Pig Iron School Inaugural Class to Graduate, 6/7

The Pig Iron School for Advanced Performance Training (or APT), a two-year program designed to give performers a comprehensive immersion in the world of ensemble- devised and physical theatre, will graduate its first class of 15 students on Friday, June 7, 2013. The graduation will be preceded by showings of student-created work on June 4-6 at Christ Church Neighborhood House for the Performing Arts (7:30 each night), which are free and open to the public.

"Devised theatre" - work created collaboratively by an ensemble rather than by a single writer - has been the subject of much conversation in various circles in American theatre in recent years. The increasing popularity of devising ensembles like New York's Elevator Repair Service and Austin's Rude Mechs (as well as the continued success of longtime downtown stalwart The Wooster Group) has brought this type of work to an increasing (and sometimes controversial) level of prominence. APT is only the second comprehensive training program focusing on devised work in the United States, and the first of its kind on the East Coast.

"This is a special moment for everyone in Pig Iron: an ending and a beginning," said Pig Iron School Director Quinn Bauriedel. "The 15 pioneer students who trekked to Philadelphia, with cars breaking down in Wyoming en route or making their way to Philly from the countryside of Spain, brought with them not only character hats, musical instruments and boxes of sweat

pants, but also openness and curiosity that have fueled their 2-year journey at the school. This is an exciting time for Pig Iron, for Philadelphia and for the American theatre - as it is about to get a jolt of much-needed energy from these daring artists."

Students at APT have undergone an intellectually rigorous and physically-demanding curriculum, drawing from a wide array of performance traditions and from some of Pig Iron's own experiments with unconventional and provocative approaches to theatre. Many arrived at the School with significant previous credits - actress Jess Conda had been a longtime fixture at indie-theatre rabble-rousers Brat Productions, Alex Bechtel was fresh off a 2011 Barrymore win for Outstanding Achievement in Musical Direction, and Jenn Kidwell was in the recent world premiere of legendary theatre director Robert Wilson's latest project. Even prior to their graduation, APT's 2013 class has made its mark on Philadelphia performance - students were featured in five shows in last year's Fringe (now FringeArts) Festival, and were featured in FringeArts' "Scratch Night" for May 2013 - an honor usually reserved for established Philly artists like Charlotte Ford or Thaddeus Phillips.

"These 15 students took the first leap with us--that is, they agreed to be part of the maiden voyage, to be the first class to train for two years at an as-yet-untested Pig Iron school," said Pig Iron co-founder Dito van Reigersberg, who taught Cabaret during APT's final trimester. "That spirit - the adventurous, fearless spirit the students arrived with - has only grown by leaps as they have made their own work as an ensemble every week for two years. With the physical and vocal technique they have gained, with their astounding facility with character, with their sophisticated ability to form worlds onstage with clarity and complexity, they are ready to take the world by storm."

The final showings of APT's inaugural 2013 class will take place at Christ Church Neighborhood House on June 4,5, and 6 - each night will feature a different program of five original short pieces, each one conceived by a different APT student. The performance will begin at 7:30pm each night, 20 North American Street, Old City Philadelphia, PA.

The final project, called a "dare" is a chance for each student to create an original 12 minute piece for which they are the lead artist. Though they will work on their dare with their fellow students, each student will take responsibility for the creation from start to finish, asserting their artistic voice on the project. Each night, therefore, promises to be a unique theatrical experience, witnessing the birth of 5 original works each with its own rules, aesthetic and observation of the world.

The program for the three nights is as follows (student name followed by "dare":

June 4
Scott Sheppard - The Gamble
Alex Bechtel - The Reason Escapes Me
Jess Conda - The Panic Button
Jenn Kidwell - The Great Misunderstanding Katie Gould - The Great Leap Forward

June 5
Dan Higbee - The Secret Sharer
Nick Gillette - Man Overboard
Caitlin Antram - May I Ascend The Staircase?
Alice Yorke - I Learned It Backwards
Melissa Krodman - You Can't Get There From Here

June 6
Ben Grinberg - The One They Least Expected Justin Rose - I Have No Idea How I Got Here Lauren Harries - Up, Up & Away
Olivia Jorgensen - This Land Is My Land Martha Stuckey - The Tail Wags The Dog