Greensburg Tornado Recovery To Be Heart of New Inge Center Project

In May of 2007, Greensburg, Kansas, was devastated by one of the largest tornadoes ever recorded. Now, under the leadership of the William Inge Center for the Arts at Independence Community College, Kansas, and through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the Greensburg community will share their incredible story in a unique way, creating a theatrical event about their ordeal and recovery.

Greensburg-area citizens are now talking with artists about their experiences, which will be crafted into a script for a presentation in 2012. The performance will explore how this small Kansas prairie community, both individually and as a whole, has confronted effects of the tornado and how they are responding to the rebuilding efforts to transform the town into a model sustainable community. The community members themselves will be actors, set builders, costumers, and many other backstage jobs for the show, tentatively titled "The Other Side of Oz."

The Inge Center will use the $45,000 grant from the NEA to assemble a playwright, director and other artists to help shape this presentation, inspired by the accounts of those who survived the disaster and helped in its aftermath.

The artists are spending time in Greensburg in the following months, speaking with residents and listening to their inspiring stories. The collaborating artists are from ICC's William Inge Center for the Arts; playwright Marcia Cebulska, of Topeka, Kansas; and Cornerstone Theater Company, of Los Angeles. The 5.4.7 Arts Center of Greensburg is the local partner, collaborator and community liaison.

"We want to hear what people have to say about home and community," said Cebulska, the playwright. "We value the perspectives of the people of Greensburg, and the nearby towns of Haviland and Mullinville, about neighborliness, recovery and rebuilding."

Amanda White, Inge Center Associate Artistic Director, says, "We have already spent some time getting to know Greensburg, and the community has our awe and respect for their strength and generosity. In hearing the stories of many people from the area, we are excited and impressed by the possibilities for powerful story-telling with this play."

An important partner in this project is the nationally renowned Cornerstone Theater of Los Angeles (CTC). CTC creates plays with and for people of many ages, cultures and levels of performing experience, focusing on specific community issues. Their motto is to "value the artist in everyone."

Laurie Woolery, the Cornerstone Artistic Associate, will conduct "story circles" with residents, the first essential step of this artistic process.

"We hope that Greensburg will be as proud of the work that is created as the entire state is proud of Greensburg," said Peter Ellenstein, Artistic Director of the Inge Center. "As home of the Official Theatre Festival of Kansas, the Inge Center is thrilled to be part of this inspirational tale of Kansas citizens. We are particularly grateful to Stacy Barnes, executive director of the 5.4.7 Arts Center of Greensburg, for being such a generous collaborator," he added.

The name of the 5.4.7 Arts Center derives from the date of the tornado. The community decided to designate art as an essential part of the city's social and economic redevelopment, choosing to build the arts center as its first public building. It is the first structure in Kansas to receive a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum rating and exemplifies Greensburg's commitment to rebuild as a "green" town.

The William Inge Center for the Arts conducts year-round play development, presentations, and arts education programs, featuring numerous professional guest artists. It is best known for its annual William Inge Theatre Festival, which brings to Independence internationally renowned writers such as Arthur Miller, Neil Simon, August Wilson, and Stephen Sondheim.

Marcia Cebulska's plays have been produced nationwide. Her "Now Let Me Fly," commissioned for the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, has been performed over 1,000 times internationally. "Through Martha's Eyes" recently aired nationally on PBS. Cebulska was also commissioned for "Touched," a story of William Inge, for the 25th anniversary of the William Inge Theatre Festival.

The William Inge Center for the Arts is a participant in the New Generations Program, funded by Doris Duke Charitable Foundation/The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and administered by Theatre Communications Group, the national organization for the American theatre.

Also, this program is presented in part by the Kansas Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.

Additional supporters include the Hallmark Corporation, the William Inge Festival Foundation, and Independence Community College. The 30th Annual Inge Festival takes place April 13-16, and welcomes Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Marsha Norman as Honoree.

For more information about the Greensburg play, or other Inge Center activities, call (620) 332-5492, or visit www.ingecenter.org.

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