Stage Directions: Today, Berkeley Repertory Theatre announced a bold new initiative designed to raise the bar on its already successful record of artistic innovation. The Tony Award-winning nonprofit is launching The Ground Floor: Berkeley Rep’s Center for the Creation and Development of New Work. An extraordinary laboratory for collaboration, this new program seeks to enhance and expand the process by which Berkeley Rep makes theatre. Think of it as an incubator for theatrical start-ups or a top-notch R&D facility for artists. The Ground Floor will promote cross-pollination among artists and champion the spirit of innovation inherent to Berkeley and the Bay Area. Get in on The Ground Floor!
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Berkeley Rep Launches Ground Floor Project
Stage Directions: Today, Berkeley Repertory Theatre announced a bold new initiative designed to raise the bar on its already successful record of artistic innovation. The Tony Award-winning nonprofit is launching The Ground Floor: Berkeley Rep’s Center for the Creation and Development of New Work. An extraordinary laboratory for collaboration, this new program seeks to enhance and expand the process by which Berkeley Rep makes theatre. Think of it as an incubator for theatrical start-ups or a top-notch R&D facility for artists. The Ground Floor will promote cross-pollination among artists and champion the spirit of innovation inherent to Berkeley and the Bay Area. Get in on The Ground Floor!
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3 comments:
To be honest before this article I had only heard of Berkley Rep in regards to Susan Medak, in PPM. However, The Ground Floor sounds absolutely amazing. In theatre I think that we need programs like this in order to keep things new and interesting. Putting people together from all over the the arts, is a great collaborative idea. I think that is along the same lines as to why Playground is so successful. Looking at all they are going to offer at the Ground Floor seems almost too good to be true. Even though it is an ambitious project I think that Berkeley has the backing and the drive and the support in order to pull it off. Hopefully the work that is created will rock us and inspire others.
Very neat. Berkeley Rep has the opportunity with this program to foster the collaboration between artistic disciplines and to examine the common threads between them (perhaps getting closer to answering that age-old philosophical question, "What is art?"). The simple act of observation as inspiration is central to every artist's process, and with this program, the theatre's essentially building a collective of artists among whom work can be shared, critiqued, and built upon from a variety of differing viewpoints and backgrounds. I'll be interested to see the development of the program and if it achieves the transcendence of medium it's seeking.
I agree with Brian: this IS so neat! I’m from the Berkeley, CA area, and went to some shows at the Berkeley Rep when I was a kid. I was 4 years old at the time The Ground Floor was created, so I didn’t get to see it before this program. But I was able to see how it impacted the program after! The Ground Floor has grown from what it was in 2011 to serving hundreds of artists every year through summer programs, workshops and commissions.
I just completed an assignment in my AREPT (Anti-Racist and Equitable Practices and Theatre) class where I analyzed the Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s values and mission statement and compared them to their actions. The Berkeley Repertory Theatre emphasizes “discovery” on their website, and The Ground Floor is a primary example of this! The Berkeley Rep is dedicated to teaching youth and helping artists learn about theatre.
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