Download Civil War Project National Release

For immediate release: February 28, 2013
Media Contact:
Kirstin Franko
202-600-4055; [email protected]
Angela Olsen
202-994-3087; [email protected]
The National Civil War Project Launches in Washington, D.C.
National Partnership between Major Theaters and Universities to
Create Original Theatrical Productions and Innovative Academic Programming
Inspired by the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War
WASHINGTON— The National Civil War Project, a radical multi-city, multi-year collaboration between
four universities and five performing arts organizations to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the
American Civil War, launched today during a presentation in Washington, D.C. The American Civil War is
arguably one of the most significant times in American history, an era that raised issues still relevant
today. The National Civil War Project will include the commissioning of original works for the stage, as
well as create new arts-integrated academic programs.
Inspired by noted choreographer and MacArthur “Genius” Fellow Liz Lerman, the project involves
four multi-city partnerships facilitated through the launch by Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American
Theater and The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The other three partners include
Alliance Theatre and Emory College Center for Creativity & Arts at Emory University in Atlanta, GA;
American Repertory Theater and Harvard University in Cambridge, MA; and CENTERSTAGE in
Baltimore, MD and The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland in College
Park, MD. These diverse localities symbolize the emotional scope of the American Civil War.
“Every anniversary is an opportunity to reflect," Lerman notes. "Our Civil War was 150 years
ago: What does it still mean? What is the aftermath? Where is the damage? How is it absorbed? Who
does the absorbing? These questions are too big for the arts alone, or for academia alone; my interest is
in collaborations that will allow new understandings.” The theatrical centerpiece of The National Civil War Project is the commissioning and
development of new works about or inspired by the American Civil War in each region. The universities
will convene leading experts for national conferences and symposia and will produce public lecture
series, community programs and dramaturgy, student playwriting projects, student-generated exhibitions,
artist and academic roundtables and post-show discussions. Public presentations from each partnership
will be shared through an interactive Media Wall at CENTERSTAGE and connected by satellite to highdefinition video display, connecting the regions simultaneously.
Highlights of The National Civil War Project Artistic Programming (as of 2/28/13):
Alliance Theatre and Emory College Center for Creativity & Arts at Emory University
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Collision Project devised theater workshop in Summer 2013 focusing on the documentation of the
Civil War featuring playwright Pearl Cleage;
A collaborative development between Emory and the Alliance Theatre of the Pulitzer Prizewinning book Native Guard by Poet Laureate and head of Emory’s Creative Writing Program
Natasha Trethewey, directed by Alliance Theatre Artistic Director Susan V. Booth. This will
include panels, discussions and research activities hosted by the Emory Center for Ethics about
the Civil War and Atlanta’s development as a city, tying research and discussion back to this
specific project. The Native Guard workshop will be part of the Emory University Playwriting
Center’s Brave New Works Program in the Winter of 2014. The Alliance will then present the full
theatrical production.
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Projects around dramatizing and researching the Civil War involving playwrights from the
Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition and Emory theatre department
students.
American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) and Harvard University
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Roundtables
Through support from the Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching and the Mellon
Foundation, the A.R.T. has hosted a series of roundtables designed to bring artists and scholars
together in dialogue about a range of subjects related to the Civil War, possibly leading to
newcourses at Harvard University and new readings, workshops, and productions on the A.R.T.
stages. The topics of the three roundtables have been “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” “Medicine,
Weaponry, War Wounds, and The Soldier’s Body,” and “Civil War Photography, Painting,
Reenactment, and Memoir.”
Work in Development
o The Boston Abolitionists will be an ensemble-devised piece directed by Steven Bogart
(director, A.R.T. 2011/12 Cabaret) about the abolitionist movement in Boston and the trial of
the fugitive slave Anthony Burns. This will be performed in May 2013 with the graduating
students of the A.R.T. Institute for Advance Theater Training.
o War Dept. will be a new music theater piece by Jim and Ruth Bauer (co-creators of The Blue
Flower A.R.T. 2011/12 Season) set in Ford’s Theater that explores the lives of friends and
family who search for answers among the records of the Civil War dead and wounded.
o Memoranda During The War, Walt Whitman’s account of being a medic during the Civil
War, is the inspiration for a new opera being composed by Matt Aucoin, 2012 graduate of
Harvard University, graduate composition student at Juilliard School of Music, and assistant
conductor at the Metropolitan Opera.
