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Dear Patron of the Arts:
“You never truly know a person until you take a walk in their shoes.” This old adage best describes the journey and goal of every actor. In turn, this is the experience that every theatre company wants to produce for their audience.
Based in Arlington, Virginia, (minutes from Washington, DC) Firebelly Productions is a theatrical company that provides comprehensive training for young adult actors. Through classes, seminars, and professional theatrical performance work, students develop the confidence, knowledge, and technical skills needed for future conservatory, community, or professional theatre opportunities. In service to the community, Firebelly believes in taking the educational and unifying power of theatre to overlooked audiences, including senior centers, shelters, under funded schools, and community centers.
In our inaugural year of main-stage theatrical productions, Firebelly has ambitiously and successfully covered a wide array of American theatre. Previous productions include Ken Ludwig’s farcical, physical comedy Lend Me a Tenor, John Steinbeck’s weighted drama and American classic Of Mice and Men, and Leonard Gershe’s uncharacteristic romantic comedy Butterflies Are Free. Through these productions, Firebelly has consistently offered high-quality theatrical performances for the greater Washington, DC area, introducing our students alongside experienced and professional actors and technicians in what has proven to be a refreshing and successful blend. We were recently rewarded for our endeavors by the Arlington County Commission for the Arts, receiving a 2003 STAR AWARD for “Bright New Star,” an honor given to one new arts group who has achieved a level of excellence in the arts. This award category was created as a result of recognition by Arlington County of Firebelly’s rocketing success, and Firebelly enjoys the privilege of being its first recipient. For our upcoming 2004 season, the evolution and continued success of this theatre company relies on the selection of a bold new endeavor.
Firebelly Productions believes our next vital step requires us to expand our theatrical repertoire by producing an international classic in an international venue. We are excited to propose Firebelly’s “Open the Door Tour” of Samuel Beckett’s masterpiece Waiting for Godot. In this “Open the Door Tour” our acting troupe would bring Waiting for Godot to Eastern Europe, performing in the beautiful city of Prague, Czech Republic. We have chosen this city because of its reputation as a fertile international artistic hub, where many different peoples gather, live and flourish as one community.
Bringing a uniquely American Theatre Company to perform in this setting serves as a wonderful celebration of this artistic unity through diversity. We seek to gather American and English expatriates, international artists and locals under one roof for an evening of unifying, culture melding theatre. Beckett’s Waiting for Godot was specifically selected in order to produce this experience.
Unlike the narrow confines of the classic play formula (linear in structure and driven by plot), Waiting for Godot is circular in story and character-driven. There is no defined and intentional beginning, middle and end to the story; there is no set catalyst of action; the characters do not experience a monumental metamorphosis. This is the beauty of Beckett. By freeing himself from such conventions, Beckett opens his play to individual interpretation. Each audience member has an experience that is unique and departs with a message that is personal. This is what makes Waiting for Godot a universal play. Through its ambiguity and absurdity, it transcends specifics of ethnicity, religion and geography. It does not attempt to neatly package the human condition into one lump sum of a common experience. Rather, the play is a compilation of bits and pieces that each person gets to pick through. They get to choose what pieces they take and what bits they leave behind, but they always leave with something.
For our troupe, this touring opportunity is vital to our growth as actors. Actors depend upon experience and personal witness in order to comprehend the rich spectrum of humanity. The more they experience and witness, the more they understand the world around them. In the realm of theatre, this process produces performances that are truthful and captivating. In the realm of society, this process produces individuals free of prejudice, who welcome and appreciate cultures and philosophies beyond the boundaries of their own.
Theatre is the universal method of human expression. Expanding our performance base from the safe confines of regional American theatre to this center of art and culture in Eastern Europe is a reciprocal gift. Cultures, ideologies and experiences are exchanged, while the essence of what makes us all human is celebrated.
Sincerely,
Kathi Gollwitzer, Barbara Walthall, David Cahill Firebelly Productions Artistic Team
4908 North 17th Street Arlington, Virginia 22207 firebellyproductions@cox.net |
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