Following last year’s This is My City which explored how we build our lives in NYC, The Foundry commissioned 5 new plays from collaborative teams of artists and social justice communities to re-imagine New York City itself. We put their plays together in a city-wide, community theatre festival called NYC… Just Like I Pictured It and closed the festival with Furee in Pins and Needles, a full scale musical.
New York City — as shaped by the imaginations of people whose passionate work is born of empathy, creative thinking and the desire to share this with as many people as possible — became a place we could all imagine living in.
Featuring
United PlayazUniverses
Third Root
Eisa Davis
Morley
Green Oasis
Maureen Towey
Jason Grote
Adhikaar
Aya Ogawa
Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew
NICE
Lisa Rothe
Carlo Albán
Lead Producer:
RJ MaccaniApril – June 2011 : Many Locations Brooklyn Rail article
Event One
Active Ingredients: A New Medicine Show
April 14 & 16
Created by Third Root Community Health Center w. Eisa Davis & Morley
Performed by members of Third Root
Written and Directed by Eisa Davis
Original Music written and performed by Eisa Davis & Morley
Third Root Community Health Center is a worker-owned cooperative of eight health practitioners from different modalities. We have no boss, and we are each the boss, making collaborative decisions and caring for our communities in a cohesive way.
Event Two
Yatra Samudra Samma: Journey to the Ocean
April 30 & May 1
An invented festival from the future — ritual, song and dance collide with technology in this bilingual performance that posits hope for equity and equality for the community that is New York City.
Created by Adhikaar & Aya Ogawa & Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew
Performed by members of Adhikaar
Directed by Aya Ogawa
Lighting & Projection Design: Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew
Presented in association with The Rubin Museum of Art
VIDEOS
Event Three
Mira Al Horizonte: Look at the Horizon
May 8
Una pieza sobre las luchas de un grupo de trabajadores inmigrantes en la Ciudad de Nueva York. Juntos, celebran su unión y emergen más fuertes que nunca.
A piece on the struggles of a group of immigrant workers in New York City. Together, they celebrate their union and emerge stronger than ever.
Created by New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE)
w. Lisa Rothe & Carlo Albán
Performed by members of NICE
Written by Carlo Albán
Directed by Lisa Rothe
New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE) is a community-based, non-profit organization based in Jackson Heights, Queens that works to ensure that new immigrants can build social, political and economic power in their communities and beyond. At NICE, we envision a world where all people – regardless of their immigration status – live and work with dignity and justice.
Event Four
Emergence
May 14 & 15
Equal parts theatre, pageant and installation, EMERGENCE explores the unlikely Eden of 21st century community gardens.
Created by Green Oasis Community Garden
w. Maureen Towey & Jason Grote
Written by Jason Grote
Directed by Maureen Towey
Green Oasis Community Garden was established in 1981 to celebrate the arts and to provide a safe and peaceful refuge for local residents, especially children. We’ve kept faith with that original mission ever since, becoming a beloved landmark and a lovely surprise for visitors to the area.
VIDEOS
Event Five
A Point in Time
May 19 & 22
This dance theatre piece uses poetry, music and grafitti to celebrate the future from here — the place we call home: the South Bronx.
Created by United Playaz & Universes
Performed by UP members
Directed and developed by Mildred Ruiz and Stephen Sapp
United Playaz is a youth-led coalition, founded in 2005 at Banana Kelly High School in the South Bronx, to fill a need for disconnected youth at the school and in the neighborhood. Our work is dedicated to stopping violence, promoting peace and empowering youth to contribute positively and participate fully in their community.
VIDEOS
Event Six
FUREE in Pins & Needles Check out the webpage!
June 22 – July 9
Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE) is a Brooklyn-based, multi-racial organization made up of and led by mostly women of color. FUREE organizes low-income families to build power to change the system so that all people’s work is valued and all of us have the right and economic means to decide and live out our own destinies. FUREE uses direct action, leadership development, community organizing, voter engagement and political education to win the changes their members seek.
