TALES from ThE

SALT CiTy Conceived & Directed by Ping Chong

Written by Ping Chong and Sara michelle Zatz

CLASSROOM STUDY GUIDE

World Premiere

SPONSORS:

2008 - 2009 EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH SPONSORS

STUDENT MATINEE PROGRAMPlaywrights Circle ($5,000 - $7,499)

National GridDirectors Circle ($1,500 - $2,799)

Grandma Brown FoundationPrice Chopper’s Golub Foundation

CARRIER BACKSTORY PROGRAMRegents Circle ($7,500 - $13,999)

Carrier CorporationSyracuse Campus-Community Entrepreneurship Initiative, funded by the Kauffman FoundationSyracuse University GEAR-UP

Playwrights Circle ($5,000 - $7,499)KARE Foundation

Directors Circle ($1,500 - $2,799)Time Warner CableLockheed Martin Employees Federated Fund

LOCKHEED MARTINPROJECT BLUEPRINTRegents Circle ($7,500 - $13,999)

Lockheed Martin MS2

BANK OF AMERICA CHILDREN’S TOURFounders Circle ($14,000 - $24,999)

Bank of AmericaProducers Circle ($2,800 - $4,999)

Lockheed Martin Employees Federated FundDirectors Circle ($1,500 - $2,799)

WegmansBenefactors ($1,000 - $1,499)

Excellus BlueCross BlueShield

CHASE YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVALFounders Circle ($14,000 - $24,999)

Chase

ARTS EMERGINGFounders Circle ($14,000 - $24,999)

Partnership for Better EducationRegents Circle ($7,500 - $13,999)

NYS Assembly through the office of William MagnarelliDirectors Circle ($1,500 - $2,799)

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company

2008 - 2009 Educational Outreach Corporate Sponsors

Since 1849 National Grid and its predecessor companies have been part of the Syracuse community, helping to meet the energy needs of over two million Upstate New York customers. We are proud to contribute to the quality of life through the energy we deliver and through the many ways we give back to the communities we serve.

2008 - 2009 Syracuse Stage Season Sponsors

TALES FROM THE SALT CITYSTUDY GUIDE CONTENTS

4. Planning your Visit 5. Theatre & Education 6. Elements of Theatre 7. Production information 8. meet the Creators 9. in the Press 10. The Creative Process 12. Around the Globe 13. Additional resources 14. Notes 15. About Educational outreach

© 2008 Syracuse Stage Educational OutreachChief Editor Lauren Unbekant

Edited by Nichole Gantshar and Adam Zurbruegg

Interior Design & Layout by Adam ZurbrueggCover design by Campdesign; Cover photos by Scherzi Studios

EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH AT SYRACUSE STAGE

Syracuse Stage is committed to providing students with rich theatre experi-ences that connect to and reveal what it is to be human. research shows that students who participate in or are exposed to the arts show higher academic achievement, stronger self-esteem, and an improved ability to plan and work

toward a future goal.

Last season more than 35,000 students from 24 counties attended or partici-pated in in-depth integrated arts partnerships with Syracuse Stage. for more

information, call (315) 443-1150 or (315) 442-7755.

The Bank of America ChiLDrEN’S ToUr brings high-energy, interactive, and cultur-ally diverse performances to elementary school audiences.

The Carrier BACKSTory! Program brings history to life, as professional actors por-tray historical figures in classrooms and other venues.

Lockheed martin ProJECT BLUEPriNT merges scientific discovery and the arts, as an actor portraying a scientist/mathematician introduces students to the connections between scientific discovery and the arts.

artsEmErGiNG takes high school students on an in-depth exploration of a mainstage play using a multi-cultural, multi-arts lens.

The Chase yoUNG PLAyWriGhTS fESTiVAL challenges high school students to submit original plays for a chance to see their work performed at Syracuse Stage.

Timothy BondProducing Artistic Director

Jeffrey Woodwardmanaging Director

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820 E. Genesee StreetSyracuse, NY 13210

Artistic office(315) 443 - 4008

Educational outreach(315) 443 - 1150

(315) 442 - 7755

Box office(315) 443 - 3275

Group Salesand matinees

(315) 443 - 9844

___

www.syracusestage.org

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Syracuse Stage is Central New York’s premiere professional theatre. Founded as a not-for-profit theatre in 1974, Stage has produced more than 220 plays in 34 seasons including numerous world and American premieres. Each season, upwards of 90,000 patrons enjoy an exciting mix of comedies, dramas and musicals featuring the finest professional theatre artists.

Stage attracts leading designers, direc-tors, and performers from New York and across the country. These visiting artists are supported by a full-time and seasonal staff of artisans, technicians, and administrators.

Syracuse Stage is a member of The League of Resident Theatres (LORT,) Theatre Com-munications Group (TCG,) the Syracuse Chamber of Commerce, the Arts & Cultural Leadership Alliance (ACLA,) the East Gen-esee Regent Association, and the Partnership for Better Education.

Planning Your Visit

The Audience’s RoleA performance needs an au-dience. it is as much a part of the theatre event as ac-tors, designers, technicians, and crew.

