Download Press Kit - The TEAM

Press K it a nd T ouring Info A SURREAL ROAD TRIP FROM
THE BADLANDS TO GRACELAND…
RoosevElvis (“Rose-­‐of-­‐Elvis”) tells the story of Ann, a thirty-­‐five year old meat-­‐processing plant worker living in Rapid City, South Dakota. Painfully shy, Ann has recently begun to inhabit the character of Elvis Presley in the privacy of her home. In his skin, she begins to find the courage to open herself to the world. She meets and sleeps with Brenda, a woman whose online dating profile lists taxidermy and Teddy Roosevelt among her interests. The two take a weekend camping trip to the Badlands, but it doesn't go well. Frustrated by Ann's passivity about her own life, Brenda leaves, prodding Ann to do something, like get in a car and drive to her hero's house in Memphis. Ann begins a hallucinatory drive south, accompanied by the increasingly present and invasive spirits of Presley and Roosevelt (played by the actresses). As Graceland comes ever closer, these two icons of American masculinity battle for what type of man or woman Ann should become. Set against the boundless blue skies of the Great Plains and endless American highway, RoosevElvis is a new work about gender, appetite, and the multitudes we contain. Featuring Libby King and Kristen Sieh, RoosevElvis was collaboratively created by director Rachel Chavkin, Associate Director Jake Margolin, and performers King and Sieh. Scenic design by Nick Vaughan, lighting and projection design by Joe Cantalupo, sound design by Matt Hubbs, costume design by Kristen Sieh. RoosevElvis also features video filmed on location for 8 days from the Badlands to Graceland, shot and edited by Andrew Schneider in collaboration with the TEAM. PRODUCTION TIMELINE
2008 While developing Architecting, Kristen becomes enthralled with Teddy Roosevelt. 2010 On a research trip and residency in Las Vegas for Mission Drift, Libby develops a deep interest in Elvis impersonators. Summer 2012 Initial development and workshop showings at the Almeida Theatre, London and The Bushwick Starr, Brooklyn December 2012-March 2013
Continued development in Brooklyn July 2013 Kristen, Libby, Rachel, Andrew, and Kevin depart on an 8-­‐day road trip and film shoot from the Badlands in South Dakota to Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee. August 2013 Month-­‐long residency at the Drama League to finish drafting the rehearsal script September 2013 Rehearsals begin October 2013 World Premiere at The Bushwick Starr, Brooklyn PROMOTIONAL RESOURCES
High-­‐resolution photos and video from both the production and road trip are available to accompany RoosevElvis, which can be used to create digital marketing tools. Material can be supplied in variety of formats and files sizes. To view short films from the road trip, visit our Vimeo page: vimeo.com/theteamplays “More buoyant than theatrical material has any right to be… The audience laughs—not with recognition or self-­‐
satisfaction, but with the purest kind of astonished delight.” Helen Shaw, Time Out New York
“RoosevElvis is far too empathetic a play to lend itself to cold deconstruction…[It's] the company’s most intimate work that I’ve seen, and also its warmest…a lot fresher than most new plays you’ll see this season…researched to the teeth, [RoosevElvis] offers a spirited and insightful commentary on two archetypes of American masculinity, while finding teasing ambiguities within both that suggest that machismo is a shaky existential choice.” Ben Brantley, New York Times
“More buoyant than theatrical material has any right to be…RoosevElvis‘s velocity sweeps us into gorgeous, buoyant nonsense without our noticing…The audience laughs—not with recognition or self-­‐satisfaction, but with the purest kind of astonished delight…This glorious show is strong precisely because it focuses, at long last, on individuals. It fully, totally revels in King’s gravelly, bourbon-­‐soaked tones; it exploits to the last degree Sieh’s titanic comic gifts…Some astonishing scenes, several the best I’ve seen this year, are the result.” Helen Shaw, Time Out New York
“A stirring, absurd, and grandly human historical-­‐cosplay road-­‐trip fantasia…a big-­‐hearted and affecting examination of that most American of faculties: imagining yourself as bigger, grander, and more, no matter how little you might be.” Village Voice
