About this project
About this Project:
The Artist’s Laboratory Theatre, an experimental collaborative ensemble, is raising money for the development of a workshop production of the new play "Bombs, Babes & Bingo" by Merri Biechler. The mission of the ALT is to bring together a variety of theatre artists from around the United States to collaborate on and develop new projects that exist outside the mainstream realm of performance and art. We are committed to exploring these projects and taking our time to test content and structure in a lab type environment.
In the case of "Bombs, Babes & Bingo," the playwright experiments with the narrative structure. The order in which the scenes of the play are to be performed will be determined at random by selecting Bingo Balls at the beginning of each scene. In this way, the structure of the story mirrors the thoughts and state of mind of the main character, Dennis, a war soldier who is suffering from dementia and can no longer keep his thoughts in a linear context. This form promises that no two performances will ever be the same but the entirety of the story will always be told.
ALT aspires to follow the model of the dream—a state that is made up of disparate images and where profundity might be found in the absurd. Our process includes the ordering and reordering of images and events of the story. It also includes the act of collecting dreams and points-of-view from our community, for we also believe that there is a collective consciousness that contains, and perhaps creates, the myths of our world.
But this is just an idea. We need a little help to make to make our dream tangible.
How we would use your donations (thank you very much):
1. Rehearsal and performance space for a full 4 weeks of rehearsals and 2 weekends of interactive work-shopping sessions. Each workshop would include a preshow community event, a performance and an interactive talkback session with the audience and artists.
2. Marketing materials
3. Travel expenses and accommodations for out of town artists.
After a summer of intensive lab work, as well as ensemble and community collaboration, The Artist's Laboratory Theatre will produce "Bombs, Babes and Bingo" in August!
FAQ
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73
Backers
$3,369
pledged of $3,000 goal
0
seconds to go
Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on June 11, 2010.
Pledge $10 or more
ALT will send you a signed program or poster of "Bombs, Babes and Bingo."
Pledge $25 or more
To express our gratitude, ALT will make you a very special Thank You Very Much video. Just tell us if you'd like it posted on Facebook!
Pledge $50 or more
2 tickets to see "Bombs, Babes and Bingo" and a Thank You Very Much Video.
Pledge $100 or more
All of the above, plus an invitation to a rehearsal of "Bombs, Babes and Bingo." If you are far away, we will send you footage in your video!
Pledge $300 or more
All of the above, plus we will send you the amazing sketches and renderings of the designs of "Bombs, Babes and Bingo," by designer and ALT founder, Alan Edward Schwanke.
Pledge $500 or more
All of the above, plus you get to help us create our next show! ALT loves formulas, and we will ask you to create a formula, theme, or question for our next piece. AND we will perform it for you and your friends. If you are far away, we will make you a video of the piece!
Project By
The Artist's Laboratory Theatre
Last Login 01/28/12
Connected as Erika Wilhite
Erika Wilhite, Co-Artistic Director of ALT:
Erika is an actor and producer. She produced and performed in the one-woman show "X: The Rise and Fall of an Asylum Star," by Jill Dowse, with which she won the Newbie Award at the Orlando International Theatre Fringe Festival. She produced and developed "Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds," an exploration of media- induced fear through the perspective of the Public. Check out her work at www.erikawilhite.com.
Alan Edward Schwanke, Co-Artistic Director of ALT:
Alan received his MFA in Scenic Design from Northwestern University in Chicago and his BFA in Theatre Technology and Design from the University of Central Oklahoma. In the Spring of 2008, Alan was chosen to display his work at the USITT Young Designer’s Forum in Houston and Ming Cho Lee’s “Clambake,” a juried portfolio review, in New York City. Some of Alan’s favorite designs have included Knute Rockne: All American and Footloose (Theatre at the Center in Chicago), The Chicago Sound Connection (B&B Promotions), Willy Wonka: The Musical (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre), Glengarry Glen Ross (Milwaukee Repertory Theatre) and Pippin (Northwestern University). Alan’s latest work has included To Kill A Mockingbird and Mauritius (Salem Repertory Theatre), Oliver! (Lakewood Theatre) Getting To Know You (Broadway Rose Theatre) and A Christmas Carol (Bag&Baggage Productions). Currently, Alan is the resident scenic designer for Bag&Baggage Productions in Hillsboro, Oregon and an Adjunct Professor of Theatre at Linfield College. Visit www.alanedwardschwankedesign.com to learn more about Alan and his design work.
Merri Biechler’s, visiting artist/playwright:
Merri’s plays have been read, workshopped, and produced around the country including New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Plays include Bombs, Babes and Bingo (Semi-finalist, P73 Playwriting Fellowship; Finalist, Clubbed Thumb Theater Biennial commission); Occupation (Finalist, Perishable Theatre’s International Women’s Playwriting Festival); Real Girls Can't Win! (Nominee, Stavis Playwriting Award); Dolley Madison and the Secret History Club (Kennedy Center/White House Historical Association commission); and The Bathtub Play (Winner, Jane Chambers Student Playwriting Award). She worked at ABC Television for three years writing scripts and treatments for their Movie-of-the-Week division.
