THE BIRTH OF IMAGINATION;
A
NEW THEATER TAKES ITS FIRST BREATH
Jan Ridgeway, Executive Director of The Garden Valley Neighborhood House is
proud to announce the formation of the New
African Theater, which will be head-quartered at the Garden Valley Neighborhood House (GVNH). This new innovative theater will focus on the
area of new work and will serve as an incubator for playwrights, directors and
actors. In a city loaded with hidden
creativity, New African seeks not
only to uncover these gems, but shine them to a high polish. New
African will actively target those homegrown playwrights and directors, who
have gone unknown and unheralded.
Founder and Artistic Director, Michael Oatman, envisions the theater as
a place to launch creative work and develop talent at the same time.
“This city seems ripe for another avenue
for artists to showcase their work,” said Oatman, who also plans to reach the
youngest artists amongst us. “One of the
first things we have scheduled is an acting workshop for teens to help meet the
demand of young people who wish to learn about performance, but have no viable
outlet to do so,” said Oatman. The free
workshop will be held May 4th, at 12pm.
Ridgeway is equally excited by the
development of new work and the addition of Michael Oatman to the GVNH
family.
“Michael Oatman brings to this initiative
a unique talent and perspective that will help New African develop the talent that reside in this historically
under-served community. We are excited
by the new work that will be explored through this partnership,” said
Ridgeway. GVNH has been a beacon of hope
for over 75 years. GVNH, under the
operational leadership of the Women’s Auxiliary of the Presbytery of Western
Reserve, opened its doors in 1918. Its
mission was to provide social services to the residents in the
neighborhood.
Historically GVNH has provided support by
helping to acclimate diverse immigrant ethnic groups into the cultural quilt
work of America Garden Valley
“This is a bold step forward. Something whose time has truly come. I look forward to being able to service the
young people of Kinsman and the surrounding area,” said acting instructor
Ashley Aquilla, who is a local film and stage actor. Aquilla will be facilitating the first acting
workshop for teens. All though the
workshops will be aimed at the under-served communities surrounding the Kinsman
area, all teens are free to join the workshop.
Schedule of Events For the
New African Theater
May
4th, 2013, 12pm – Teen Acting Workshop/Taught by Ashley Aquilla
May
6th, 2013, TBA – The Art of the Story at Anton Grdina/Facilitated by
Dominique Paramore
June
22nd, 2013, 12pm – PERFORMANCE: My
Africa written by Michael Oatman
# # #
For more information or to
schedule an interview please contact Jan Ridgeway at (216) 641-5558 – Office/ (216) 618-7622 or
email Michael Oatman at newafricantheater@hotmail.com
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