Re: RAT Reading Series Press Release

["Megan Monaghan" <meganmonaghan@email.msn.com>]

Great series, Brad!  Makes me wish I were still in the area.
Best,
Megan

-----Original Message-----
From: brad rothbart <scrdchao@nni.com>
To: Mark _Benson <msb316@home.com>
Date: Thursday, October 14, 1999 10:36 PM
Subject: RAT Reading Series Press Release


>*  Press release
>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>WHO:
>Theatre Double Repertory Company
>WHAT:
>A new, National-Level Reading Series, Underground Voices
>WHERE:
>Theatre Double Salon, 1619 Walnut St. Philadelphia, PA. 19103 . The space
>is wheelchair accessible.
>WHEN:
>First, third and fifth Mondays at 8 pm, beginning November 1, 1999
>   LOOKING FOR:
>Audience members of all ages and sizes who enjoy challenging new work.
>People who feel the theatre has nothing to say to them.  The
>disenfranchised and disenchanted.  The long-term patron of the arts.  Come
>one and all, and help us  make the theatre a true gathering place again.
>
>WHY THIS SERIES EXISTS:
>As the societal margin shrinks,  and the economic risk of creating theatre
>becomes higher and higher, fewer and fewer original, boundary-stretching
>works are produced.  All too often, theatremakers are forced to commit
>themselves to the bottom line, rather than an artistic vision. As the work
>becomes uninteresting and irrelevant, the audience turns to other art
>forms, such as television, music, and  film. In my 10 years in experimental
>theatre, I  have been  privileged to witness extraordinary  perfomances and
>read  remarkable scripts. As I  encountered these works, I wished that more
>people could experience their power.
>Therefore,  I have created a reading series devoted to "underheard
>playwrights," so that their strong, unique voices can finally be  known.
>The audience  will hear the piece read ( in a bare bones setting, so that
>the focus remains on the script) and can  later discuss (often with the
>playwright and performers present) the complex questions brought up by the
>work. This is the only  series of its kind in the country, and it is my
>small contribution to moving theatre forward into the next century. Whether
>you care about the vitality of the theatre, or  feel that theatre is a form
>devoid of any relevance in your life , I urge you  to  come to Underground
>Voices and see the  possibility of what the theatre can become.
>
>Contact Brad Rothbart, Literary Manager  215.836.5382 or E-MAIL
thtrdbl@aol.com
>
>Brad Rothbart, (creator, director and  facilitator  of  Underground Voices)
>graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1989 with a B.A. in Liberal Arts.
>Following graduation he moved to Seattle, where he began his professional
>career in 1990 as an original member of The Alchemical Theatre-Seattle. He
>then departed for NYC, where he worked with  The Living Theatre from
>1992-1997 (including two German tours), as an actor, stage manager and
>Assistant to the Managing Director.
> In 1994 he  co-founded Mobility Junction: a Mixed Ability Dance Company ,
>as well as serving
>as one of the founders of the RAT Conference, a loose association of
>alternative theatres throughout the United States. Currently, he is a
>company member with Theatre Double.
>
>The Confirmed Reading Schedule includes:
> 1 November Shelley Berc , A Girl's Guide to
>the Divine Comedy
> 15 November Caridad Svich, Pensacola
> 29 November Ruth Margraff, Elektra Fugues
> 6 December David Simpatico, Waiter Waiter
> 20 December Steven Tomlinson, Millennium Bug
> 3 January Paula Cizmar, Street Stories
> 17 January  Aishah Rahman, Only in America
> 31 January Alice Tuan,  Coastline
>Most of the playwrights will be present at the reading of their work, from
>locations as varied as LA, Austin TX,  Providence RI and  NYC.
>
>
>Theatre Double is a non-profit Repertory Company based in Philadelphia and
>New York City. Theatre Double is dedicated to developing works that, in the
>words of New York theatre critic
> Brad Bradley, "Reach contemporary ears with both sharpness and
strength..."
>
>