Each playwright invites you into the world he/she has created - but this world is different than television or movies. The actors need your responses (laughter and applause) but conver-sations, cell phones, and other distractions will dis-rupt that world. if any stu-dent becomes disruptive to the point of interference with the performers or au-dience, a chaperone will be asked to remove that stu-dent.

if you play your part well, the actors can do the same, and all will enjoy the show!

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Teachers! Please speak with your students about the role of the audience in watching a live performance. The following are some helpful suggestions and guidelines to make the day more enjoyable.

GIVE your students plenty of time to arrive, find their seats, and get situated. We ask that you arrive 30 minutes prior to the performance. our student matinees begin promptly at 10:30Am. Latecomers are seated at the discretion of house management.

BUSSES not staying should load and unload on East Genesee Street, where bagged meters will indicate bus-only parking. Please do not park in the Centro Bus Stop. When you exit the bus, have your group stay together inside the main lobby.

USHERS will escort you to your seats - we do not use tickets for our student matinees. Students will be asked to fill in the rows and not move around once seated. We request that teachers and chaperones distribute themselves throughout the students and not sit together. remember, we need to seat 500 people as quickly as possible, so your help is greatly appreciated.

BACKPACKS, cameras, food, and drinks are not allowed into the theatre. We do not have storage facilities for these items, so please leave them at school or on the bus.

PHOTOGRAPHS or video taken with a camera or cell phone are illegal, disruptive, and sometimes dangerous to the perform-ers. All cameras or other recording devices are prohibited and will be confiscated.

SNACKS and soda will be sold whenever possible during inter-mission, at a cost of $1. food and drinks are to be consumed in the lobby, as they are not allowed into the theatre.

RESTROOMS are located in the main lobby. We ask that students use the facilities only before the show and during intermission, and not leave during the show.

Educational Outreach

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“Theatre brings life to life.”-Zelda fichandler

hen the first cave-dweller got up to tell a story, theatre began. Almost every culture has some sort of live performance tradition to tell stories. Television and film may have diminished the desire for access to theatre, but they have not diminished the importance.

Live theatre gives each audience member an opportunity to connect with the peform-ers in a way he or she never could with Tom Cruise or Lindsay Lohan. The emotions can be more intense because the events are happening right in front of the audience.

n the classroom, theatre can be used in a variety of ways. in many respects the teacher is much like an actor on stage - with an audience, a script (lesson plan,) props (visual aids,) and scenery (the

classroom setting.) Both theatre and teaching rely on the interplay between performer and audience.

from this perspective, all of what can be taught can be taught theatrically. young children can cre-ate a pretend bank to learn about money and mathematics. older students may be asked to act out scenes from a play or novel. Theatre provides both an opportunity to teach , and the means to do so.

ringing your students to productions at Syracuse Stage, and utilizing this study guide to integrate the play into your lesson plans, fulfills elements of the New york State core requirements. We know that as

educators, you are more qualified to determine how our plays and study guides blend with your goals and requirements. We hope that we can help you to discover possibilities spanning many disciplines.

As you bring your students to the shows, you may want them to examine not merely the the-matic elements of the play, but also how production elements explore these themes. Every-thing you see on the stage has been created specifically for this production. There are no stan-dard sets for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, no rules for costuming Crowns. our designers meet with our directors months before rehearsals start, and shows are built to their specifications, which are in line with their vision of the work. Exploring design elements with your students is a way of opening the door to the production they will be seeing. We’ll begin with activites and questioning that can be applied to any play, and then move into details regarding specific plays.

So, without further ado, welcome to Syracuse Stage... and enjoy the show!

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Theatre & Education

Educational Outreach

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Elements of Theatre

Theatre usually engages many forms of art including: -Writing -Visual/Design • Scenery & Props • Costumes • Sound • Lighting • Casting -music -Dance/movement

ELEMENTS OF DRAMA:

- Character WHO are the characters and what is their relationship to each other? - Plot/Story

WHAT is the story line? What happened before the play started? What do the characters want? What will they do to get it? What do they stand to gain or lose?

- Setting WhErE does the story take place? how does this affect the characters’ behavior? how does it affect the plot? how does it affect the design? - Time WHEN does the story take place? What year is it? What season? What time of day? How does this affect the characters, plot and design of the play?

Other Elements to Explore:Conflict/resolution, Action, improvisation,

Non-verbal communication, Staging, humor, realism and other styles, metaphor, Language,

Tone, Pattern and repetition, Emotion, Point of view.

1.

2.CREATING QUESTIONS

FOR EXPLORATION

Creating an open-ended question using an element for exploration (otherwise known as a “line of in-quiry”) can help students make discoveries about a piece of theatre and its relevance to their lives.

A line of inquiry is also useful for kinesthetic ac-tivities (on-your-feet exercises.)

Examples of Lines of Inquiry:

1. how does an actor create a character using his/her body? how would you imply setting using your body?

2. how might a director create a sense of real-ism on stage? Why might you not want to use realism?

3. how does an actor use the language of gesture to convey emotion/feeling?

4. how does the use of music convey the mood of a scene?

