44 Plays for 44 Presidents Aiming to Break a World Record
20 productions already planned across USA, including: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Atlanta, Seattle, Austin, Boulder, Providence, Minneapolis, Madison, Little Rock, Des Moines...
Chicago, IL, February 08, 2012 --(PR.com)-- Election years—to be honest—make democracy annoying. The 44 Plays for 44 Presidents Festival hopes to inspire the opposite effect, with a national project that's already underway.
In the 10 years since the play, 44 Plays for 44 Presidents, premiered on The Neo-Futurists’ stage above a funeral home on Chicago's north side, its audiences have included a famous historian, several Georgia congressmen, and former President Jimmy Carter.
The play’s been produced at venues that range from The Actors Theatre of Louisville to the High School Auditorium in Solon, Iowa. Since its premiere as 43 Plays for 43 Presidents, the show’s garnered a history of sold out audiences, critical praise for its wit and stealthy patriotism, and a 44th play for President Obama.
Now a group of volunteers led by the show’s founding father, Andy Bayiates, are aiming to break a world record. They want more productions across the country than the Federal Theatre Project achieved in 1936 when it inspired 21 simultaneous productions of Sinclair Lewis' It Cant' Happen Here. In fact, the 44 Plays for 44 Presidents Festival's lofty goal it to inspire 44 separate productions of 44 Plays for 44 Presidents, across the U.S. to coincide with this year's election.
The production tells the story of America through 2-minute plays dedicated to each of the 44 presidencies. The show ends with cast members handing out voter registration cards and urging audience members to recruit the apathetic among them—regardless of party affiliation—to vote.
Participants from each production will make a video of a part of their show, and festival organizers will put those parts together to form one, online composite production they'll unveil to the world on Election Day.
“This experiment is a way of uniting the theatre community around something specific,” Bayiates said. “It puts high school drama kids side-by-side, virtually speaking, with professional theatre companies, providing them with an experience that immerses them in their country's history.”
Interest has been great, and the numbers are a varied mix of 60 potential productions all at different stages of consideration. At present, 20 productions are confirmed—only 2 productions shy of beating Sinclair Lewis and creeping up on that halfway mark to 44. Producers who have gone public include The Neo-Futurists in Chicago and the famous Little Rock Central High School, alma mater of the Little Rock Nine, whose very public battle to attend an all-white school forced Dwight Eisenhower to send the National Guard to protect them. This historical moment is mentioned in the Eisenhower playlette.
A history of sell-out crowds and great reviews:
Below is a sampling of some review excerpts 44 Plays for 44 Presidents has received; more excerpts and some quotations from theater companies that have enjoyed sell-out runs can also be found here: http://playsforpresidents.com/praise-for-presidents/
“Hilarious, difficult, insightful, revelatory and totally unforgettable. Like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, 43 Plays helps illuminate, in [a] speculatively subversive manner.”
–David Cashman, Chicago Weekly News
“What makes 43 Presidents chancy is how it dares to take history seriously.”
–Curt Holman, Creative Loafing (Atlanta)
“Intellectual...silly...fun...thought-provoking”
–Albert Goodwyn, San Francisco Bay Times
“The 43 short plays represent a rare case of multiple writers forming a more perfect union. Their prismatic, annotated approach...run[s] the agitprop gamut, from hilariously ironic to gravely arresting.”
– David C. Nicholas, Los Angeles Times
“They definitely are on to something in this zany, clever, ambitious and often surprisingly moving historical catalogue.”
–Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun Times
“Deeply moving, stealthily patriotic...Chicago writers Andy Bayiates, Sean Benjamin, Genevra Gallo, Chloe Johnston and Karen Weinberg have delivered a dramatic work of considerable originality and comic integrity.”
