Model D article about theatre and hard times

Despite the state of the economy, Matrix Theatre Company and other Detroit theaters are adapting to the times and continuing the important mission of keeping live theatre a part of the community.

To see how Matrix and others are surviving the times, check out the article published this week on Model D.

MODEL D

Winter class schedule

PERFORMANCE AND PLAYWRITING:

Now PLAYing
Ages 5-7
Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Matrix Theatre Company
Begins Jan 23, 2010
In this introduction to being on stage, Matrix’s youngest actors will learn the basics of movement, stage voice, and characterization as they prepare a call-and-response performance for March 22’s World Water Day event.

Living on Stage
Ages 8-11
Tues/Thurs, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Roberto Clemente Recreation Center
Begins Jan 26, 2010
Older children taking this class will have the opportunity to learn the beginning elements of playwriting. Through explorations of character, plot, setting, and theme, these young writers will adapt a story about water consciousness that will be performed on March 22 at the World Water Day event.

Playwriting Is…
Ages 11-14
Tues/Thurs, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.

Begins Jan 26, 2010
Students in this class will begin to think about playwriting as a springboard to social change. Building on their playwriting experience from the last semester, these students will script an original piece about hidden waters of Detroit, and what water justice means to not only the animals that inhabit Detroit waters, but also to city residents as well. Their play will be performed at the World Water Day event on March 22.

PUPPETRY:

Water Stories Puppets
Ages 5-7
Saturdays, 12 p.m. - 1:30 p.n.
Matrix Theatre Company Studio
Begins Jan 23, 2010
Where is water from? Where does it go? What happens if we don’t take care of it? Our youngest puppeteers will begin to discover the answers to those questions as they read storybooks about water, and make puppets of the fish, turtles, and other creatures that live in water, as well as people puppets who will tell water stories at the World Water Day event on March 22.

Recycled Puppets

Ages 8-11
Saturday, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Matrix Theatre Company Studio
Begins Jan 23, 2010
Puppet-makers in this class will be using Eco-Fi fabrics and recycled materials to create bottle, glove, rod, sock, and marionette puppets, while also learning about the value of re-using what we have, and the impact bottled water has on our ecosystem.

Spirit of the Water Masks
Ages 11-14
Wednesdays, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Matrix Theatre Company Studio
Begins Jan 25, 2010
Young teens will tell their own personal stories connected with Michigan and Detroit waters (rivers, lakes, marshes, beaches) to create masks that embody their own connection to the eco-life around them.

Two ‘Vanished’ sneak peek events

Wednesday, Jan. 13 7 p,m.

St. Anne's Church, 1000 St. Anne St.

Part of the Town Hall Meeting for Immigration Reform

Organized by Reform Immigration for America

Saturday, Jan. 23 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

UAW Hall - Local 22, 4300 Michigan Ave.

Part of the SW Detroit Multicultural MultiGenerational Celebration

Organized by Michigan Roundtable and others

Vanished is almost ready for its debut on March 12, it is the culmination of over a year of work by the talented young playwrights of SW Detroit. This new play will impact our part of the national conversation on immigration and deportation issues as reform debates heat up in Washington.

To begin this process, there will two sneak peek staged readings from the play this month at different community events. The first will be Wednesday, Jan 13 at St. Anne’s Church, 1000 St. Anne St., at 7 p.m. as part of the “50 States for Immigration Reform” Town Hall Meetings coordinated by Reform Immigration for America and the launch of their legislative campaign. This looks to be the strongest upcoming national reform issue, so we encourage you to participate.

The second will be on Saturday, Jan 23 from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. at the SW Detroit Multicultural MultiGenerational Celebration held at the UAW Hall Local 22, 4300 Michigan Ave., as part of a larger community celebration with other performances, activities and wonderful food.

Please come out and invite your friends! Each performance is different, so we hope you can make it to both.

RSVP’s to ksrdjak@matrixtheatre.org are helpful, though not required. Questions and comments are also welcome either by email or phone.

