December and the Holidays

First of all, Happy Holidays to everyone from Theatre Sans Serif. It's been a crazy year, and it's still going strong right until the stroke of Midnight New Year's Eve. We still have one more performance of A Christmas Carol, Sunday December 19th, in the English Nationality Room at the Cathedral of Learning. Then, things kick into high gear for the 24 Hour Theatre Experiment with First Night Pittsburgh.

From the website:
"4 Directors. 4 Writers. 8 Actors. And 24 Hours to create brand new theatre art. While a play may "normally" take weeks or months of writing and rehearsals, Theatre Sans Serif will be premiering 4 brand new (literally) one act plays. At 7 pm, the writers begin writing, and have 12 hours to complete the script. At 7 am, it's pencils down, as the directors and actors have 12 hours to memorize and rehearse, all in preparation for the 7 o'clock opening of the first show. Three showings only.
Performances at 7, 8:30 and 9:45 pm."

Also this month, we had our monthly reading series at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum, where we were joined by author Alan Simon.

Finally, we completed the first performance of A Christmas Carol, an original reading to benefit the food bank at this time of year.

Ivy Steinberg, Bob Scott, and David Conley

"My Dearest..." Thoughts From the Front, December 2010

David Conley, Bob Scott, Elizabeth Brinkley, and Tara Zynel

A Christmas Carol

Join us for the rest of this year's great programming, and get ready for next year! We'll be bringing you theatre like you've never seen it before!



A Christmas Carol

Poets Corner welcomes Theatre Sans Serif for Charles Dickens’ A CHRISTMAS CAROL

"A READING FOR FEEDING"

Two free readings benefit Northside Common Ministries
and East End Cooperative Ministries Food Pantries
at Calvary United Methodist Church and Pitt’s English Nationality Room

A "reading for feeding" will benefit local food pantries when Poets Corner welcomes Theatre Sans Serif for two presentations of Charles Dickens’ classic A CHRISTMAS CAROL. Admission is free, but in the spirit of season and the current economy, the first event of this returning arts series will give back, asking audience members to bring non-perishable food times to the performance.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL will be read in two locations, decorated for the season. The intimate Victorian Chapel at the historic Calvary Methodist Church will be the setting on Wed., December 15 at 7 pm at 971 Beech Ave. at Allegheny on the Northside. A brief tour of the restored sanctuary and Tiffany windows will be given at 6:30 pm. Refreshments will be served following the reading.

The likewise cozy English Nationality Room, 144 Cathedral of Learning, will host a reading on Sunday, December 19 at 7 pm. For information and questions regarding Poets Corner and how to get involved, e-mail  Poets.Corner.Pittsburgh@gmail.com or call 412-512-0589. A CHRISTMAS CAROL is on FACEBOOK at Poets Corner, Pittsburgh.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Poets-Corner-Pittsburgh/166134940092628 

For information on Theatre Sans Serif, visit http://theatresansserif.blogspot.com/

ABOUT "A CHRISTMAS CAROL," A READING FOR FEEDING

Poets Corner founder Yvonne Hudson says, “A CHRISTMAS CAROL is so in keeping with the spirit of our initial season in 2006-07. In planning new programs, I was looking at 2011, but the enthusiasm of Theatre Sans Serif makes it possible to get an early start, gather much needed food for Pittsburghers in need, and return to our spoken word tradition.”

Pittsburgh’s Theatre Sans Serif is dedicated to producing classical and new works, in innovative and widely ranging styles. The company, producing since October 2009, fosters collaboration between arts organizations to promote the artistic community as a whole. David Conley is directing the reading of A CHRISTMAS CAROL, which features Tara Zynel, Elizabeth Brinkley, Bob Scott, and Conley. Theatre Sans Serif's Artistic Director Andrew Huntley and Hudson are producers for the events.
Dickens' describes the holidays as "a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of other people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys".

A CHRISTMAS CAROL was published in December 1843. The piece, which Dickens later presented in public readings in the version featured by Poets Corner, exemplified what the author called the “Carol Philosophy”. The tale of Scrooge’s miserly ways and redemption was originally told against the Victorian landscape of poverty and the encroaching industrial age. One of the most popular stories for the Christmas season, CAROL continues to remind readers and audiences of the heart of the season.

“Poets Corner enjoys works that provide listeners with food for thought to last beyond our events,” says Hudson, “and CAROL fits that bill. Dickens is actually buried at Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey, so it seems an appropriate honor to kick start our series with his work.”

