we have a title and a cast!

THE OTHER SIDE

After our first rehearsal on Friday, we are excited to announce that our play has a title.  From now on, the Tumbleweed Theatre Fringe Project will be known as The Other Side.  New work is already being developed with our amazing ensemble of performers (see photos).  More photos, video and rehearsal updates will be coming soon! 

Rehearsal Calendar

Cast & Crew members - here is the link to the online calendar for The Other Side.  To see the whole calendar, just right click on the calendar icon and select "open frame in a new window."

WELCOME!

We are so excited to welcome you to the official blog for Tumbleweed's collaboration with the Phoenix Fringe Festival!  Here is a bit of information about the project as we're about to begin our collaborative work.  

Youth artists from the  Tumbleweed Center for Youth Development, in collaboration with Artswork, Bank of America, and Place, Vision and Voice are working to create a play about their lives.  Play participants are from several Tumbleweed programs, including START, an apartment/housing support service program, Greenhouse, an LGBTQ youth service program and the Drop-in Center, which serves transient youth and young adults between the ages of 18 and 21.  The piece is directed by Xanthia Walker and assistant directed by Sarah Sullivan, both ASU graduate students in Theatre for Youth.  As we have only just begun the rehearsal process, it is difficult to say exactly what shape the piece will take.  All of the cast members in the show are currently or recently homeless, and will work using improvisation, creative writing, poetry, movement, theatre for social change techniques, and digital media to generate material for the show.  As of right now, our youth cast consists of actors, writers, stage managers, rappers and visual artists.  We also have the assistance of choreographer Melissa Britt, ASU graduate student in Dance.  At the end of the process, we hope to have a 30 minute piece of performance centered on the life experiences of homeless teens to share with the Phoenix community.  

This blog will be one way of getting the word out and sharing our process with the greater Phoenix community, as we begin this adventure of creating an original theatre piece.  Check back here for updates, discussion, photos, videos and poetry as the piece takes shape.