January 2016 - Tilling the Soil

Classics in Color: An INclusive Theatre Company

2016 – The year of sowing seeds

January: Tilling the Soil

Running / guiding / funding a not-for-profit theatre company is far from easy. It is an all-encompassing passion project, every day, every hour, every minute. I tell people I AM married, to the theatre company!

I knew that going in. Five years ago I would have run from this hard work, but now, I welcome it, I embrace it, and I look for new and inventive ways to get it all done.

Several months ago in October of 2015 I applied for the rights to a play I could not WAIT to get on its feet. It’s a big show, by a very well-known playwright, and the production (including the rights) would be expensive. But the theatre created because of it would have been completely worth it. I was ready to jump into CiC’s next production, our first solo production.

I heard back from the estate of the playwright asking for more information on our production, they wanted to know who we were, what our vision is, why we wanted to do this play, and how we wanted to do it. I was happy to respond to these valid questions of an estate clearly protecting the artistic integrity of the play. However, the time continued to slip by between communications, and before I knew it, it was December, and I had not yet received permission to produce this play.

I spent some time with this disappointment. There are PLENTY of other shows to be done, but what might be the gift in this situation of not having my vision for THIS piece go according to plan? I sat with this question and made a choice: 2016 would be the year of Sowing Seeds for CiC.

We are taking this year to build: the company, our relationship with the community, our relationship with funders, our education department, and our producing funds.

The month of January will begin the process. It is our month of tilling the soil, turning it over, assessing its ability for growth, giving it space and air, and letting the nutrients emerge.

This month we launched our adult acting classes in Shakespeare, an open level, open class offering work in the acting of Shakespeare scenes and speeches. For more information on this weekly class and shaking the dust off your Shakespeare, click HERE: Acting Shakespeare.

This month we also launch our monthly reading series: Classics Out LOUD! This is a free event, open to the public where we will read classic and classical plays out loud with professional actors. There is no rehearsal, just the guidance of a director with an idea, and YOU! Think of it as a PLAY Club (like a Book Club). Read the play ahead of time, bring it with you, just listen, or do all three! Then afterwards, join us for a short discussion on the piece. Although the event is free, seating is extremely limited, so reservations are highly encouraged. You can do so by clicking HERE: Classics Out LOUD!

We hope you will join us on this journey and look forward to connecting with you in coming months. Here’s what’s happening in January:

Sunday, January 17th, 2016: Acting Shakespeare 6:00p - 8:00p $10

Monday, January 18th, 2016: Classics Out LOUD! 6:30p -9:30p Free

Reading "The Shrike" by Joseph Kramm

Sunday, January 24th, 2016: Acting Shakespeare 6:00p – 8:00p $10

Sunday, January 31st, 2016: Acting Shakespeare 6:00p – 8:00p $10

Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to seeing you soon!

Sincerely,

Nafeesa on behalf of the entire Classics in Color Theatre Company