Cast member Clark Jackson not shown.)

You can see White House Wives: Operation Lysistrata! at the Robert Moss Theatre.  Remaining showtimes include:
Thursday, June 16 at 6:00PM
Saturday, June 18 at 6:10PM
  

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THE GOD PARTICLE: Green Design Inspiration

We've been receiving inspiring photos from costume designers with phenomenal green designs in this year's Planet Connections Theatre Festivity ... here's a sneak peek with costume designer Cat Fisher of The God Particle playing in the Robert Moss as part of the Evening of One Acts.  (Catch the next performance today at 4PM!  You can find the full listing of performance dates below).

Cat has created a hat, scarf and gloves for one of the characters in The God Particle. Below, she reveals the inspiration and the technology behind her design!

Actor Amanda Johnson wearing Cat's recycled creation!

The hat, scarf, and pair of fingerless gloves, took approximately 12 hours to crochet. For the most part, single crochet, half-double, and double crochet stitches were used, with a size I/9 hook. The design is a sort of trial and error effort. The preparation of "yarn" required scissors and approximately 20 minutes per bag to cut and wind strips of plastic. The bags were each cut into one continuous strip, with the 'yarn' width varying from 3/4 - 2".

I love recycling, and over the past fifteen-ish years, crocheting from plastic bags has been a favorite activity. From costumes, toys and doll clothing (blythe, licca, and barbie), to kitschy home decor and fashion items, a wide variety of colors and weights of "disposable" plastics can be used/reused to create interesting effects. 

The God Particle, by Christina Gorman and directed by Joan Kane, is set in Geneva. Already in place was a fab set design (Starlet Jacobs) with simulated snow, wonderful snowy night lighting (Bruce A! Kraemer), rockin' ambient bar/party sounds (Ian Wehrli), a script mentioning skis, and plenty of shivering activity by the actors. When the call for eco-friendly fashion in costume design was issued by Planet Connections, I immediately pictured Izzy (Amanda Johnson), the female character, wearing eco-chic winter accessories.  How can Gavin (Jack Berenholtz) resist a gal who wears re-structured molecules so well?
 

For your amusement is a photo of my muse, licca, wearing (last seasons') plastic chic...

Thanks Cat!  You can see her work onstage in An Evening of One Acts: GALILEO, THE GOD PARTICLE & THE MATRA INDIA at The Robert Moss Theatre (Located at 440 Lafayette St. between Astor Place and 4th St. and across the street from The Public Theater. Conveniently located near the N, R, W, and 6 trains.)

SHOW TIMES & TICKETS:
Saturday, June 11th at 4:00PM
Wednesday, June 15th at 6:30PM
Sunday, June 19th at 3:30PM
Tuesday, June 21st at 8:00PM
Friday, June 24th at 6:30PM

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Trash To Facts!

The Festivity is now entering its second week of the festival, so I hope everyone has noticed the "Green Team's" lovely and informative additions to the space. We have constructed various decorative elements from recycled materials which incorporate various facts and figures regarding our environmental impact.

The Lounge at the Robert Moss Theater for instance has an entire wall devoted to the plastic industry and reasons we should rethink our dependency on plastic. We utilized green hangers donated from Materials for the Arts, and re-purposed them to display small containers which now contain information pertaining to the impact of plastic.

Directly beneath this display is our Book Swap! If there is anything on the shelf that catches your eye feel free to bring in one of those long lost reads in the back of your closet and switch it out for a "pre-loved" one. I had my eye on a Jonathan Safran Foer Novel I haven't had the chance to read.

Over at the Gene Frankel we have a beautiful display focused on H20 usage, and spreading awareness of how to save every drop we can. Did you know by putting a closed empty plastic container in your toilet's tank you can help minimize your water use? This way your also re-purposing a plastic container! There is so much useful information out there, and every tiny choice makes a difference. Against the wall we also have re-purposed some carpet samples (also donated from Materials for The Arts) as displays which focus on New York's environmental impact. Additionally there is a vertical banner highlighting all the ways you can recycle or reuse all of your old electronics. This was made out of discarded computer paper and images cut from magazines. I'm pretty sure it's official that VHS tapes have gone out of style, so you might as well make good use of them! All of our displays are re-purposed or recyclable materials. It's truly amazing how you can transform items you otherwise would have disposed of.

Have you noticed the large multi-colored light fixture in the lounge? Next time you're in the lounge check it out and see if you can you guess what it was made of or how that was constructed.

LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE AT OUR UPCOMING EVENT "THE CLIMATE PROJECT".
It's an exciting and engaging presentation that sheds a positive perspective on our role in the environment. Its happening WEDNESDAY JUNE 6Th, 6:00pm at the Gene Frankel Theater. There are shows happening before and after so why not stop by and join the fun!

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GREEN EVENT: The Climate Project on Wed 6/8

So, why make green theatre?

I'm sure that question has gone through your mind at least once, right?

Or perhaps you're thinking, "Working in independent theatre, I'm automatically green because of the necessities of working within a small budget."

It's important to understand our place in the bigger picture.  On Wednesday, June 8 at 6PM (Gene Frankel Theatre), we'll be doing just that with Climate Project Presenter Paul Reale.

The evening will consist of up-to-date information about the facts behind climate change and an opportunity to engage in dialogue and discussion. Paul tells us, “When I speak to people about global warming, whether through the slide show or otherwise, they often engage deeply in the conversation. They demonstrate that dealing with climate change is as much a social movement under way as it is a planet-size policy and engineering problem.”  This is your chance to join that movement!  

This event is FREE and open to the public!  Reserve your free ticket today and you'll be entered to win our door prize, a recycled denim wine tote from WinkleWorks.  The event will last approx. 1 hour and 15 minutes.
 

If you're already going to the Festivity on Wednesday, consider seeing one of these shows before or after the Climate Project event:

Fulana @ 2PM (Robert Moss)

Monster and Hold @ 4PM (Gene Frankel)

Face Divided / The Mutilation of St. Barbara @ 4:30PM (Robert Moss)

An Evening of One Acts: Matra India, God Particle & Galileo @ 8:30PM (Robert Moss)

Two Days Til Dawn @ 9:30PM (Gene Frankel)

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PCTF Sponsor: WinkleWorks

An interview with WinkleWorks founder Beth Weiner
and The Greener Room's Melissa Moschitto

Earrings crafted from discarded gift cards.

Greener Room: So, Beth, how did this all come to be?

Beth Weiner: I've been a recycler forever and a re-user for almost as long. I just think that when something can no longer be used for its original purpose there has to be something else to do with it. So I have hat boxes (my storage system of choice and necessity) filled with empty spools, old ribbons, buttons, bottle caps, wine corks, handles, clothes that can't be handed down, broken jewelry and other flotsam and jetsam of life.

GR: I'm a (documented) hoarder too! Though I haven't been quite as industrious or creative as you.

BW: The idea for the earrings came to me when I was looking for a certain color earring and saw the gift cards at Trader Joe's and said that was the color I wanted. So I bought a card, cashed it out and kept it and made my first pair of earrings. I remembered I had a stack of used gift cards left over from my son's birthday and I started punching plastic with a frenzy.

GR: So did that inspire you to transform other things found in your home?

BW: I had made a jean purse in college that I dug out and started using again.

GR: Retro! Love it. 

BW: The cashiers at Trader Joe's (hmmmm, am I detecting a leitmotif?) liked them and I made a few for them. But then I still had the legs left. As I was pondering what to do with them, I realized I needed a birthday gift for my sister-in-law; so I bought her favorite bottle of wine and custom embroidered a tote. From there it was an easy step to the bunch-of-grapes design. 

GR: Tell me more about what materials you've re-envisioned and repurposed. 

BW: For the items I am selling at the Planet Connections Theater Festivity I have used gift cards and old jeans and a paper/cloth shopping bag whose handles broke. Why?...because I had them. 

GR: Is this all self-generated material?! Or do you get help?

BW: I am lucky enough to live in an apartment building with tenants who throw away great stuff...to my recycler's eyes at least. I came upon someone's old medicine cabinet and saw it immediately and clearly as the perfect display cabinet. 

GR: What's next?

BW: I don't know yet...it is the convergence of need, what I have and inspiration...and the good fortune of having a son with a room full of tools and a husband patient enough to teach me how to use them.

 

 

Thanks Beth!  We are inspired! Readers - you could be the lucky winner of a WinkleWorks Wine Tote!  How?  Attend our June 8 event with The Climate Project! Reserve your FREE ticket or just come to the Gene Frankel Theatre (24 Bond St) at 6PM and you'll be in the running for this very fun door prize.

 

 

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Clean Green: PCTF Sponsor BIOKLEEN

Official PCTF Sponsor: Biokleen

Introducing....Biokleen!

Biokleen provides natural, non-toxic cleaning products.  The products are biodegradable which is great for the environment. They are also the TreeHugger Best of Green 2010 Award winner for Best Cleaning Product! Thanks Biokleen for helping us to greenify our venues, the Gene Frankel and the Robert Moss.

But more importantly, it smells sooooo good!  

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