Newest original work, 'Vanished,' premieres March 12

Matrix Theatre Company premieres its newest original production, “Vanished” on March 12, 2010. “Vanished” is a creation of Matrix’s Young Playwrights, who will perform the play in partnership with adult mentors trained in the Matrix way. “Vanished” is the story of a family literally torn apart by immigration laws and enforcement policies.

Set in present-day Southwest Detroit, “Vanished” shows one family’s struggle to live the American Dream, a struggle that is defined differently for parents born abroad and their kids born in the U.S. It deals with the realities of life for immigrant families without preaching or choosing sides.

“Vanished” was created in keeping with Matrix’s mission, to use the transformative power of theatre to change lives, build community and foster social justice. The Young Playwrights who created “Vanished” researched the history of U.S. immigration laws, learned about the recent changes made to enforcement policies, and explored the myths and prejudices at work in the formation of public opinion about immigrants. The result of their efforts is a new work that is designed to open discussion, so that audiences can share their ideas and experiences about an issue that impacts the lives of tens of thousands of Detroiters.

Matrix’s newly configured theatre is an intimate space that ensures that all the action can be seen from every seat. Matrix’s Inclusive Theatre Initiative also insures that “Vanished” is available to all, with parking, seating, and restroom facilities accessible to everyone. Audio description will be available on March 21 and March 26, and assistive listening devices are offered at every show. Guest speakers will host “Talk-backs” at select performances. “Talk-backs” are post-performance events where audiences can meet the creative team behind the play and take part in guided discussions about the play’s themes.

“Vanished” runs Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays at 4 p.m. from March 12, 2010 through March 28, 2010, at Matrix Theatre Company, 2730 Bagley Street in Detroit.

Tickets are $15 for general admission and $10 for students (with ID) and seniors (65 or older). Children 12 and under pay $8 with an adult. There are no discounts offered for Saturday performances. Special rates are offered for groups of 10 or more.

Tickets can be purchased for the upcoming production by calling Matrix Theatre Company’s box office at 313-967-0599, and more information is available at www.matrixtheatre.org.

Kids in Action

Thursday, December 10th was Matrix’s annual Winter Educational Showcase, which brings together all of the students in our performance, playwriting and puppetry classes to share with family and friends what they’ve learned during the term.

From the Education Manager’s point of view, the day is busy and hectic, but always a real joy. This year was no different. I was really looking forward to seeing the full performances from every class. And to make the event even more special, we were also including a performance by the Introduction to Puppetry class at O.W. Holmes Elementary. Usually our “site-based” classes have performances within their schools; it was so great this time around to have the Holmes kids right in the middle of things and to meet their families too.

The Showcase kicked off with a performance by our “Now PLAYing” group of 5-7 year-olds in Dr. Seuss’ “The Sneetches.” Then Miguel Diaz showed off his masks “Planet Flower” and “Lava Boy” and Marisa DeLaCruz-Martin put on a puppet show for us all.

The 8-11 year olds in “Being on Stage” gave a wonderful performance of “Where the Wild Things Are,” complete with their own homemade monster masks. Our youngest students came back to swim their bottle fish puppets in front of a backdrop they painted themselves, and the Holmes students put on their puppet show, “The Ghosts of O.W. Holmes.”

The final performance of the evening was from the 11-14-year-olds in our “Acting Is …” class, who wrote their own original script based on songs by Kanye West and Michael Jackson. Entitled “The Badder They Are, The Stronger They Rise,” this show featured two dance numbers (and a food fight).

The energy in the room that night was fabulous! All of the performances were fun to watch, and we gave out several Matrix Spirit Awards to some of our most hard-working participants.

Working with all of these students is a complete honor. They blow me away all the time with their talent and creativity, but at Showcase I was mainly impressed by their support of one another. Everyone was truly interested in watching everyone else’s piece; everyone’s reactions and applause were genuine. Afterward, I heard words of congratulations from student to student, and saw hugs and handshakes and high-fives between teachers and family members and kids. The community of creativity is strong at Matrix, and I can’t say thanks enough to all of the teachers and parents, and all of our young performers and puppet-makers and playwrights for being a part of it.

If you missed the showcase, you definitely missed out! Make sure to catch our Spring Showcase on March 22, which is also World Water Day, to see how young Matrix artists use theatre to bring awareness to water issues in Detroit.

