Theatre Company Celebrates Five Season with World Premieres and Audience Favorites

Arts on the Horizon, the country's first theatre company specifically focused on children ages zero to six, is proud to announce the first production of their 5th Anniversary Season, Drumming with Dishes. The show was originally performed as Arts on the Horizon's inaugural show in May 2011.

What happens when you invite someone very different from you to come over to play? Just such an adventure awaits an adventurous child when she introduces her shy imaginary friend to a very special kitchen, where instead of food, they'll cook up beautiful music! This gentle, whimsical adventure celebrates friendship and turning the ordinary into the extraordinary as you never know just what will become a musical instrument next. Pasta box shakers and dishes drumming away with spoons are just some of the friendly surprises that encourage a child's sense of play. And as our heroine empowers her timid friend to create music, we discover just what wonders can be accomplished when we all work together.

Written by David Kilpatrick, the 2017 remount will be directed by Matt Bassett. David Kilpatrick is an Arts on the Horizon company member, whose other plays for Arts on the Horizon include The Young Spectaculars and the Front Yard Adventure, Point A to Point B, and the Holiday Edition of Drumming with Dishes. His adaptation of Lindsay Ward's picture book Please Bring Balloons was produced by New York City Children's Theater last February. David is currently the Director of Education Programs and Productions at the Kennedy Center after serving as The Manager of Kennedy Center Theater for Young Audiences for nearly ten years. Matt Bassett, also an Arts on the Horizon company member, is a DC-area director and the Associate Artistic Director of The Hub Theatre. Matt previously directed and created Nutt and Bolt,Under the Canopy and Out of the Box for Arts on the Horizon. His DMV credits include multiple productions with The Hub Theatre, productions with Flying V Theatre and Compass Rose Theatre, as well as numerous educational theatre directing credits.

The cast features local actors Malinda Kathleen Reese and Julia Klavans. Malinda Kathleen Reese was previously seen on such DC-area stages as The Kennedy Center, The Folger Theater, Adventure Theatre-MTC, and Washington Stage Guild. Additionally, Malinda has performed at Lincoln Center and New World Stages in New York City, as well as internationally. Julia Klavans has appeared locally with Olney Theatre Center, Constellation Theatre, Adventure Theatre-MTC, the Source Festival, and Smithsonian's Discovery Theater. Julia was also featured in the national tour of The Kennedy Center Theater for Young Audiences' Elephant and Piggie: We are in a Play! The production will also feature local musician, Ronnita Freeman.

The 2017-2018 Season is supported in part by the Alexandria Commission for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Virginia Commission for the Arts.

Performance and Ticket Information:

Drumming with DishesWritten by David KilpatrickRemount production directed by Matt Bassett

October 6-21, 2017 at Lab Theatre at Convergence: 1819 N. Quaker Lane, Alexandria, VA, 22302

October 6, 12, 13, 18, 19, and 20 at 10:30am

October 7, 9, 14, and 21 at 10:00am

October 7, 9, 14*, and 21 at 11:30am

*Sign-Interpreted Performance

Tickets are $9 for children and adults and can be purchased online at www.ArtsOnTheHorizon.org. Children under 12 months old are admitted free of charge.

Arts on the Horizon offers a military family rate of $6 per ticket for all performances in Virginia. Active duty military personnel and their family can purchase these discounted tickets online and will need to show a current military ID when picking up their tickets on the day of the performance.

For a full schedule of times and ticket purchase information, please visit: www.artsonthehorizon.org/drumming-with-dishes.html

Additionally, Drumming with Dishes will be presented at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St NE, Washington, DC 20002 from October 25-29 2017. For the performances at the Atlas, tickets can be purchased at www.atlasarts.org.

ABOUT ARTS ON THE HORIZON

Arts on the Horizon, founded in 2009, is a non-profit theatre with a specific focus of providing performances and education programs for the very young. Our performances are designed to take place in an intimate setting where children not only feel comfortable to learn and explore, but are also an integral part of the performance. We have the utmost respect for children and want what may be their first theatrical performance to entertain them, challenge them, spark creativity and enhance the imaginative play in which many children this age engage. Since 2011, our non-verbal productions have been performed on the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage, Atlas Performing Arts Center, Workhouse Arts Center, The Athenaeum and other venues and schools in the DC metro area. In May 2013, the company performed at Cleveland's PlayhouseSquare as part of the national One Theatre World Festival. In Spring of 2015, Arts on the Horizon's show,Blossom's Rainbow, was an event of the 2015 National Cherry Blossom Festival. In January 2016, Arts on the Horizon was nominated for The John Aniello Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre Company. In addition to our performances, we also offer education programs, which provide targeted exploration of themes and ideas in order to help children enhance their language development, socialization, and fine and gross motor skills; all within a meaningful, nurturing environment where children can develop their sense of self and increase their knowledge and understanding of the world around them.

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