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SPARK

by Caridad Svich

 

 

SPARK is a play about three sisters living in the US caught in the mess of a recent war’s aftermath. It is about what happens when soldiers come home, when women of little economic means must find a way to make do and carry on, and the strength, ultimately, of family. A contemporary US story of faith, love, war, trauma, and a bit of healing.

Full-length in two acts. Cast: 3 women (1 late teens, 1 mid 20s, 1 30s), 2 men (1 30s, 1 late 40s). One central but slightly flexible location. Inclusive casting preferred. Running time: approx. 90 minutes.

Credits: SPARK was commissioned by Elaine Avila, Daniel Banks, Raymond Dooley, Amparo Garcia-Crow, Amy Gonzalez, Peter Lichtenfels, Charlotte Meehan, Christi Moore, Flor De Liz Perez, Marisel Polanco, Teresa Perez-Frangie, Otis Ramsey-Zoe, Claudio Raygoza, J.T.Rogers, Meghan Wolf and Tamilla Woodard.

SPARK: 2012 Reading Scheme

NoPassport theatre alliance and press in collaboration with multiple venues (TBA) across the US and abroad present free script-in-hand readings of the play in the month of November 2012 to honor veterans of wars recent (Iraq, Afghanistan) and past, and to promote spiritual healing. To join the reading scheme and present a free script-in-hand reading in November 2012, contact:NoPassportPress@aol.com; NoPassport: http://www.nopassport.org

Why a Reading Scheme Now?

NoPassport theatre alliance and press is committed to the advocacy, promotion, production and publication of creative expressions of diversity and difference in theatre and performance. It is also committed to interventionist actions, through theatre-making, in culture toward peace, healing, forgiveness, positive action, and resistance to uncivil actions.

The toll recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken on soldiers in the US and abroad, and on the lives of families and civilians impacted directly by it is un-measured. The emotional and psychic wounds – not to mention, physical ones as well – will take a long time to heal, especially because outside of their ground and air combat missions, both wars to many people’s eyes seem to be “theoretical.” In the US, for example, although innumerable communities have been affected by the loss of loved ones, and the cost and necessity of rehabilitation of returning soldiers, the fact of these wars has been somehow less present in the national consciousness. The stories, moreover, of female veterans are even more hidden from plain view.

In this Presidential election year in the US, NoPassport theare alliance seeks to honor veterans of these wars, shed light on the plight of female soldiers and their families in particular, and to offer a space for spiritual healing in communities through a little art.

How can theatre transform and speak poetically to our lives? How can we let art live within us and see our world anew? How to continue to engage civically in the nexus between art and practice and life?

NoPassport asks these questions with any conference, reading, publication, spoken word salon or scholars symposium it forges into action. The same is true with this scheme.

SPARK: Special Veterans Day Reading at The Cherry Lane Theatre in NYC

 

The Cherry Lane Theatre, Gloria Mann, TECL, and Mannatee Films in collaboration with NoPassport

will present a special reading and panel on Sunday November 11, 2012 at 8 PM at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York City (38 Commerce Street). 

The reading will be directed by Scott Schwartz. Cast will include: Louis Cancelmi, Marin Ireland, Jocelyn Kuritsky, Peter Jay Fernandez, Gloria Mann.

The reading will be followed by a panel on issues facing women in the military moderated by Michael Craft with panelists Helen Benedict (The Lonely Soldier, Sand Queen), Kayla Williams (Love My Rifle More Than You), Sue Lynch (There-and-Back-Again.org), Nisha Money, JulieHera DeStefano (Journey to Normal, the movie).

Bios: Gloria Mann Gloria Mann is a professional actor-producer who joined Mannatee Films as Director of Development and an Independent Producer in 2008 overseeing all aspects of script development and co-producing the company’s film and theatrical projects, including an off Broadway revival of Harold Pinter’s Ashes to Ashes at Walkerspace. An award-winning stage actor, Ms Mann has worked in allaspects of theater and film production since graduating from the University of California, San Diego with an M.F.A. in Theatre.   As an actor, Ms.Mann has worked with Sir Peter Hall, Jimmy Smits,Bill Irwin, Robert Woodruff, Bartlett Sher, Michael Greif, Oskar Eustis and Des McAnuff, among many Other distinguished artists. Her portrayal of Rosa in Avenue A with Mark Ruffalo, earned her a Best Actress Nomination from the Los Angeles Theatre Critics Awards. Film credits include Hurlyburly with Sean Penn, Point Break, and Of Mice and Men with John Malkovich. Her television credits include Thirty Something, Picket Fences, and Days of Our Lives.

 
Scott Schwartz (Director) directed the Broadway productions of Golda’s Balcony and Jane Eyre (co-directed with John Caird). His Off Broadway work includes Bat Boy: The Musical (Lucille Lortel and Outer Critics Circle Awards, Outstanding Off Broadway Musical; Drama Desk Award nomination, Outstanding Director of a Musical), tick, tick…BOOM! (Outer Critics Circle, Outstanding Off Broadway Musical; Drama Desk nomination, Outstanding Director of a Musical), Rooms: A Rock Romance, The Foreigner starring Matthew Broderick (Roundabout Theatre Company), Kafka’s The Castle (Outer Critics Circle nomination, Outstanding Director of a Play), Miss Julie and No Way to Treat a Lady. He also directed Golda’s Balcony on tour, in London, in Los Angeles at the Wadsworth Theatre and in San Francisco at American Conservatory Theater. He directed the World Premiere of Séance on a Wet Afternoon at Opera Santa Barbara and subsequently at New York City Opera. Schwartz’s other recent credits include A Room With A View (The Old Globe) and the world premiere of Theresa Rebeck’s What We’re Up Against (Alley Theatre). Upcoming projects include Next to Normal (Alliance and Geva Theatres), and the new musical Secondhand Lions (Warner Brothers Theatricals). Schwartz is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, an Associate Artist at the Alley Theatre and a graduate of Harvard University.