Education
The A.R.T. will facilitate a Proclamation Project, a writing immersion project that empowers an
ensemble of creative teenagers to deconstruct, remix and perform a primary source drawn from
literature, history, or popular culture, using Civil Wars documents as source material
Simultaneously, all other theaters participating in The Civil War Project will facilitate the same
process with local teens in their respective areas. The three-week workshop will culminate in a
local performance and a potential convening of all four teen ensembles in Washington, D.C. to
share each city’s Emancipation Story.
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater and the George Washington University
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National conference in December 2013 investigating the Civil War in Washington, DC and how
scholarship and artistry can inspire each other towards a deeper level of understanding;
World premiere of Healing Wars, by Liz Lerman–an innovative dance theater piece about the
Civil War and wars today, featuring Bill Pullman;
National commissioning of 25 playwrights entitled Hallowed Ground, which is a multiplicity of
voices about the American Civil War, reconstruction and its aftermath and the reverberations in
our lives as Americans today;
World premiere of an original piece by award-winning playwright and performer Daniel Beaty,
portraying the depth and breadth of humanity involved in the American Civil War—from slaves to
generals and abolitionists to slave owners, to those who went to war and those who were left
behind. A stirring exploration of experiences during the War, this piece will fuse song and poetry,
personal narrative and art as a means of asking what it was really like and how each person
survived through their art.
Participation in the Collision Project, featuring Arena Stage’s internationally renowned Voices of
Now program leaders;
Collaborations between theater and university on faculty innovations integrating artistic and
academic approaches with new curricula for fall 2014;
Multiple panel series held at and hosted by George Washington University.
CENTERSTAGE and the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland
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Interactive Media Wall at CENTERSTAGE;
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National conference on Civil Rights and the 50 Anniversary of the March on Washington at the
Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, University of Maryland. September 6, 2013;
Commissioning and Production of New Works:
o A world premiere production, as yet untitled, of an original commission at
CENTERSTAGE by a leading British playwright. The piece will explore the British (and
international) perspective on the Civil War from diplomatic and economic to literary and
personal angles; inspired by historical realities like those chronicled in such recent works
as Amanda Foreman’s World on Fire;
o At War With Ourselves, a world premiere of a newly commissioned piece by Kronos
Quartet that will also feature a legendary American composer, a 500-voice choir, and
spoken word by a leading voice in American poetry. The work will debut at a historic site
of monumental significance to the history of the Civil War;
Creative Dialogues series, moderated by Kojo Nnamdi;
Student-focused projects:
o A student-generated exhibit at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center
o Encounter (CENTERSTAGE’s high school outreach/community program) student
exploration and engagement with themes and topics emerging from conversations
around the Civil War from the local context in Baltimore & Maryland to lingering legacies
today
CENTERSTAGE will announce on March 11, along with the rest of its 2013-14 Season, the
regional premiere of a Civil War-themed work around which significant artistic and community
engagement programming will take place;
Additional artists, projects, performances, events with thematic ties to civil war and civil rights
throughout the Clarice Smith Center’s 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons
About The National Civil War Project
The National Civil War Project is a radical multi-city, multi-year collaboration between four universities
and five performing arts organizations to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War.
The American Civil War is arguably one of the most significant times in American history, an era that
raised issues still relevant today. The National Civil War Project will include the commissioning of original
works for the stage as well as create new arts-integrated academic programs. A national initiative
symbolizing the geographic scope of the Civil War, the Project is inspired by noted choreographer and
MacArthur “Genius” Fellow Liz Lerman and includes Alliance Theatre and Emory College Center for
Creativity & Arts at Emory University in Atlanta, GA; American Repertory Theater and Harvard University
in Cambridge, MA; Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater and The George Washington
University in Washington, D.C.; and CENTERSTAGE in Baltimore, MD and The Clarice Smith Performing
Arts Center at the University of Maryland in College Park, MD.
Broadcast quality video of Liz Lerman, press photos, and additional information and quotes are
available at www.civilwarproject.com/mediaroom.
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