Andrea Scobie is the Education Manager at Matrix Theatre Company. She can be reached at ascobie@matrixtheatre.org or at 313-967-0999.

More photos of our Autumn 2009 students.

Prison Creative Arts Project at a 'Talk-back' on Samuel Beckett's 'Happy Days'

The University of Michigan's Prison Creative Arts Project recently came to Matrix Theatre to lead a Matrix "Talk-back" following the November 6, 2009 performance of "Happy Days" by Nobel Prize-winning playwright Samuel Beckett.

Matrix "Talk-backs" give audiences and artists a chance to share their experiences of a performance and discuss the ideas raised in the work. The event was hosted by Shaun Nethercott, Matrix's Executive Director and the play's director. PCAP Founder Buzz Alexander, along with mentor Lizzy Baskerville and former PCAP participants Mary Heinen and Brandon Gatson, all gave moving testimonies about their lives and their work, helping prisoners find their creativity and voices and preserving hope and self under imprisonment. Mary now leads PCAP's youth programs. The "Happy Days" creative team of Shaun and actors Stephanie Nichols and Dan Jaroslaw described how they located these themes in the play and in their performances.

Enjoy.

Matrix Theatre Company readies its newest Hero Puppet, ADA pioneer Justin Dart

(Justin Dart.)

Matrix Theatre Company is creating a new Giant Hero Puppet to memorialize Justin Dart, the disability rights activist who advanced the cause of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA became law in July 1990, and the hero puppet will be ready to mark the act's 20th anniversary.

Matrix's newest creation will also be paraded during events planned for the U.S. Social Forum to be held June 22 - 26, 2010 in Detroit. The U.S. Social Forum is a movement-building process bringing people together to solve the global economic and ecological crises. Following its debut at the USSF, the puppet will be headed to Chicago to appear in the Seventh Annual Disability Pride Parade on July 24, 2010.

(Working on the Ella Baker Hero Puppet.)

Matrix has begun raising the $7,500 needed to construct the work. The Justin Dart puppet will be made in "the Matrix way" of community collaboration. This is how Matrix created its roster of giant puppets including Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez and Ella Baker, and the way that Matrix creates its original theatre productions. The Justin Dart puppet presents a unique challenge for its designers: to make a larger-than-life functioning wheelchair to hold the puppet. Justin Dart (1930-2002) acquired his disability from polio at the age of 18, and used a wheelchair for the rest of his life. The completed puppet will require at least three people to operate it.

(Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Jones, Ella Baker in action.)

"If the giant Justin Dart puppet is used to communicate his cry for everyone to 'Lead the Revolution of Individual Empowerment' particularly to youth with disabilities, it would be awesome, and extremely meaningful and valuable," said Yoshiko Dart, Justin's wife, in 2008 when the project was proposed to her by Matrix.

"'Lead on! We love you,' Dart's famous quote is recognized still as both a call to action and a reminder that, in the struggle against oppression and the movement toward equity... [that] all things are possible and the resultant change will be powerful, positive and worth the effort," said Dan Wilkins, advocate for people with disabilities.

"The notion that any one person is the single cause of any significant social change - that Abraham Lincoln alone freed the slaves - is a devastating stereotype which robs individuals of responsibility and credit, and actually inhibits social change. You can be a revolution of one. In your living room, in your family, in your community," said Dart, when the 10th anniversary of the ADA was marked by the Smithsonian Museum of American History.

The Justin Dart Puppet Project cause is set up on Facebook. Matrix invites you to please join and invite your friends to join and support the project. Donations can be made directly through Facebook. Donations can also be made over the phone by credit card, 313-967-0999, or by check to Matrix Theatre Company at 2730 Bagley St. Detroit, MI 48216.

The entire creation process will be documented by Matrix. Check the website to follow events and for updates on the construction and fundraising efforts. Matrix is seeking donations of time, construction materials and funds to bring the work to completion. For more information on the project and how to get involved, please contact Ken Srdjak, Volunteer Coordinator for Matrix at ksrdjak@matrixtheatre.org, or call 313-967-0999.