American Theater Company (ATC) proudly announces the second year of American Mosaic, an arts outreach initiative that brings an American play into Chicago Public School ninth grade English classes each academic year. This year's program is currently underway in 6 CPS high schools, where more than 700 ninth grade students are studying and staging scenes from Kristoffer Diaz's, Welcome to Arroyo's. Welcome to Arroyo's premieres at ATC, 1909 W. Byron, on Monday, April 19, 2010 at 7:00PM.
Participating high schools include, Amundsen High School, Foreman High School, Kelvin Park High School, Clemente Community Academy High School, Roosevelt High School, and Wells Community Academy High School. American Mosaic teams 25 ATC teaching artists with ninth grade CPS teachers to introduce students to both the literary and performance aspects of producing a play. Over the course of six weeks, students study the play, stage and design scenes, and rehearse the work in their own classrooms. This intensive, in-school groundwork culminates with all 6 high schools performing student versions of Welcome to Arroyo's on the set of ATC's professional production on Saturday, April 24; Saturday, May 1; and Saturday, May 8, 2010 at 10:00AM.Kristoffer Diaz (Playwright) made his Chicago debut in 2009 with The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, produced by Victory Gardens in association with Teatro Vista. The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Diety makes its off-Broadway debut at Second Stage in April. Diaz's plays have been produced and developed by InterAct, Mixed Blood, the Hip-Hop Theater Festival, The Lark, the Summer Play Festival, the Donmar Warehouse, and South Coast Repertory. Kristoffer was one of the creators of Brink!, the apprentice anthology show at the 2009 Humana Festival of New American Plays. He is a playwright-in-residence at Teatro Vista, a recipient of both the Future Aesthetics Artist Regrant and the Van Lier Fellowship (New Dramatists), and a member of the Ars Nova Play Group.
About American Theater Company
American Theater Company is an ensemble of artists committed to producing new and classic American stories that ask the question, "What does it mean to be an American?"
American Theater Company is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, and CityArts II. Additional valuable support is provided by the Alphawood Foundation, the Boeing Charitable Trust, the Bruce B. Boyd Foundation, the Elizabeth F. Chaney Foundation, Chicago Community Trust, the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, the Elizabeth Morse Charitable Trust, the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Mayer and Morris Kaplan Family Foundation, the Polk Bros. Foundation, the MacArthur Fund at Prince Charitable Trust, and the Shubert Foundation.
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