Woolly Announces Sets APPETIZERS Series of Public Workshops for Upcoming Plays

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company announces the inaugural APPETIZERS series, designed to curate a conversation between the community and Woolly's artists in the creation and development of the theatre's work. For three evenings this fall, Woolly will invite the public to play a unique role in ongoing workshops of Season 35 shows. Each APPETIZERS event will be devoted to one of the upcoming new plays in Woolly's 2014-15 season: Cherokee, Lights Rise on Grace, and Zombie: The American.

Over the past few seasons, Woolly has invested in the creation of path-breaking new work by the country's most daring artists in important ways. The "Free the Beast" campaign has provided funds for commissions and workshops that draw our playwrights, directors, designers, and actors together for long-term collaborations. Additionally, the Connectivity department has drawn local and national stakeholders into the collaboration, sparking provocative and illuminating dialogue with the theatre's artists and influencing the development of the work on the stage.

The APPETIZERS series will draw from these initiatives to create a new role for our community in the creation of Woolly's work. Each evening will include a brief tour by the artists of their process so far, a sampling of scenes in development, sharing of film clips or other sources of inspiration, and a specific role for the audience to play in bringing the show to life. This may range from responding to questions from the artists, to helping Woolly frame the public dialogue around the play, to trying out choreography. Following each event, guests are invited to a reception in the lobby with hors d'oeurves generously provided by José Andrés' ThinkFoodGroup.

"Our goal with APPETIZERS is to create a rare public window into our artistic process, and to learn how this engagement with our audience helps to shape our work to come," says Woolly Artistic Director Howard Shalwitz. "I hope that Woolly's patrons will lend their voice and experience to this new and, I hope, very fun experiment."

APPETIZERS events are free for Woolly subscribers and donors, and $5 for general admission.

More information about the workshops and Woolly's 35th Anniversary Season can be found at woollymammoth.net.

ABOUT THE APPETIZERS

Cherokee Appetizer:
Tuesday, Oct. 28 at 8pm
What does it mean to have an "authentic" connection to the land? How do race, economics, and technology affect that connection? To find out, playwright Lisa D'Amour and the cast will screen clips from Indian Country Diaries: Spiral of Fire, a documentary film about the Eastern Band Cherokee tribe; share scenes from the play; and pose questions to experts and audience members about identity, spirituality, and the natural world.

Lights Rise On Grace Appetizer:
Saturday, Nov. 22 at 8pm
How do you define family? Forgiveness? Love? How do we talk about prejudice when it surfaces in minority communities? Hear a newly revised draft of Chad Beckim's play; then join him, director Michael John Garcés and the cast in a raw, personal discussion-and play a vital role in Woolly's connectivity work as we ask where and how these questions are alive in Washington, DC.

Zombie: The American Appetizer:
Sunday, Nov. 9 at 7pm
American pop culture is experiencing a "zombie zeitgeist"-from movies to TV to political metaphors, the undead have never been more popular. What are they exactly, and what does our current obsession with them mean? Playwright Robert O'Hara, director Howard Shalwitz and their team will share scenes from the play, clips from zombie films, and then get the audience on their feet for a zombie parade that just might make its way into the show.