Fort Point Theatre’s
Winter-Spring 2013 Productions

To kick off the New Year, Fort Point Theatre Channel will present Boston theater-goers with a diverse set of productions: a classic that brings together two of the greatest playwrights; a Boston premiere by a Middle Eastern writer; and an evening of dangerous modern opera.

February 21-March 9, 2013
"The Good Person of Setzuan"
By Bertolt Brecht, Adapted by Tony Kushner
10 Channel Center Street
Fort Point, Boston

Singly, Bertolt Brecht and Tony Kushner are among the most gifted and significant playwrights in the history of theater. Here, their talents are combined in a script born out of the rise of fascism and adapted to a modern sensibility. The cast of 18, playing some 30 roles, will be led by two rising young Boston actors. Jaime Carillo (who recently starred in Speakeasy Stage Company’s "Motherf**ker with a Hat") will be Wang, the helpless water seller. Emerson College senior Kelly Chick will balance Brecht’s challenging dual role -- as Ms. Shen Te, the prostitute, and Mr. Shui Ta, the businessman. The role reflects the conflicting forces at work in the human quest to survive and be good at the same time. FPTC core member Christie Lee Gibson will direct the production.

May 17-19, 2013
"Tamziq: Scattered and Connected"
10 Channel Center Street
Fort Point, Boston

FPTC will premier a new play (to be announced soon) by a leading Middle Eastern writer as part of Tamziq: Scattered and Connected, a multifaceted collaboration of Middle Eastern and American artists organized and co-curated by FPTC’s Anne Loyer.

FPTC is collaborating with the Odysseus Project and the Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social Consequences at UMass Boston on this production. FPTC is responsible for the theatrical aspects of Tamziq, which include a major art exhibit, staged readings, and other activities.

June 21-23, 2013
"Dangerous Ideas:
An Evening of Opera Featuring Ensemble Warhol and OperaHub
Cambridge YMCA Theater
820 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA

"Dangerous Ideas" is a two-part tribute to the power of ideas to change individuals and the world.

"Dangerous Ideas" features a rare performance of "Socrate," by Erik Satie. This meditation on the Greek philosopher’s life and death draws its text from Plato. First published in 1919, the opera begins with a portrait of Socrates and ends with his death, as Socrates is executed as a danger to the youth of Greece. Performing will be OperaHub. "Socrate," written for a four-woman ensemble, will be collaboratively directed and staged by the singers, the pianist, and the stage manager.

Rounding out the program are three excerpts from the opera "Jeanne," by FPTC core member Mark Warhol, who is artistic director of Ensemble Warhol. The scenes introduce a secretary and a young engineering intern in a conversation, fueled by strong empathy, that flowers into a remarkable exchange of ideas—ideas that irrevocably alter each of their lives. Performing will be Ensemble Warhol.

And as a preview for the Fall --

September 2013
Generational Legacy Project:
"The Hidden Faces Of Courage"
10 Channel Center Street
Fort Point, Boston

FPTC contributes to the Generational Legacy Project of the nonprofit On With Living and Learning, led by FPTC member Mary Driscoll. This project weaves together personal testimony and research to explore social justice issues --in this case, for women who have been incarcerated for nonviolent crime and face challenges reentering their communities.

Combining monologues, rap, spirituals, and dance, the play "The Hidden Faces of Courage" came about by working with women worthy to be honored. It centers on the life of one formerly incarcerated woman and her friends. Their stories symbolize the lives of innumerable woman and children in similar circumstances. Although surrounded by poverty, violence, drug use, and prison, they seek to pass on a legacy of courage.

Last June, as part of this project, Fort Point Theatre Channel hosted the first semi-staged reading of "The Hidden Faces of Courage," directed by Jacqui Parker. The full production, featuring the women themselves, is slated for September 2013.

For information, visit www.fortpointtc.org.