TucsonStage Blog: Tucson: ATC Offers Free AMERICA PLAYS! Activities with Classic A RAISIN IN THE SUN

Friday, December 12, 2008

Tucson: ATC Offers Free AMERICA PLAYS! Activities with Classic A RAISIN IN THE SUN

From: Arizona Theatre Company [mailto:aztheatreco@aztheatreco.pmailus.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2008 3:42 PM
Subject: Press Release: ATC Offers Free AMERICA PLAYS! Activities with Classic A RAISIN IN THE SUN

For Immediate Release

December 11, 2008

Bevan Brunelle Bluemer 520.884.8210 Ext. 8205

ATC OFFERS FREE AMERICA PLAYS! ACTIVITIES WITH A RAISIN IN THE SUN

ATC and Habitat for Humanity partner to make local dreams come true

Arizona Theatre Company’s second installment of the AMERICA PLAYS! Celebrating Great American Stories series encompasses Lorraine Hansberry’s A RAISIN IN THE SUN. This season ATC will offer, in addition to a regularly scheduled series of post-performance discussions, free community engagement activities including a series of poetry slams and community open mic events, an essay contest for youth, pre-show lectures, and a community rebuilding event where ATC staff and members of local housing advocacy organizations work together to build and beautify a home for someone in our community. All events are free and open to the public.

Arizona Theatre Company’s production of A RAISIN IN THE SUN is sponsored in part by The Stonewall Foundation and Chase Bank. Funding for AMERICA PLAYS! Celebrating Great American Stories programming has been provided in part by a grant from the Community Foundation of Southern Arizona.

Nominated for four Tony Awards in 1960, A RAISIN IN THE SUN is a gripping tale of one family living and learning together on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950’s. A RAISIN IN THE SUN plays at the Temple of Music and Art in downtown Tucson from January 10-31, 2009 and at the Herberger Theater Center in downtown Phoenix from February 5-22, 2009.

In its second year, AMERICA PLAYS! Celebrating Great American Stories is a five-year programming initiative for Arizona Theatre Company. Each year, ATC will produce one American play designed to emphasize the American experience, and will include plays that examine social and political issues still relevant today. To encourage a diverse group of participants to add new voices to the conversation, ATC will offer free supplemental community activities tailored to each classic production.

Building Arizona
Saturday, January 10 - 7 AM to 1 PM

In partnership with Habitat for Humanity Tucson, ATC staff and patrons are invited to help build homes for local families. Like the family in A Raisin in the Sun, you can help these families to make their dreams of home ownership come true.

From Page to Stage
Saturday, January 31 at 1 PM
Temple of Music and Art

A pre-show event where you can learn from Stage Manager John Kingsbury how A Raisin in the Sun went from the literary page to the Arizona Theatre Company stage.

Poetry Slam and Open Mic
Thursday, January 15 at 5 PM
University of Arizona Poetry Center, 1508 East Helen Street (At Vine Avenue)

Saturday, January 17 at 3 PM
Bentley’s Coffee and Tea House, 1730 E. Speedway Blvd

Sunday, January 24 at 2 PM
Barnes and Noble Eastside, 5130 E. Broadway Blvd.

Ocotillo Poetry Slam will perform an original poetry slam based on the Langston Hughes poem “A Dream Deferred” as well as themes found within A Raisin in the Sun. Following the performance, community members are invited to “take the mic” and share their original poetry. Each performance will conclude with a poem collaboratively created by the audience.

Teen Poetry Slam Workshop
Wednesday, January 14 at 2 PM
The Teen Room at Joel D. Valdez Main Library, 101 N. Stone Ave.

ATC’s Education Staff collaborates with members of Ocotillo Poetry Slam and the Teen Time program at the Joel D. Valdez Main Library to introduce youth to the excitement of slam poetry. Ocotillo Poetry Slam members will work with teens to write original poems and teach them the basics of poetry slam performance.

A Raisin in the Sun – A Panel Discussion on Home Ownership
Sunday, January 25 following the 2 PM matinee
Temple of Music and Art

Join ATC staff, cast member from A Raisin in the Sun, representatives from Habitat for Humanity Tucson and Primavera Foundation as we discuss the themes of first-time home ownership found within A Raisin in the Sun. Panel members will illustrate how the play is still relevant in today’s society.

Post-Show Discussions
Tuesday, January 20 following the 7:30 PM performance
Wednesday, January 21 following the 7:30 PM performance
Wednesday, January 28 following the 2 PM matinee

Ask questions of the show’s cast and ATC staff in this open-format discussion. All post-show discussions take place at the Temple of Music and Art.

Youth Essay Contest
Deadline for entries: January 5, 2009

ATC asks school aged students to write an essay that answers “What does home and family mean to me?” Two categories for submission and judging include: Sixth-Eighth Grades: 100-250 words; and Ninth-Twelfth Grades: 250-500 words. Winners will receive:

-Tickets for their families to see A Raisin in the Sun
-The opportunity to meet the stars of ATC’s production of A Raisin in the Sun
-A fabulous prize package from Arizona Theatre Company and 92.9 The Mountain.

All essays must be received by January 5, 2008. Visit arizonatheatre.org for more submission information.