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The New Colony follows up a daring inaugural season with an equally exciting, risky and polarizing group of world premieres.

Calls to Blood

Written by James Asmus, Directed by Andrew Hobgood
At the Royal George Studio Theater
October 12th to November 28th, 2009

Based on an extraordinary true story, Calls to Blood tells the darkly comic tragedy of the perfect American couple and their seemingly impenetrable happiness – even as they struggle to conceive the child they want so desperately. But in trying to find a solution to this continual failure, they unearth the one truth that can destroy everything upon which their perfect lives have been built. Staged in the intimate environment of the Royal George’s studio theater, the audience will be no more able to escape the emotionally powerful debate over the couple’s future than the couple’s own best friends and family.

11:11

Written by Evan Linder and Tara Sissom, Directed by Meg Johns
Spring, 2010

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Hebrews 11:1

On the eve of the first day of camp, a group of young, Christian camp counselors give in to the temptations of summer’s last night of freedom, and in the process, unknowingly drug themselves. As the evening unravels, secrets are shared about life, love, sexuality and, ultimately, the doubts of young Christian leaders. Forced, for the first time, to make decisions without the guidance of their parents and elders, the counselors find themselves naked without their usual comforts, and afraid of the unknown. Inspired by the experiences of the playwrights and ensemble, and the evolving beliefs of their peers, 11:11 asks an age-old question of a new generation: why are we willing to fight for something we cannot see or define? And how will the answer to that question affect our country as this new generation matures into becoming its new leaders?

That Sordid Little Story

Written by Will Cavedo and Andrew Hobgood, Music by Thea Lux, Henry Riggs and Tara Sissom, Directed by Andrew Hobgood
Summer, 2010

A concept album from 1963 within a stage play within a live performance of the concept album, That Sordid Little Story mixes modern American story-telling devices with the traditions of Greek theater to bring you the hilarious and heart-wrenching tale of a boy in search of his past. Upon hearing the first two tracks on the new, self-titled album by the band ‘That Sordid Little Story,’ Jack realizes that they have written the story of his life, thus far, in song. Believing that the band must be connected in some way to the father he has never met, he leaves home and travels the American Bible Belt in hopes of finding the band, and ultimately the whereabouts of his father. As he stumbles along, his journey begins to shape to the rest of the album. But is he a slave to his own fate, or really its master?

So the big question is……HAVE YOU SEEN 11:11 YET?  All of Chicago is buzzin’ off the Lord and The New Colony is helping them get their fix.  11:11 explores a group of Christian camp counselors who accidentally take drugs the night before camp starts.  The ordeal leaves them examining and questioning their faith and ultimately asks “How can we believe in what we can’t see?”  11:11 plays for 2 more weekends at the Victory Gardens Biograph.  Come see this world premiere comedy by a company Timeout Chicago calls a New Essential.

11:11 Trailer from The New Colony on Vimeo.

Time Out Chicago- ★★★★(out of five) Highly Recommended
Chicago Stage Stage Review- ★★★1/2 (out of four) Highly Recommended
Chicago Reader- Highly Recommended
Talkin Broadway- Recommended
ChicagoCritic- Recommended
Steadstyle Chicago- Recommended
Theatre In Chicago- Top Rated

On the eve of the first day of camp, a group of young, Christian camp counselors give in to the temptations of summer’s last night of freedom, and in the process, unknowingly drug themselves. As the evening unravels, secrets are shared about life, love, sexuality and, ultimately, the doubts of young Christian leaders.

Forced, for the first time, to make decisions without the guidance of their parents and elders, the counselors find themselves naked without their usual comforts, and afraid of the unknown.

Inspired by the experiences of the playwrights and ensemble, and the evolving beliefs of their peers, 11:11 asks an age-old question of a new generation: why are we willing to fight for something we cannot see or define? And how will the answer to that question affect our country as this new generation matures into becoming its new leaders?

‘11:11′ is directed by Meg Johns, Written by Evan Linder and Tara Sissom, Produced by Samuel Snowden and Sponsored in part by Victory Gardens’ Fresh Squeezed. Featuring New Colony Ensemble members Caitlin Chuckta, Sarah Gitenstein, Evan Linder, Wes Needham, Whit Nelson, Tara Sissom, and Kevin Stangler with Tim Cunningham and Maari Susora.

For more information visit our showpage at http://www.thenewcolony.org/11:11
or call the Box Office @ Victory Gardens 773-871-3000

ARE BEST FRIENDS!!!!!!!

We at The New Colony have been so staggeringly humbled by the news that Chase Bank will be donating $25,000 to our theatre company. This of course would have never been possible without the help of our glorious fans on Facebook. We put the word out all over the internet that voting for The New Colony for the Chase Bank Community Giving would give us a shot at winning $25K and low and behold it worked. We’ve never been more grateful for such wonderful fans. The New Colony has just begun it’s 2nd season producing brand spanking new home-grown works. Our goal is to continue to bring enjoyable thought provoking plays and musicals to the theater community of Chicago.

Congratulation to the organizations in the top 100 for Chase Community Giving.
http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/top_100

Dear Freaks,

The world might not understand you, but we certainly do. Join TNC for a night of pretentious vignettes, alcohol, hors d’oeuvres, music, freak booths, freak shows, freak raffle and French kissing.  Because there’s nothing scarier than bad art.

The New Colony cordially invites you to THE Halloween FREAKRAISER of the year. A spectacle of horrifically pretentious proportions…

October 29th, 2009 9-12pm
Dank Haus Skyline Lounge
$10 cover
Cash Bar for CHEAPS!

Let’s find your inner pretentious artist.
Let’s celebrate the night.
Let’s be vampire lovers.

All proceeds benefit The New Colony Season 2.

Remember when you woke up in a bathtub wearing your friend’s mom’s brassiere? No? Well, The New Colony will jog your memory at Walk of Shame. This evening of honest-to-God tales, created by The New Colony ensemble and invited artists, will make your own worst moment (meeting your ex’s fiancé or having a few too many snowtinis at the company holiday party) shy in comparison. The New Colony is one of the freshest creators of new work in Chicago. These energetic Colonists are beyond thrilled to hold your hair back after the hungover stumble home.

Find out more here

This Goal was actually inspired by a post last year on The Mission Paradox blog. It isn’t quite the same thing – but it got us thinking about the idea of the Artist’s Language.

During FRAT, a Board member was sitting in on rehearsals and began asking questions about some of the terminology we were using. It hadn’t occurred to us that non-theater people might not have ever heard the term “strike.” Or maybe had heard it, but didn’t know what it meant. But there we were, being asked for definitions of words that are the foundation of our art. Definitions that are familiar (and maybe even obvious) to us, but foreign to one of our company’s biggest supporters. It seemed ludicrous that a major supporter couldn’t understand what we were saying - not because of any fault of his own, but because we failed to offer up an education in the language and behind-the-scenes aspects of theater. We quickly started to educate him, but a little thought kept nagging: how many other arts supporters can’t speak our language? Many of them might not even know that they don’t speak our language.

Adam Thurman addressed how this impacts the artist-corporate relationship:

If you want the support of people outside your small, artistic circle, then it is pretty much mandatory that you become skilled at translating your art into “business speak”, “foundation speak”, “marketing speak”, whatever.

The same applies to audiences.

5) We, As an Industry, Need to Start Educating Our Audiences

Let’s all agree to dissolve the “Artist’s Mystique” and open ourselves, our creative processes, and our administrative systems to the world. People are afraid of what they don’t know. That’s not new news. I would argue, that most people (including our loyal audiences) really don’t know theater. They know what they like and don’t like. But they might not know why. Maybe they liked a show because the sound design was incredible. But that’s one of our special tricks that we subtly (or sometimes not so subtly) use to affect the audience experience. Maybe if we taught them how important great sound design is, they would start researching the inner workings of the shows.

Imagine a theater scene where people want to buy tickets to see shows with a particular sound designer because a) they trust that designer to pick a great show to work on and b) they know they’re going to love the sound design. What if audiences knew a particular director’s style and skill set? They could pick shows knowing that they’re going to see a show directed by someone they trust.

We need to teach audiences how important the people who build the production are to them. And the only way to do that is to start educating them. Have your designers provide 5-10 minute talk-back/education sessions with the audience after the show. Talk-backs should become a staple of our community. Don’t just let your audience leave. Make them leave understanding what they just saw. On collaborative productions (Remember Goal No. 4?), you have even more opportunity to educate audiences.

