Troy, NY – Troy Foundry Theatre’s Half-Baked Festival of Emerging Work launches in Troy, NY on June 14, 2023. This is the first year for the new city-wide theatrical fringe festival produced by Troy Foundry Theatre, and it will run for seven days across several venues in Troy, NY including The Arts Center for the Capital Region, The James L. Meader Little Theater at Russell Sage College, Alias Coffee and The Studio Troy. The festival will highlight the in-process Troy Foundry Theatre projects selected for the 2023 TFT Company Creation Initiative, as well as other selected submissions from artists outside the company. The pieces presented at Half-Baked will all be in development, in-process pieces of work. The festival is supported by the NYSCA-A.R.T./New York Creative Opportunity Fund (A Statewide Theatre Regrant Program) and funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a grant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by The Arts Center of the Capital Region.
The full schedule of events and venues can be found by visiting www.troyfoundrytheatre.com. Full Festival Passes can be purchased at https://buytickets.at/troyfoundrytheatre/933822. Festival passes allow access to all events during the entire festival. Single ticket admission is only available at the door for CASH/VENMO only. Single tickets are $20 (sliding scale) for each individual event. The festival can not accept credit card payments at the door.
“We are really excited to bring a festival to life in the city of Troy that focuses on supporting in-development, in-process pieces of new theatrical work. Creation is the backbone of Troy Foundry Theatre’s mission, and to be able to support our company members and other artists in this process is very exciting! We hope everyone will come out to support the artists who are involved in creating these pieces and will be excited to watch these projects develop over time.” – Emily Curro, Troy Foundry Theatre Producing Executive Director & Half-Baked Festival of Emerging Work Producer
HALF-BAKED SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Wednesday, June 14
6:00pm: Child(ren)
*The Arts Center of the Capital Region, Black Box, 265 River Street, Troy, NY 12180
8:30pm: Foundry F*cks with Farce
*The Arts Center of the Capital Region, Black Box Theatre, 265 River Street, Troy, NY 12180
Thursday, June 15
8:00pm: In Camera
*Alias Coffee, 219 4th St, Troy, NY 12180
Friday, June 16
8:00pm: Elected Remains by Leah Barker
Directed by Yvonne Perry
*The Arts Center of the Capital Region, Black Box Theatre, 265 River Street, Troy, NY 12180
Saturday, June 17
5:00pm: Child(ren)
*The Arts Center of the Capital Region, Black Box Theatre, 265 River Street, Troy, NY 12180
8:30pm: My Soul is in Command created and performed by Bob Carlton
*The Arts Center of the Capital Region, Black Box Theatre, 265 River Street, Troy, NY 12180
Wednesday, June 21
6:00pm: In Camera
*Alias Coffee, 219 4th St, Troy, NY 12180
8:00pm: Foundry F*cks with Farce
*Meader Little Theatre, Russell Sage College
Thursday, June 22
7:00pm: Room Rituals
*The Studio, 2213 5th Ave Troy, NY 12180
8:30pm: Picnic Among Tall Grasses/A Patch of Grasses (working title(s)) by Matt Sekellick
Directed by David Girard
*James L. Meader Little Theater, Russell Sage College, 65 First St. Troy, NY 12180
Friday, June 23
8:00pm: Hard Candy and Misdemeanors by Cris Eli Blak
Directed by Angelique Powell
*The Arts Center of the Capital Region, Black Box Theatre, 265 River Street, Troy, NY 12180
Saturday, June 24
6:30pm: CLOSING FESTIVAL PARTY at 518 Craft with music!
PROJECTS DESCRIPTIONS:
Child(ren)
*A TFT Company Creation Initiative project
Kristoph DiMaria: lead artist, Troy Foundry Theatre
Kelly Artis: lead artist, Troy Foundry Theatre
Connor Armbruster: lead artist, Troy Foundry Theatre
Nina Schwartzman: re/source/search, participant, social media
Yi Zhou: re/source/search, participant
Michael A. Lake: performer, collaborator
Jennifer Kotary: re/source/search, participant
Child,
This is not a performance. It is Theatrical experience. Intervention. Exploration.
Conflagration. Appreciation. De-escalation.
Ovation. Standing up. Empathy.
Movement. Dance. Feeling. Thinking. Sharing.
With us. For each other. For yourselves.
~ (Ren)
Child(ren) asks us to consider the origins, experiences, and outcomes of our formational moments. We will engage you through the Canvas, the Fool, and the Hands. We will all have the opportunity to put something in, get something out, and discover together what Confucianism, clowning, dreams, trauma, and Internal Family Systems have to do with altruism and the child within. Breathe. Listen. Touch. See. Child(ren).
