FEBRUARY 2008 Space Grant Recipient:
Mountjoy Productions

Development of a new play “DUCK-WALLS”
Written and Directed by Rob Roy Mountjoy

DUCK WALLS provides a surprising view into this world by contrasting the patients’ experience to that of the staff. The play follows Frank Summons, the new drug and alcohol counselor, during his first two tumultuous days at Clarkdale Memorial in the fall of 1989. Says writer, Rob Roy Mountjoy, “In the mid 80’s, mental health treatment facilities appealed to teens, including myself, as a way out of a bad situation, what they often found instead was a way in.” A way in to an often indifferent world.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Rob Roy Mountjoy is the writer and director of “DUCK-WALLS” and the owner of Mountjoy Productions, a multi dimensional entertainment company for the independent musician, actor, and writer. Rob Roy Mountjoy is also front man for the band Hardcore Mojo and director for the upcoming film, “Duck-Walls”.


OCTOBER 2007 Space Grant Recipient:
Café Antarsia Ensemble/Hour Glass Group

A concert of Songs from the full-length world folk opera

WELLSPRING: Set in Bosnia-Hercegovina, 1999

WELLSPRING’s libretto and score are influenced by Ottoman Art Composers, early American orientalist paintings, Greek blues and the Romani/Gypsy music of the Balkan marketplace. It is part of a trilogy of “world folk opera” collaborations between punk poetic playwright Ruth Margraff and Greek-Texan composer Nikos Brisco and has been directed and developed by Elyse Singer and dramaturged by Aniko Szucs.

The Setting of WELLSPRING is directly inspired by librettist Ruth’s Margraff’s travels in the Summer of 1999 and 2001 to visit her mother Linda Margraff in Bosnia-Hercegovina, where her mother helped refugees return to their destroyed homes, taught international police the history of Bosnia and catalogued war crimes of local police as a United Nations peacekeeper from 1998-2003.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
In addition to summer touring through Montreal, Toronto, Virginia and North Carolina, The Café Antarsia Ensemble celebrates being signed this summer to Innova Records and the launch of the October street release of their new album “Songs of the Table”, featuring original compositions in the world folk/Americana genre inspired by Greek blues (rebetiko & café aman) and Balkan Rroma Gypsy music mixed with Arabic percussion. The Café Antarsia Ensemble has performed with the Hourglass Group at BAM Café, the Public Theater and the Century Ballroom in addition to touring regularly throughout New York City, nationwide and internationally in Croatia, Serbia, Czech Rep., Russia, Greece, Turkey, Hungary, Romania, etc. and has been awarded a Fulbright to Greece and awards from the Trust for Mutual Understanding of New York and TCG/ITI to study music and perform throughout Eastern Europe and the Balkans.

Hourglass Group, Ltd. is an OBIE Award-winning company that develops and produces provocative and highly theatrical new plays and neglected vintage American comedies. Founded in 1998 by Elyse Singer, Carolyn Baeumler and Nina Hellman with the mission to develop adventurous new plays and reinvestigate neglected vintage American comedies, Hourglass champions writers who experiment with dramatic language and innovative theatrical forms, including the use of multimedia.


FEBRUARY 2007 Space Grant Recipient:
Shalimar Productions

Development of a new play ALIENS
Written by Saviana Stanescu
Directed by Shoshona Currier

ALIENS is a play about cross-cultural love and green card-marriage that explores the subtle and complex sides of the immigrant experience, challenging and using the stereotypes about love and marriage in New York. Does a marriage with an American citizen solve every problem? Is a green card a strong enough reason for a marriage?


ABOUT THE ARTIST
Shoshona has produced work by Deb Margolin, Adam Rapp, Elizabeth Wong, and Cheryl Davis. She has been fortunate enough to perform with the Living Theatre under the direction of Judith Malina. She has assisted Richard Maxwell on End of Reality (The Kitchen) and Marc Masterson on Limonade Tous Les Jours by Chuck Mee (Humana Fest, ATL). She is also a co-producer of the acclaimed Estrogenius Festival and is an artistic associate with Kings Country Shakespeare Company. She is the previous literary associate at New York Theatre Workshop and co-artistic directors of Black Cat Group’s Political Play Reading Series. She is on the reading committee for the Young Playwrights National Playwriting Competition and has also been an adjudication reader for the Estrogenius Festival and the Van Lier Fellowship. Shoshona is the recipient of the Joan Kersner Memorial Fellowship for Theatre Artists and she is a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab.