Jackalope Theatre Sets Plays, Casts for 17th LIVING NEWSPAPER FESTIVAL
Five one-act plays by writers including Ike Holter will run in rotation at the Broadway Armory.
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Jackalope Theatre Company has announced the schedule for the 17th Annual Living Newspaper Festival, August 20 - 24, at the Jackalope Theatre in the Broadway Armory, 5917 N. Broadway. The Living Newspaper Festival is inspired by the 1930s Living Newspapers of the Federal Theatre Project that created stories based on recent events. Each night, the Festival includes five one-act plays inspired from recent news headlines. The running time is 75 minutes with no intermission.
The performance schedule is Friday, Aug. 21 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 22 at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 23 at 2 p.m. and Monday, Aug. 24 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for August 20 - 24 are $20 - $35 and are available at JackalopeTheatre.org or by calling 773.340.2543.
Picture Day
By Madie Dopelt
Directed by Breon Arzell
Cast includes Miriam Lee, Niko Kourtis and Reilly Oh
Inspired by Epstein-Linked Rumors Ignite Panic Over School Photos in Coulee Dam
When Reddit users loosely link a school photography company with the Epstein files, parents in Coulee Dam, Washington express their concerns. As the school decides how to handle their upcoming picture day, the parents take matters into their own hands.
Let them East Cake
By Anelga Hajjar
Directed by Kaiser Ahmed
Cast includes Yourtana Sulaiman, Chris Chmelik and Claudia Quesada
Inspired by GLP-1 drugs are changing how Americans eat. Food companies are racing to catch up
It's Selma's birthday but the cake is uneaten and something seems terribly off. Can her mom and boyfriend get to the bottom of what's infected her? Let them Eat Cake, exposes the insidious consequences of our bodies being injected with public opinion.
Fellow Mortals
By Aurora Real de Asua
Directed by Janyce Caraballo
Cast includes Sierra Phan, Katie Bevil and Z Mowry
Inspired by Mouse study shows repeated cloning causes grave genetic mutations
Three individuals, trapped in a cage. Who put them there? And why? And how the hell are they going to get out?
Turning
By Netta Walker
Directed by Sydney Charles
Cast includes Jalbelly Guzman and Morgan Lavenstein
Inspired by Newly declassified FBI documents detail UFO sighting by Anoka officers — and one of them filmed it
2048. Post Civil War. On a forest creek bed, south of the Mason Dixon, a young woman flees a colony only to be confronted by a relic of the past.
The Day The Night Came Down
By Ike Holter
Directed by Stephanie Diaz
Cast includes Laura Lodewyck and Pedro Jimenez
Inspired by Newly declassified FBI documents detail UFO sighting by Anoka officers — and one of them filmed it
After a life changing encounter with an unexplained aerial phenomena, a rookie cop weighs the cost of speaking truth to power.
About The Living Newspaper Festival
With a history in the USSR and Germany in the early part of the century, the Living Newspaper was initiated in the United States in 1935 as part of the Federal Theatre Project (FTP). Its founders believed in the value of drama as an instrument of social change and the Living Newspapers became a highly effective new form, boldly producing plays that often brought to light social injustices, challenged ideals and criticized the government.
In response to the Great Depression, Congress appropriated $4.8 billion for work relief and created agencies to administer the funds, including the Works Progress Administration. Despite being allocated less than one percent of WPA funding, the Federal Theatre Project employed approximately eight thousand theatre professionals a year during its four-year run.
In an attempt to create new plays, the Federal Theatre Project often recruited new writers. One of the goals of the short-lived FTP was to create plays and provide training for aspiring writers, and the Living Newspapers fostered this on a grand scale. Even though insiders acknowledged that it is much easier to build a dam or teach a trade than it is to develop a playwright, the legacy of the FTP laid the groundwork for using theatre to invoke conversation on national themes.
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