–Wendell Brock, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For more information: http://playsforpresidents.com/
Festival creator: Andy Bayiates, andrewb@gmail.com
PR/Press Secretary: Genevra Gallo-Bayiates: genevra@gmail.com
44 Plays for 44 Presidents is published by Playscripts.
You can read a recent post about the production on Playcripts’ blog: http://www.playscripts.com/blog/2012/02/44-plays-for-44-presidents-aiming-to-break-a-world-record/
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In the 10 years since the play, 44 Plays for 44 Presidents, premiered on The Neo-Futurists’ stage above a funeral home on Chicago's north side, its audiences have included a famous historian, several Georgia congressmen, and former President Jimmy Carter.
The play’s been produced at venues that range from The Actors Theatre of Louisville to the High School Auditorium in Solon, Iowa. Since its premiere as 43 Plays for 43 Presidents, the show’s garnered a history of sold out audiences, critical praise for its wit and stealthy patriotism, and a 44th play for President Obama.
Now a group of volunteers led by the show’s founding father, Andy Bayiates, are aiming to break a world record. They want more productions across the country than the Federal Theatre Project achieved in 1936 when it inspired 21 simultaneous productions of Sinclair Lewis' It Cant' Happen Here. In fact, the 44 Plays for 44 Presidents Festival's lofty goal it to inspire 44 separate productions of 44 Plays for 44 Presidents, across the U.S. to coincide with this year's election.
The production tells the story of America through 2-minute plays dedicated to each of the 44 presidencies. The show ends with cast members handing out voter registration cards and urging audience members to recruit the apathetic among them—regardless of party affiliation—to vote.
Participants from each production will make a video of a part of their show, and festival organizers will put those parts together to form one, online composite production they'll unveil to the world on Election Day.
“This experiment is a way of uniting the theatre community around something specific,” Bayiates said. “It puts high school drama kids side-by-side, virtually speaking, with professional theatre companies, providing them with an experience that immerses them in their country's history.”
Interest has been great, and the numbers are a varied mix of 60 potential productions all at different stages of consideration. At present, 20 productions are confirmed—only 2 productions shy of beating Sinclair Lewis and creeping up on that halfway mark to 44. Producers who have gone public include The Neo-Futurists in Chicago and the famous Little Rock Central High School, alma mater of the Little Rock Nine, whose very public battle to attend an all-white school forced Dwight Eisenhower to send the National Guard to protect them. This historical moment is mentioned in the Eisenhower playlette.
A history of sell-out crowds and great reviews:
Below is a sampling of some review excerpts 44 Plays for 44 Presidents has received; more excerpts and some quotations from theater companies that have enjoyed sell-out runs can also be found here: http://playsforpresidents.com/praise-for-presidents/
“Hilarious, difficult, insightful, revelatory and totally unforgettable. Like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, 43 Plays helps illuminate, in [a] speculatively subversive manner.”
–David Cashman, Chicago Weekly News
“What makes 43 Presidents chancy is how it dares to take history seriously.”
–Curt Holman, Creative Loafing (Atlanta)
“Intellectual...silly...fun...thought-provoking”
–Albert Goodwyn, San Francisco Bay Times
“The 43 short plays represent a rare case of multiple writers forming a more perfect union. Their prismatic, annotated approach...run[s] the agitprop gamut, from hilariously ironic to gravely arresting.”
– David C. Nicholas, Los Angeles Times
“They definitely are on to something in this zany, clever, ambitious and often surprisingly moving historical catalogue.”
–Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun Times
“Deeply moving, stealthily patriotic...Chicago writers Andy Bayiates, Sean Benjamin, Genevra Gallo, Chloe Johnston and Karen Weinberg have delivered a dramatic work of considerable originality and comic integrity.”
–Wendell Brock, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For more information: http://playsforpresidents.com/
Festival creator: Andy Bayiates, andrewb@gmail.com
PR/Press Secretary: Genevra Gallo-Bayiates: genevra@gmail.com
44 Plays for 44 Presidents is published by Playscripts.
You can read a recent post about the production on Playcripts’ blog: http://www.playscripts.com/blog/2012/02/44-plays-for-44-presidents-aiming-to-break-a-world-record/
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Contact
44 Plays for 44 Presidents
Andy Bayiates
618-203-6868
playsforpresidents.com
Andy Bayiates
618-203-6868
playsforpresidents.com
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