Synchronicity Theatre Announces Winners of Stripped Bare: Arts Incubator Project

Atlanta's Synchronicity Theatre is pleased to announce the four works that will be produced as part of this season's Stripped Bare: Arts Incubator Project. They are: Walk, Girl by Rebekah Boroughs and Lindsay Carpenter (September 10-12, 2018); Humbled by Benae Beamon (November 12-14, 2018); Widowwood by Natasha Patel (January 14-16, 2019); and The Attic by Aaron Gotlieb (May 13-15, 2019). All performances are at 7:30pm. Performances are free and open to the public, but require reservations. Please go to synchrotheatre.com to reserve tickets and for more information. Complete project descriptions are below.

Stripped Bare focuses on projects that emphasize words and ideas, with minimal technical elements, and encourages artists to think about the essentials of theatre "stripped of" intricate sets, lights, props, sound design, and costumes. The focus is on actors, words, passion, and ideas. Each selected project will get up to three days in Synchronicity Theatre's performance space. They will receive a technician, producer and/or facility manager, house manager, and a box office staffer for each performance. Each project will also receive marketing support and mention on Synchronicity's website.

Learn more about Stripped Bare experiences and projects here: https://synchrotheatre.wordpress.com/category/stripped-bare/.

Walk, Girl
By Rebekah Boroughs and Lindsay Carpenter
Directed by Holly Tatem
September 10-12, 2018
7:30 pm

Description:
The night before her bridal shower in Appalachia, Hannah goes out for a drink, and is drugged and raped by a stranger. As she struggles to deal with wedding planning, doctors, policemen and self-forgiveness, her story intertwines with two other women. Her mother-in-law's past becomes present when she discovers Hannah's horrible secret, and a mythical Grandma Gatewood (the first woman to walk the Appalachian Trail) serves as a spiritual guide to Hannah and her fiancé, Jaime, as they attempt to heal their relationship. The story is told out of chronological order revealing scenes before and after the assault, which is never shown on stage. Sometimes defiant, sometimes lyrical, the play examines rape culture and the way that rape repeats itself from generation to generation.

About Rebekah Boroughs
Rebekah Boroughs is a professional actress who holds a B.A. in Theatre Performance and Minor in English from Appalachian State University. She has performed on stage in professional theatre productions in Minnesota, Washington, Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina. Rebekah has appeared on-screen in commercials, feature films, web series, and art house films.

About Lindsay Carpenter
Lindsay Carpenter is a theatre artist who currently resides in Boston. Her primary focus is as a playwright and director, and she has had her plays produced and workshopped in Boston, Seattle, and California. In 2018, she will begin graduate studies at NYU for dramatic writing. Her play, Borders, received the 2015 Kennedy Center ACTF National Undergraduate Playwriting Award. With a passion for new plays and development work, Lindsay frequently organizes play readings (formal and informal) and collaborates with emerging playwrights. She also has growing experience as a dramaturg, light designer, and electrician.

 

Humbled
By Benae Beamon
November 12-14, 2018
7:30 pm

Description:
Humbled is an hour-long tap dance piece that explores the ways labor and ritual overlap. The performance focuses on the understanding that in black and queer communities, ritual, care, and possibility call for continuous labor. In an interactive performance, Humbled tests the endurance of the performer, and uncovers the power in withstanding circumstance and embracing identity to create new spaces that keep pushing toward something more, something beyond, something other.

About Benae Beamon
Benae Beamon is from North Carolina, where she started tap dancing with the acclaimed North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble (NCYTE). She went on to earn a B.A. from Colgate University and a M.A. from Yale University. Now completing her doctoral studies at Boston University, Benae researches the intersection of religious experience, black-trans and queer identity, and performativity, as well as the function of race and gender in black art forms like tap dance. Most recently, she danced with Subject:Matter, a Boston-based tap dance company, and performed at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) Boston.

Widowwood
By Natasha Patel
January 14-16, 2019
7:30 pm

Description:
Sonia Choudhary, the heroine of a Bollywood romance, escapes to the land of Widowwood, where she meets Helen, Shelby, and Robin - all "widowed" by the romantic narratives created for them by Hollywood. The three "widows" are desperate to get out of Widowwood, but Sonia wants to get in.

About Natasha Patel
Natasha Patel is a writer from Atlanta, Georgia. Her short and full-length plays that have been produced in the Atanta-area include Cater Waiters, Spin, then Drain, and The Baby Shower. Her short story, "The Escaped Air," was a finalist for the Glimmer Train Short Story Award for New Writers and was published in the Fall 2016 issue of The East Bay Review. Most recently, her play Widowwood was a semi-finalist at the Bay Area Playwright's Festival in San Francisco. Patel was a dramaturg for Dipika Guha's The Art of Gaman and Aditi Kapil's Orange in Atlanta. Ms. Patel earned a B.A. from the University of Georgia and a M.A. from Columbia University.

 

The Attic
By Aaron Gotlieb
May 13-15, 2019
7:30 pm

Description:
Facing an attic full of items tucked away and forgotten by those who treasured them, a man remembers what he never knew about the people in his life. Through movement, object manipulation, and physical storytelling, the audience discovers the story themselves, piecing together glimpses of the past through the souvenirs and mementos left behind. The Attic is a comic exploration of the things we hold on to, and the bittersweet joy of memory tinged with loss.

About Aaron Gotlieb
Aaron Gotlieb returns to Atlanta a "Complete Fool," after completing his M.F.A. in Physical and Devised Theater from Accademia dell'Arte in Arezzo, Italy. In addition to creating, directing and performing in his own work, Aaron has devised new shows with Teatro C'art in Florence, Italy; Studio Flöz in Berlin; Divadlo Continuo in the Czech Republic, and has performed at theaters across Atlanta and the Southeast for over a decade. Currently, he teaches theater classes at Georgia State University's Perimeter College.