Foundry F*cks with Farce
*A TFT Company Creation Initiative project
Shayne David Cameris, lead artist, Troy Foundry Theatre
Raya Malcolm, lead artist, Troy Foundry Theatre
We here at Troy Foundry Theatre feel we are well versed in the realms of the challenging; the off-balance; the obscure; the serious. But we’re always learning and exploring. Forever adventuring. And in that vein it’s time for us to spelunk into lands unknown …into the world…..of c o m e d y. Yes, you read that right. The Foundry is about to try their hand at full out, non stop, gut busting comedy. But we’re, of course, going to do it the only way TFT knows how…tear it apart and put it back together again. So yes, it’s going to be a farce. But it’s going to have you laughing in ways you never thought possible.
In Camera
*A TFT Company Creation Initiative project
Camryn Beck, Lead artist, Troy Foundry Theatre
Mitchell Johnson, lead artist
Amber Wheeler: actor/deviser
“When you wake up, I’m here. It’s always been this way behind closed doors. The early morning light creeps through a window, and the cycle begins again. It’s been so long since I’ve noticed a new day, but I think I remember the sun in your eyes. At least, I will until tomorrow. You can’t remember a time when I wasn’t there to hold you, to soothe your fears, to make everything better. I don’t think I know where you end. I don’t think I know where I begin. Isn’t it breathtaking? Isn’t it suffocating?”
In Camera is a new piece that explores codependency, perception, and our most private conversations. Created by Camryn Beck. Written and performed by Amber Wheeler, Mitchell Johnson, and Camryn Beck.
Room Rituals
*A TFT Company Creation Initiative project
Raya Malcom, lead artist, Troy Foundry Theatre
Ethan Botwick, lead artist, Troy Foundry Theatre
Connor Armbruster, lead artist, Troy Foundry Theatre
Emily Curro, lead artist, Troy Foundry Theatre
Room Rituals explores the intersection of the mundane and the magical in routines and rituals through movement and sound.
FEATURED SUBMISSIONS FROM INVITED ARTISTS:
My Soul is in Command: a Tragi-Comic Musical Creep Show
Created and performed by Robert Carlton
My Soul Is In Command: A Tragi-Comic Musical Creep Show, is an exploration, via cabaret, of self loathing and the lies we tell ourselves. A one-man show created and performed by Robert Carlton.
Hard Candy and Misdemeanors
A new play by Cris Eli Blak
Reading directed by Angelique Powell
After making an impulsive, life-changing mistake that could have landed her behind bars, angry and troubled teen Lilly Brewer is forced to move in with her cousin, Roxanne, a young woman who has found herself owning and running a small-town convenience store called The Quickie Shop. Over the span of a single day we see the complicated lives and relationships, as well as the regrets and insecurities, of Lilly, Roxanne, the employees of The Quickie Shop, and a young man who, for some reason, won’t leave the store even after being caught stealing.
Elected Remains
A new play by Leah Barker
Reading directed by Yvonne Perry
In Washington, Helen provides a unique service for wealthy collectors. Her clients crave the ultimate in Americana: the body parts of deceased politicians. Though expectations are high, there’s little that Helen can’t deliver. But when she receives an exceptionally disturbing request, her livelihood is put in jeopardy. A darkly comic fable conceived for our current political climate, ELECTED REMAINS examines the relics of an ailing nation.
Picnic Among Tall Grasses/A Patch of Grasses (working title(s))
A new play by Matthew Sekellick
Reading directed by David Girard
A Patch of Grass/Picnic Among Tall Grasses (working title(s)) begins with two people meeting in a public commons, which is enchanted by their growing love and the memory of a famous poet. This project began pre-pandemic, and with the peaks of the housing crisis still looming ahead it grew from being a little love story-cum-chamber play into something much more ambitious about the nefarious forces of big money real estate capital. The public space? It’s soon to be privatized by a real estate broker who himself is under pressure from an unseen, malevolent presence. And he has h̶e̶n̶c̶h̶m̶e̶n̶ l̶a̶c̶k̶e̶y̶s̶ assistants. Can this burgeoning love survive the loss of the place where it began? To be determined! When the pandemic struck, I no longer had any idea how to resolve this story. But maybe I’ll know by showtime in June! Maybe we’ll figure it out together! The first scenes were sketched out at a TFT workshop, so bringing it back to Troy for development makes it full, or rather half, circle. Did I mention there’s a poet? Or maybe there won’t be a poet anymore. Let’s find out.