We've launched an exciting new project of our own! Introducing the Kickstarter app for iPhone!

Funded! This project successfully raised its funding goal on January 13, 2012.

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Darkly comic and surreal, a project set to premiere on th Steppenwolf Theater Garage stage in Feb. 2012. We need you to back us today.

A note to potential Kickstarter backers, big and small, from Theatre Zarko:

We made the big time.

Theatre Zarko's He Who will premier on Steppenwolf's Garage Rep stage, running February 2 - April 8, 2012.

Imagine the insanity. After more than a decade of performing, we decided to start a formal arts organization in January 2009, at a time when the economy was terribly uncertain, because we believe Michael Montenegro when he says, "Our society, local and large, is in desperate need of reminders of what it means to be a dignified human being, and to respect the dignity of others. As our world collapses around us, we need to remind ourselves of what is important. Somehow, even on the small scale of a puppet theater, we have to take our stand and create a healthy response to the chaos and confusion."    

Just 2 and 1/2 years later after sold out performances at our space at Evanston's Noyes Cultural Arts Center, we have been invited to premiere Michael Montenegro's He Who at Steppenwolf this winter.

We need you to back us. 

We must raise at least $11,000 ($20,000 would be ideal) to support production costs for He Who, which will introduce new audiences, particularly young audiences, to the cerebral joy that is Theatre Zarko.  We hope that this will be an opportunity for Kickstarter backers to become members of Theatre Zarko, to follow our progress along this daunting journey, and to take just as much pride and joy in the success of this important project as our founders.

Backing this project matters and will have a direct and immediate impact on our ability to let Michael and the rest of the ensemble focus on what they do best, which is to create a new perspective on everything personal and political for those who come to Theatre Zarko performances.

Back us today.  This is big - indeed, it's our biggest baby ever.
The piece entitled He Who is about the birth into the world of something intangible yet very real, and the care and nurturing of this infant something.It is about the love for it and the resulting blindness of those that must feed it and support it, and its eventual tyranny over those that engendered it.

It is also about a fractured soul who longs for unity and fulfillment. It is about Motherhood and Infant-hood. And very much about fear and anxiety.

Help us to ensure that He Who is as well financed as it is laden with talent and creative brilliance so that we can execute our vision and do what good arts organizations do best - nourish hungry souls.

Sincerely,

Meagan Downey
Board Chair

P.S. A note from Michael . . . We are in the midst of our most ambitious project to date. We are developing an original  puppet theatre piece called He Who, which will premier at Chicagoʼs world renowned, Steppenwolf Theatre, as a part of their Garage Repertory Series 2012. The play is a dark comedy examining the power of invisible forces, one of which is a Big Idea. An Idea is born like a baby, innocent, vulnerable, and even malleable. It is then often nurtured, protected, and bolstered until it takes root and either brings gifts into the world or brings calamity. So this play is about the birth of an invisible something and peopleʼs obsessions with this invisible something. What then you will actually see on stage are four identical women, four aspects of the same distraught mother, caring for a single enormous baby. And the struggle to deny the inevitable consequences of nurturing a bad idea.

Our backers will allow us to bring this project to fruition by giving us the opportunity to build the puppet figures, the set, pay the performers, designers and technicians necessary to create a beautiful and powerfully poetic statement.

Please visit our web site theatrezarko.org to catch highlights of some of our past projects. And feel free to contact us if you have any questions about Theatre Zarko or our up and coming production of He Who.

All our thanks.
MM

www.theatrezarko.org

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Theatre-Zarko-Puppet-Symbolist-Theatre/143661459032635?ref=ts

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88
Backers
$12,696
pledged of $11,000 goal
0
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Funding period
Nov 25, 2011 - Jan 13, 2012

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  • Website: theatrezarko.org

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  • Pledge $10 or more

    8 backers

    Official He Who postcard signed by Michael Montenegro

    Estimated delivery: Mar 2012
  • Pledge $25 or more

    23 backers

    One of a kind Theatre Zarko T-shirt recognizing you as a backer to this important project, plus $10 incentive

    Estimated delivery: Mar 2012
  • Pledge $50 or more

    1 backer

    Invitation to 3 conference call updates from January through April in which Michael and ensemble members will update you on the progress of the project as well as audience impact, plus $10 and $25 incentives

    Estimated delivery: Mar 2012
  • Pledge $100 or more

    5 backers

    Screen-printed Theatre Zarko logo patch, complete with safety pin, plus $10, $25 and $50 incentives

    Estimated delivery: Mar 2012
  • Pledge $250 or more

    1 backer

    Stills from He Who signed by Michael and the cast, pluse $10, $25, $50 and $100 incentives

    Estimated delivery: Mar 2012
  • Pledge $500 or more

    0 backers

    Hand-stitched facsimile of the dresses worn by the mothers in He Who, plus $10, $25, $50, $100 and $250 incentives

    Estimated delivery: Mar 2012
  • Pledge $1,000 or more

    2 backers Limited (18 of 20 left)

    Mechanical puppet toy handcrafted by Michael Montenegro, plus all incentives at the $10, $25, $50, $100, $250 and $500 levels.

    Estimated delivery: Mar 2012