American Conservatory Theater Announces Recipients Of 2018–19 ArtShare

A.C.T.'s community space-sharing initiative created in 2012-provides free performance space to local performers and arts organizations SAN FRANCISCO (July 25, 2018)-American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) Associate Artistic Director Andy Donald announced today the recipients of ArtShare, A.C.T.'s community space-sharing initiative, for the 2018-19 season. Created in 2012, ArtShare provides free performance space for small and mid-sized companies without permanent performance space, as well as independent artists, who would benefit from being in residence at one of A.C.T.'s spaces in the Central Market area-The Costume Shop (1117 Market St.), A.C.T.'s 49-seat black-box venue; and The Rueff, a multi-use event and performance space located at A.C.T.'s Strand Theater (1127 Market St.). A.C.T.'s 2018-19 ArtShare season is made possible by generous support from the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, the Hearst Foundations, and the Zellerbach Family Foundation.

As a component of A.C.T.'s expanded community engagement programs and audience-building efforts, A.C.T.'s ArtShare was designed to foster new relationships with Bay Area artists and provide a performance space in which artists and organizations without a permanent performing space can present thought-provoking work. A.C.T.'s goal through ArtShare is to reach a broader range of organizations, welcoming those who have diverse perspectives, bold artistic visions, and the desire to reach communities.

"The artists in this year's residency represent some of the most exciting and cutting-edge work happening in the Bay Area today," says Donald. "From the eclectic, seasoned projects of companies such as Campo Santo, Faultline Theater, and Alter Theater, to the electrifying voice of Dahlak Brathwaite and powerful dance of Preethi Ramaprasad, this cohort is infusing the art form with diversity, fresh perspectives, and unique storytelling. We're thrilled to host them and share their work with the city."

The recipients of ArtShare for the 2018-19 season are:

FAULTLINE THEATER
WHERE THE BOYS ARE
August 6-19, 2018
The Rueff at A.C.T.'s Strand Theater

Faultline Theater presents Where the Boys Are, a very new work by Vanessa Flores: He was a scientist. A drug addicted gambler. A database engineer. A total asshole. A sweetheart, my sweetheart. He was a just a kid. He was my brother. He was my best friend. He was there. He was a ghost. He was a zombie. He was so lost. He was a guru. He was a mistake. He was so easy to forget and so hard to remember. He was so hard to forget. He was easy to remember. And he was . . . gone. All the he's are gone.

DAHLAK BRATHWAITE
TRY/STEP/TRIP
November 26-December 2, 2018
The Rueff at A.C.T.'s Strand Theater

Try/Step/Trip is a spoken word, multi-character musical performed in the body through the language of step dance. The story follows the journey of an anonymous narrator as he re-imagines his experience in a court-ordered drug rehabilitation program through a montage of lucid, sobriety-induced dreams. Try/Step/Trip recounts a familiar story: a young black man is stopped by the police without clear cause, then again and again, until one encounter lands him before the courts. Our narrator reckons with this familiar cycle, sometimes wrestling with it and sometimes embracing it, until ultimately he can make it anew. Written by Dahlak Brathwaite and directed by Roberta Uno, Try/Step/Trip is presented as a work in progress.

PREETHI RAMAPRASAD
WHEN EYES SPEAK
March 18-24, 2019
The Costume Shop Theater

When Eyes Speak is the second iteration of an Indian choreography festival in San Francisco. In 2017, the performance lineup at SAFEhouse Arts was featured in SF Arts, and the San Francisco Chronicle's Critic's Picks. The performances featured will focus on Indian dance choreography and theater as a discourse.

Directed by Preethi Ramaprasad in conjunction with collaborators Shruti Abhishek and Sri Thina Subramaniam, there will be discussions and artist talk-backs after the shows. The festival will culminate in this collective's collaboration, RAVANA, which uses Indian mythology to discuss broader themes of social relevance such as feminism, consent, and erasure.

CAMPO SANTO
CANDLESTICK
January 14-February 3, 2019
The Costume Shop Theater

Candlestick follows the lives of a group of fans tailgating during the 49ers' last season at Candlestick Park in the Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco. The conflict weaves together a host of pressing personal and social issues-gentrification and the changing face of the Bay Area; economic disparity; the scandals facing the NFL (from political activism to player injuries); and the relationship between sports fandom and civic and personal identity. This play was written by award-winning writer Ben Fisher over several years, highlighting a special bond between writer and company and proving Fisher's commitment to the company for more than a decade. The play features many of Campo Santo's Familia of artists including performance company Juan Amador, Britney Frazier, Florentino Gonzales, Donald E. Lacy, Jr., Amy Lizardo, Anna Maria Luera, and Lauren Spencer. This premiere will feature video design by Joan Osato, scenic design by Tanya Orellana, original score and sound by Christopher Sauceda, lighting by Maximilian Urruzmendi, and properties by Brittany White, and it will be stage-managed by Rachel Mogan.

ALTER THEATER
BR'ER PEACH
June 3-16, 2019
The Costume Shop Theater

In this fusion of African-American and Japanese storytelling traditions, an elderly black couple eat a magical peach and give birth to Momotaro, a Japanese boy. Br'er Peach is written by Andrew Saito and will be directed by Jeanette Harrison.

Previous ArtShare recipients include Alter Theater Ensemble, BAYCAT, Campo Santo, Caterina Dance, Community Works West, Do It Live, Fools Fury, Goat Hall, Imaginists, Kearny Street Workshop, Kevin Rolston, Ixalt, Just Theater, Jump! Theatre, Magic Theatre, Marga Gomez, MFR Productions, Mugwumpin, Nadhi Thekkek, Orchestra Collective, Playwrights Foundation, ReACT, Sammay Dizon, SF Playhouse, The Posse Foundation, Theater Rhinoceros, Under The Table Ensemble Theatre, Yes All Women, and 6NewPlays.

For more information on ArtShare or about performance dates and times, visit www.act-sf.org/artshare.