Computer programs like Word, Garage Band and iMovie have opened up the practices of graphic design, music composition and filmmaking to the public. Our industry doesn’t really have an equivalent to that beyond a handful of scriptwriter softwares that don’t come preloaded into everyone’s shiny new laptops. Similarly, the “behind-the-scenes” of theater are not often taught in school. We’re lucky if students read The Crucible or A Midsummer Night’s Dream in English class. So it really does fall upon us, as a group, to provide that education to the public. Educating them will encourage a greater investment in our industry, inspire their creative and curious minds, and open the doors for further exploration.

Don’t worry about ruining our magic tricks. It’s not the same thing. Audiences ultimately thrive on being in the dark when it comes to magic tricks. But with our industry – they want to be brought into it. They want the knowledge. It will actually help them appreciate what we do more.

4) Theaters Should Work Together to Produce More Theater More Often

The era of theaters born out of a desire to produce a show needs to end. Similarly, the tradition of companies producing unilateral seasons simply will not hold up in the 21st century, and certainly not in the new economy. Sure, each company should still have their core productions that make up their season, but every company needs to be producing more theater, producing it frequently, and producing it collaboratively.

In the past, we have treated our mission statements like a guidebook that applies only to our company and the handful of productions that make up our seasons. To make Chicago’s theater scene great – we need to turn our mission statements outward and creatively find ways to accomplish our missions with other artists and companies. The companies that will survive and grow are the ones that make themselves important to our theater scene and our city. Importance is not granted to the temporary and infrequent. Importance is lavished upon those whom the public and community cannot live without. Your value is directly tied to your output, and quality of output – so producing more, high-quality theater more frequently is a critical factor if we want our scene to jump to the next level and thus improve our overall and individual value/importance in Chicago.

Yes – producing more and producing often takes time, money and resources. Even in a booming economy – time, money and resources are hard to come by for the arts. And we’re all more than aware of how much harder it is now in a recession. That is not an acceptable excuse for not producing more and more often! The companies that are willing to fight, tirelessly, for money, resources and support will prosper. And you can either go it alone, or fight together.

The beautiful opportunity that has arisen out of the recession is that we have essentially been handed a “Reset Button.” The old laws of the industry don’t apply anymore, so stop trying to make them work. Embrace the fact that the game has changed. Throw away the rules/traditions/expectations of the industry and just make theater happen! If you can’t afford a 60-seat theater to produce a great idea – then say, “F*ck it!” and find a way to make it happen. In the future of Chicago’s theater scene, no great idea should go unproduced. And remember – you don’t have to abide by any archaic standards. Producing more doesn’t mean producing more 90+ minute productions with large budgets and an expensive venue with a week of load-in and tech. It means following in the footsteps of great creators like Isaac Asimov: a writer who wrote, constantly, about anything, and in whatever medium fit the idea.

And here’s the best part: it’s not something you have to do by yourself. Nor should you! The way to get more new theater to be produced more often is for all of us to work together to make it happen. A community effort must be made by the larger institutions to help the small and for the smaller institutions to bond together and help each other succeed. Companies of similar missions need to communicate with each other and work together as often as possible. Companies of differing missions should find common values that, when applied, will birth unique and interesting collaborations that they could not have produced on their own.

Going forward, there is no such thing as competition or trade secrets in our industry. Our audience will most likely see our shows once. Maybe twice. Infrequently they see it three or more times. So why not share our audiences?! Why not produce together to teach each other’s audiences about other companies that they will love and want to support? There is no room for greed or selfish behavior. As an Artistic Director in Boston once said to me, “What good is it for us all to fight over the second-to-last rung on the ladder?” Audiences are non-exclusive. So let’s start thinking of them as a shared resource.

Audiences are one of the rare resources that actually gains value the more it is used.

So we all benefit by working together to get our audiences to see more theater more often.

NEXT UP: Audience Education Programs

Based on conversations over at our Goals for the Future of Chicago Theater postings, it seems that there is a growing interest among the small-to-midsize Chicago theater community in working together.

So rather than continue going in circles saying, “We should…” The New Colony is offering to organize an initial round table amongst theater companies in Chicago who would be interested in exploring a coalition. The goal behind this “union” (not in the big bad “let’s go on strike!” way) would be to support and promote Chicago’s smaller, independent theater scene the same way that Broadway in Chicago does for, well, Broadway shows in Chicago.

If your company is interested in participating in this round table (dates to be determined based on schedules of those interested), please email our Artistic Director Andrew Hobgood.

If you know of companies that may be interested in this round table, please email them, Facebook it, post this on your blog, or tweet this entry.