A BIRD AND A MOLECULE

A new original play created and performed by the

2010 Manoa Project Ensemble

Directed by Kevin R. Elder and Erin Phillips

Dramaturgy by Kristen D. Simpson

            This year marks an incredibly exciting moment for the Manoa Project: as the work of the program and the ensemble evolves, we challenge ourselves to match that evolution in the curriculum. To that end, this year’s project will culminate in a collaboratively devised creation by the entire Manoa Ensemble. Using the same tools and techniques Tricklock Company uses to create their internationally acclaimed original work, the trainers and directors of the Manoa Project are working with the Manoa Ensemble to create a brand new play. Directed by Kevin R. Elder and Erin Phillips and dramaturgy by Kristen D. Simpson, this exciting new piece comes from the minds and creativity of 18 young theatre artists.

This is a piece is about the crossroads of opposites. A young woman searches for her missing father in a foreign land. A young man stuck in a dead end job with no hope for change. The two begin to meet in their dreams. Two very different people in very different places are inexplicably connected and their lives will never be the same. Can they help one another in their quest for what they need most? Can they find what they are looking for? 

 Inspired by ancient Chinese poetry, global folklore, myth and dream accounts and using physical storytelling, magical realism and humor the Manoa 2010 Ensemble has created an original piece that asks us all, “what happens when we want that which we cannot have?" 

            The Manoa Project Teen Playwriting Competition and Ensemble Apprenticeship is an educationally based opportunity for young people around New Mexico to participate in a statewide playwriting competition and a summer-long theater-training institute. In addition to providing an outstanding learning opportunity for students ages 14-18, the Manoa Project is a community based outreach program which aims to connect young artists with audiences from Albuquerque, nearby surrounding towns and throughout the state. Conceived of and run by Tricklock Company in partnership with the National Hispanic Cultural Center and Albuquerque Academy, the Manoa Project first selects a winning play and one or two alternate plays, all of which are eventually produced and staged with students from the intensive summer training program. Once selected, the winning plays go into a workshop phase wherein the young playwrights do intensive rewrites of their new work under the guidance of a professional playwriting mentor from the University of New Mexico and/or the professional writing world at large.

          Phase two, the summer program, commences with the casting of 20-25 high school students, forming the Manoa Ensemble. Students participate in actor training 4 days a week (6+ hours per day) for 7 weeks. The training program culminates in a fully produced performance of the winning play, as well as staged readings of the alternate scripts and a work demonstration of original pieces developed by the Manoa Ensemble over the course of the summer. Trainings include basic acting skills, ensemble building, vocal training, acrobatics, clowning, circus skills, improvisation, solo work creation and a variety of physical theatre styles. Each summer one or two guest artists are invited into trainings for special workshops. The production of the winning play then tours to one or more locations within the state to allow participants a chance to share their talents and ideas with the diverse communities of New Mexico. Following the shows, performers spend time in informal dialog with audience. This allows students and audience members time to discuss the themes of the show and the impact of the work on the audience and performers alike.

          It is Tricklock's belief that theatrical study is neither academic nor a luxury. It is a social and simultaneously individual, physical and imaginative exploration into a community's potential to make a better world. Only through immersion in the intensity and devotion required to create moving, challenging and transformative theatre will students want to take further steps toward developing a life in the performing arts. The Manoa Project is one aspect of Tricklock's commitment to the belief that performing arts can improve lives and communities.

Performances are