CreateTheater Will Present the Online Premiere of THE LAST CRANKIE Tonight

THE LAST CRANKIE, a new play written and directed by P.H. Lin, and developed by Cate Cammarata's Create Theater, will make its online debut as part of CreateTheater's Monday Night Reading Series on May 17, 2021 at 7pm EDT.

This is not a play about someone having a bad day. Rather it's a cautionary tale, told through a 19th century storytelling device known as a Crankie. This play is a wicked-smart fun, funny romp that imagines a post-apocalyptic society in which Creativity isn't valued and the very act of "Imagining" is endangered.

In a dystopian future time, three schoolgirls go on an unauthorized adventure. They discover a ruined Crankie, reassemble it, and find themselves transported into the story the Crankie tells... at which point, MAGIC HAPPENS! The girls meet Nana, her family, and try to help save Nana's Great Books collection, as all of the great literature of the past is being rewritten, the original texts burned, and imagination outlawed.

Although recorded using the Zoom platform and with physically-isolated actors, THE LAST CRANKIE employs video editing techniques that make the virtual viewing experience come alive and "pop" in fresh, innovative and entertaining new ways.

Free tickets,are now available online at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-last-crankie-registration-153734051687

"I wrote THE LAST CRANKIE to voice my concern, given today's cultural context, for how easy it is for revisionist Facts to undermine confidence in history and in our values." Playwright P.H. Lin continued on, "You see, I believe the Great Literature of the World, as originally written down, should be maintained as a reference resource for the future. After all... for better or worse...aren't these stories and the values they put forward what drives and defines our cultural legacies?"

In 2018, Pat was introduced to the world of "Crankies" thanks to the Seattle (WA) annual Folklife Festival. After attending a program of "Crankie" presentations, she was delighted to realize how this once well-known, popular 19th century folk art story-telling device (also known as a moving panorama) was the perfect vehicle for presenting her then unnamed "play-in-progress."

"Not only are variations of Crankies found in cultures throughout the world, but the concept of using this old-time story-telling mechanism to tell a future-time cautionary tale that speaks to today is in keeping with my vision, " Lin recounted. An added bonus for her was that, by using the Crankie as both the vehicle that delivered this story as well as a character central to the story itself, she could combine traditional theatrical story-telling expectations with technology to realize a new and different theater-going experience.

A firm believer that the Arts and Humanities belong in a school curriculum (alongside of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math,) Lin hopes THE LAST CRANKIE will spark conversations that call on us to consider the virtues of a liberal arts education, and to come to terms with what values we want to pass on to our children and grandkids.

P.H. Lin (Playwright) Pat's two-character play, ZELDA AT THE OASIS, about Zelda Fitzgerald, enjoyed a 14 week Off-Broadway run. It went on to be published by Samuel French and has subsequently had productions around the country. She was a semi-finalist at the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, has won numerous awards and competitions, and has had her work presented throughout this country and in Greece.

CreateTheater is an online theater company founded in 2016 by Off-Broadway producer, director and dramaturg Cate Cammarata to develop and produce new plays and musicals. The Monday Night Reading Series has been presenting readings of work ready for productions since March 23, 2020. For more information and to get on their mailing list go to their website at www.CreateTheater.com

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