"My Dearest..." Thoughts from the Front Cast

Andrew Huntley, Jenny Malarkey, and David Conley

November 2010, World War I

Jenny Malarkey, and Bob Scott

October 2010, The Civil War

"My Dearest..." Thoughts From The Front during the Holidays

“MY DEAREST . . .” Thoughts from the Front

100th Anniversary Series

Media Advisory                                                                                                            November 26, 2010
For Immediate Release

"My Dearest . . ."

Thoughts from the Front

WHO: Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum and Theatre Sans Serif
            www.soldiersandsailorshall.org             http://theatresansserif.blogspot.com/

WHAT: "My Dearest . . ." Thoughts from the Front: is an experimental series of dramatic readings of letters and diaries from the collection at Soldiers & Sailors in collaboration with Theatre Sans Serif. The series is designed to give life to the words and thoughts of our country's military creating a personal connection with the audience and will run throughout the 100^th anniversary year of Soldiers & Sailors. Actors from Theatre Sans Serif will be performing the selections, designed to show and explore the human side of military conflict within changing themes of the series. The first performance was on October 11 readings as a part of  Soldiers & Sailors official 100^th Anniversary Open House.

 The first performance was on October 11 readings as a part of  Soldiers & Sailors official 100^th Anniversary Open House.
The December 11 reading will also include a discussion  with author Alan Simon on his novel, " The First Christmas of the War"  which is set in Pittsburgh during the week before Christmas, 1941 shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

 Mission Statement of Theatre Sans Serif:    "Theatre Sans Serif is dedicated to producing classical and new works, in innovative and widely ranging styles. We also foster collaboration between arts organizations, as by working together, we can promote the artistic community as a whole."

WHEN: Monday, October 11, 2010 2:00PM

 WHERE: Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum        Room: Hall Of Valor
            4141 Fifth Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213

For more information contact:
Tim Neff ,         Director of Education      412-621-4253 x 219        tim@soldiersandsailorshall.org

###

Works in Progress

Works in progress seems to be the most accurate title for things at the moment. There is much work to be done, but much more to be done. Currently, as I write this, my desk is awash in a sea of books and documents for the next show of Theatre Sans Serif, "My Dearest..." It has been an extremely interesting, occasionally difficult, sometimes heartbreaking (especially for some of the letters) journey from the archives to this point. Soon, the actors will have scripts in hand, and the true theatrical magic can happen.
Talk to you soon,
Andrew

Come hear selections from:

• The Diary of Samuel H. Wright
• The Pittsburgh Evening Chronicle

Letters from:

• Joshua Chamberlain
• Oliver Willcox Norton
• George Hempstead
• Oliver Kennedy
• Charles A. McKenna
• Robert Kennedy

"My Dearest..." Thoughts From The Front

Media Advisory                                                                                                 September 16, 2010

For Immediate Release

“My Dearest . . .”

Thoughts from the Front

WHO: Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum and Theatre Sans Serif

            www.soldiersandsailorshall.org                http://theatresansserif.blogspot.com/

           

WHAT: “My Dearest . . .” Thoughts from the Front: is an experimental series of dramatic readings of letters and diaries from the collection at Soldiers & Sailors in collaboration with Theatre Sans Serif. The series is designed to give life to the words and thoughts of our country’s military creating a personal connection with the audience and will run throughout the 100^th anniversary year of Soldiers & Sailors. Actors from Theatre Sans Serif will be performing the selections, designed to show and explore the human side of military conflict within changing themes of the series. The theme for the first installment will be the Civil War, and Pittsburgh’s role in the war.

The first performances on October 11 readings are free and open to the public as a part of  Soldiers & Sailors official 100^th Anniversary Open House  and RADical Days 2010.

Mission Statement of Theatre Sans Serif:

“Theatre Sans Serif is dedicated to producing classical and new works, in innovative and widely ranging styles. We also foster collaboration between arts organizations, as by working together, we can promote the artistic community as a whole.”

WHEN: Monday, October 11, 2010 2:00PM

WHERE: Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum

              4141 Fifth Ave.

              Pittsburgh, PA 15213

              Room: Hall Of Valor

For more information contact:

Tim Neff

            Director of Education

             412-621-4253 x219

            tim@soldiersandsailorshall.org

Works in Action (or Progress)

Looking things over, I realized it has been a long time since I've updated the blog.  As in, an insanely long time. The theatre hasn't been inactive, but we did go into a period of hibernation after the first show. We did this to really focus on what our priorities are as a company, and what we want to do with the community. Over the past few months, we've slowly been coming out of this light sleep, and back into production mode. We are currently in meetings with several local community partners (we're not quite ready to announce whom just yet) and this is a very promising direction for everyone involved. There is a lot of excellent programming choices to make, but no matter what it's going to be an adventure.
Keeping in touch,
Andrew