COTE Announces 2010-2011 Season
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 18, 2010
CO-OP THEATRE EAST ANNOUNCES THIRD SEASON
NEW YORK, NY – Co-Op Theatre East (COTE) is proud to announce its third season of boundary-pushing theatre.
Co-Op Theatre East believes in the power of art to foster a dialogue for social change, and views creating theatre as a political act that has played a unique role in raising consciousness throughout history. COTE’s 2010–11 season debuts new work that speaks directly to national concerns, using approaches including ensemble-generated pieces, guerrilla street performance, and documentary/ethnographic/theatre of testimony, in addition to theatre produced in the “traditional” theatre space with talk backs and community discussion following performances.
The season kicked off on October 6, 2010 with “Radio COTE,” a series of radio plays riffing on the theme of revisionist current events. COTE commissioned four up-and-coming playwrights and a large ensemble of New York actors for a night of staged readings, with recordings of the plays to be distributed as podcasts throughout the year.
In light of the current epidemic of LGBT youth suicides, on October 21st, COTE will team up with The Brecht Forum to bring you a reading of our original play “Documentary” featuring many familiar faces from the original 2008 cast. Following the reading will be a community discussion on bullying, homophobia and suicide. All proceeds will go directly to The Trevor Project, a national suicide hotline for LGBT youth.
The season’s mainstage production will be a new adaptation of Euripedes’s “The Trojan Women” by COTE’s Literary Director Casey Cleverly, running January 26th through February 6th at the Looking Glass Theatre in Manhattan. This new adaptation focuses on human trafficking, specifically the trafficking of women as sex slaves.
Returning this season is the audience favorite COTE Tales, our bi-monthly new play reading series on Sunday evenings at Kaffe 1668 in Tribeca. All selected plays fit within COTE’s mission statement and fall along the lines of the proposed theme for the month. Plays are directed by Casey Cleverly and performed by COTE Ensemble members, with playwrights in attendance for talkback sessions.
In March of 2011, COTE proudly rejoins the V-Day campaign, a global movement to end violence against women, by presenting Eve Ensler’s newest work “Any One Of Us: Words From Prison.” All proceeds from this show will go directly to stopping violence against women. “Any One of Us: Words From Prison” will be performed by the women of the COTE Ensemble.
In the spring of 2011, COTE will bring theatre home, literally. The “COTE Home and Garden Tour” will utilize a hybrid form of forum, playback and newspaper theatre to dramatize current events at site-specific locations in apartments and homes throughout New York City and the tri-state area. Reservations and requests for the tour can be made by e-mailing cooptheatreeast@gmail.com.
Finally, in June COTE will close the season with a workshop of a brand new youth ensemble devised piece under the direction of COTE’s Artistic Directors, Ashley Marinaccio and Robert A. K. Gonyo called “10 Years Later: Voices from the Post-9/11 Generation Speak.” This reading will be a preview into the fourth season, beginning in September 2011.
Co-Op Theatre East’s 2010-11 Season
October 6, 2010 at 7:30 pm
“Radio COTE” – COTE’s Radio Play Series
In October, Co-Op Theatre East will present a live reading of new radio plays, all exploring current events through a revisionist lens. Featured playwrights will include Robert A. K. Gonyo, Mariah MacCarthy, Jacob Dickerman and Ashley Marinaccio. All plays will be recorded and distributed as podcasts throughout COTE’s 2010-11 season.
October 21, 2010 at 7:30 pm
“Documentary” – Reading and Community Discussion on Queer Youth and Suicide
In light of the recent suicides of six LGBT youth across the country, COTE has teamed up with the Brecht Forum to read the script of our 2008 production of “Documentary” by Ashley Marinaccio followed by a community discussion about the tragic events, suicide prevention and how to be an ally to LGBT youth. A suggested donation of $10 will be asked for at the door, with all proceeds going to The Trevor Project (www.thetrevorproject.org).
October 24, 2010
COTE Tales – Haunted Histories
COTE’s bi-monthly reading series of new plays at Kaffe 1668 in Tribeca kicks off with new plays riffing on the theme of “Haunted Histories.”
December 11, 2010
COTE Tales – Ethical Conflicts
COTE’s bi-monthly reading series presents new pays plays riffing on the theme of “Ethical Conflicts.”
January, 2011
Euripedes’s “The Trojan Women:” a new adaptation by Casey Cleverly
In a new adaptation by COTE Literary Director Casey Cleverly, Euripedes’s classic “The Trojan Women” becomes the story of the all-too-real horrors of human trafficking in the modern world through a blend of traditional dialogue, modern choreography, and multimedia.
February 19, 2011
COTE Tales – Love Across Borders
COTE’s bi-monthly reading series presents new plays on the theme of “Love Across Borders.”
March, 2011
“Any One of Us: Words From Prison”
Co-Op Theatre East is once again proud to be part of the V-Day Campaign to end violence against women. This year the women of the COTE Ensemble will perform one of Eve Ensler’s newest works, “Any One of Us: Words From Prison.” The play reveals the connection between women in prison and the violence that often brings them there. This event will bring forth raw voices of fierceness and honesty written by women from prisons across the nation.
April 13, 2011
COTE Tales - Evolutions
COTE’s bi-monthly reading series presents new plays riffing on the theme of “Evolutions.”
April and May, 2011
The COTE Home and Garden Tour (in 3-D!)
COTE takes theatre to you! Using a hybrid of forum, playback and newspaper theatre, “The COTE Home & Garden Tour,” under the direction of COTE Artistic Director Robert Gonyo, takes live performance dealing with up-to-the minute issues to spaces throughout the five boroughs (and beyond).
June, 2011
10 Years Later: Voices from the Post-9/11 Generation Speak – Workshop
A workshop and preview into COTE’s 2011 season, “10 Years Later: Voices from the Post-9/11 Generation Speak” is created by tri-state youth between the ages of 10 and 18, of multiple ethnicities, religious and political affiliations. This production gives a voice to a generation that has lived most of their lives in a post-9/11 world, many of whom cannot remember a time when the United States has not been engaged in war.
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About Co-Op Theatre East:
Co-Op Theatre East believes in the power of art to foster a dialogue for social change. We provide an entertaining performance forum in which to ask evocative, challenging questions of artists and audiences on our way to creating collaborative answers.
Visit COTE online at: www.cooptheatreeast.org
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E-Mail COTE: cooptheatreeast@gmail.com
1 year ago