The People's Light & Theatre CompanyMalvern, Pennsylvania Now in its 34th year, The People’s Light & Theatre Company seeks to create professional theater while making lasting connection with the community. Located 25 miles from Philadelphia, they serve the entire metropolitan area. Each season they produce eight or nine plays in two theater space, 375-seat Main Stage and 175-seat Steinbright Stage. They have produced over 325 classic and contemporary plays for their mainstage and family discovery series with a total audience of over 80,000 annually. The People’s Light & Theatre Company is one of handful of theaters with a resident artistic company, which includes 25 artists who engage in significant community collaboration and continue to make connection with new audiences through their nationally recognized arts education program, Project Discovery. The six programs that comprise Project Discovery include the opportunity for high school students to attend two productions per year for free; Theatre School, which served students and adults; New Voices Ensemble, a program for at-risk youth from underserved communities, professional development workshops for teachers; in-school residencies and workshops for students; and Summerstage, a theater arts camp for youth. As a new initiative in 2008, a play selected for the high school program, The Persians, toured seven high schools and staged nine performances in their auditoriums. As part of Shakespeare for a New Generation, The People’s Light & Theatre Company will produce King Lear in March 2010. This production is part of their mainstage series and will be accompanied by a student version performed as matinees for high-school students participating in Project Discovery. Artistic Director Abigail Adams will direct the student version (abridged by Umberger and Adams) and three quarters of it will be made up of key chronological scenes taken directly from the play’s text. The other one-quarter will include create “bridges” that highlight plot, character, theme, and language. Their objective is to create a production that immerses students in the play’s story while rendering the narrative more legible and accessible. Educational activities will also take place in the school with teaching artists leading pre-show workshops designed to engage students in an on-your-feet improvisation and language activities to prepare them for King Lear, and teacher workshops designed to aid teachers in engaging students in their Shakespeare studies. As a final audience-development measure, The People’s Light & Theatre Company will provide students with the opportunity to get free tickets to see the full mainstage production and will be given a number to text their request for tickets to a member of the box office. This will further their commitment to acknowledging and using new communication techniques utilized by student audiences.
Visit them at: www.peopleslight.org |
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