“The most awesome buddy comedy in American history…in typical TEAM fashion, it explores so much more, from the limits of hero worship to the impossible standards of masculinity in America, and all with thrilling athleticism and unfailing intelligence.” Theatermania
“Command performance[s] by King and Sieh who carry the whole production by weaving in and out of their characters and counter-­‐characters seamlessly…[they] deftly spar across the stage through historically biographical reflections and witty one liners.” Grace Moon, velvetparkmedia
“RoosevElvis is a singular example of how the TEAM is re-­‐inventing contemporary storytelling.” The Brooklyn Rail
CRITICAL PRAISE FOR THE TE AM
“How stimulating to wake up in the hands of a present-­‐tense theater company who knows what it’s doing.” The New York Times
“Visionary in concept and execution, this show reminds you of Tony (Angels in America) Kushner and sometimes of Robert (The Dragons’ Trilogy) Lepage.” The Independent, London
“A Tour de Force of subtlety...what a joy it is to see new writing that transmits what it is like to live in the 21st century.” The Financial Times, London
“The TEAM are theatrical excavators of American culture, American dreams and the American psyche, understanding the intimate connection between past and present, celluloid and reality.” The Guardian
“The TEAM have slowly but surely become the artistic conscience of a younger generation.” Neil Cooper, The Herald
“An outstanding New York ensemble…near world-­‐class now, the Wooster Group of their generation. Managing to be at once artistically daring and intelligently researched.” Kate Bassett, The Independent
“Enthralling and infuriating, funny and tragic, intelligent and downright lunatic – it is impossible to have a simple response to this extraordinary production... One leaves the theatre thrilled by a company so determined to push the boundaries of theatrical possibility.” Telegraph, London
“The TEAM achieve the huge, soaring size of their ambitions…the (collectively-­‐done) writing is crisply poetic, and each performance sharp, focused and beautiful…an immersive, enthusiastically-­‐rendered spectacle.” Kirstin Innes, The List
“A virtuoso plundering of American literature and history.” Daily Telegraph, London
“The trademark of the TEAM’s work is a fierce, endlessly creative willingness to try to understand the stories and the meaning of their own country. And their approach to theatre makes no concessions to any traditional idea of what this art-­‐
form should look like…” Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman
“A passionate critique of contemporary America… a fierce, questioning intelligence.” The Times, London
ABOUT THE TEAM
The TEAM is a Brooklyn-­‐based ensemble dedicated to creating new works about the experience of living in America today. Once described as “Gertrude Stein meets MTV,” the TEAM’s work crashes American history and mythology into modern stories to illuminate the current moment. We combine aggressive athleticism with emotional performances and intellectual rigor, keeping the brain, eyes and heart of the audience constantly stimulated. Founded in 2004, The TEAM has created and toured 8 works nationally and internationally. Four-­‐time winners of the Edinburgh Fringe First, Winner 2011 Edinburgh International Festival Fringe Prize, 2011 Herald Angel, ranked Best of 2011 by The Guardian, Time Out New York Top Ten 2007, and Portugal’s Público Top Ten 2009 and 2011, nominated for the Drama League Award for Outstanding Musical, the TEAM has performed all over New York (including the Public Theater, PS122, and the Ohio Theatre); nationally (including the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and the A.R.T. in Cambridge); and internationally (including London’s National Theatre, Barbican Centre, Almeida Theatre, and Battersea Arts Centre; Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre; Lisbon’s Culturgest; the Salzburg Festival; the Perth International Arts Festival; and the Hong Kong Arts Festival). The TEAM i s Jessica Al masy, Frank Boyd, Rachel Chavk in, St ephanie
Dou glass, Jill F rutkin , Bria n Hastert, J ake Heinrichs, Matt Hubbs, Libby King ,
Jak e Marg olin, D ave Polato, Kristen Sieh, and Nick V aughan.
Arti stic D irector: Rachel Ch avkin
Producing Direc tor: Ma nda Martin
138 S. Oxford Street, Suite 1C
Brooklyn, NY 11217
theteamplays.org
T: 917-570-5257 | 614-216-4549
F: 212-529-8762
E: [email protected]
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