Elements of Visual Art:Any piece of visual art (including scenery, costumes,

etc.) contain the following ‘elements of art.’Line SpaceShape ColorForm Texture

Principles of Design:Art (or any of the elements listed above) can be

examined further through the ‘principles of design.’Balance ProportionRhythm Emphasis

Unity

How have the designers utilized these elements and principles? Why have they done so?

What are the trying to convey visually?What would be other options?

6Educational Outreach

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IN ASSOCIATION WITH

PING CHONG & COMPANY

PRESENTS

CONCEIVED & DIRECTED BY

Ping Chong

WRITTEN BY

Ping Chong and Sara Michelle Zatz

IN CONJUNCTION WITH

PROJECT MANAGER

Sara Michelle ZatzLIGHTING DESIGN

Darren W. McCroom

PERFORMERSLino Ariloka, Gordana Dudevski, Rebecca Fuentes, José Miquel Hernandez,

Albert Marshall, Emad Rahim, and Jeanne Shenandoah

Timothy BondProducing Artistic Director

Jeffrey WoodwardManaging Director

SPONSORS

SEASON SPONSORS

Ping Chong’s ‘Undesirable Elements’ series is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Nathan Cummings Foundation.MetLife Foundation is the National Sponsor of the Undesirable Elements series.

TALES from ThE

SALT CiTy

PROJECTION DESIGNMaya Ciarrocchi

STAGE MANAGERAmber Dickerson

DRAMATURGKyle Bass

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Ping Chong & Company

Ping Chong was born in 1946 and raised in the Chinatown section of New york City. he studied film-making and graphic design at the School of Vi-sual Arts and the Pratt institute. Ping Chong began his theatrical career as a member of meredith monk's The house foundation. he collaborated with her on several major works including The Travelogue Series and The Games, for which they shared the outstanding Achievement in music The-atre Award in 1986.

in 1972, Ping Chong gathered a group of artists at meredith monk's loft in New york City to create Lazarus, his first independent theatre work. Since then, he has created over fifty major works for the stage including Humboldt's Current (obie Award, 1977), A.M./A.M. - The Articulated Man (Villager Award, 1982), Nosferatu (maharam Design Award, 1985), Angels of Swedenborg (1985), Kind Ness (USA Playwrights' Award, 1988), Bright-ness, which garnered two 1990 Bessie Awards, Deshima, Chinoiserie and After Sorrow. in 1998 he created Kwaidan, his first full-length puppetry work, in collaboration with Jon Ludwig and mitsuru ishii.

his work has been performed at such major New york venues as The Brook-lyn Academy of music's Next Wave festival, The Joyce Theatre, La mama E.T.C., St. Clement's Theatre and The Central Park Summerstage, as well as at major museums, theatres and festivals in North America, Europe and Asia. his explorations reach beyond live performance to include video and visual arts installations.

Today, Ping Chong is recognized as one of our country's most significant theatre artists, and a seminal figure in the Asian-American arts arena.

Ping Chong & Company, originally The fiji Theatre Company, was founded in 1975 to explore the meaning of contemporary theatre and art on a na-tional and international level. The company's mission is to explore the inter-sections of race, culture, history, art, media and technology in the modern world. Today, the company creates unfailingly innovative works of theatre and art for modern, multi-cultural audiences in New york and throughout the world. Ping Chong & Company is a modestly sized, not-for-profit ex-perimental arts organization. The company is artist-run and maintains a small full-time staff, offices and storage facilities in New york City. in ad-dition, the company provides an artistic home and professional base for a multi-racial core group of performers, designers and theatre artists who collaborate with Ping Chong on a project basis.

Portrait by Stephen Garrett

Biography courtesy of www.pingchong.org

“To create is its own re-ward. I think if more people would think of

their daily lives in creative terms, whether

they are plumbers or dentists or city planners

or whatever - I think people would be less

frustrated in their lives.” -Ping Chong

Educational Outreach

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Meet the CreatorsTALES FROM THE

SALT CITY

From the Outside Looking InPeople outside the mainstream will create a portrait of Syracuse onstage

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for most Syracuse Stage productions, the director has a completed script in hand during the casting process.But in the case of Tales From the Salt City, director and playwright Ping Chong is holding auditions now, months before he’s written a word. That’s because the cast mem-bers’ personal stories will determine the play’s message.

it’s all part of a series of oral history productions, col-lectively called Undesirable Elements, that shine a light on those stories unfolding outside the view of main-stream culture. Since 1992, the Ping Chong Company has mounted at least 36 productions of Undesirable Elements in cities around the world, including Seattle in 1995 with Stage’s Producing Artistic Director Timothy Bond [...]

“i had no plans for it other than doing that first one,” Chong said. “i had never done anything like this before, this kind of documentary, real-life, real-people what-chamacallit. Whatsit. it’s not a play; it’s a whatsit.”

Chong and collaborator Sara Zatz, project manager for Undesirable Elements, just wrapped up a two-week visit to Syracuse, to interview prospective cast members for the next incarnation of the series, called Tales From the Salt City. The pair will write the script together this sum-mer. Then the play will have its world premiere at Syra-cuse Stage in october.

Zatz and Chong met with 17 Syracusans, ages 16 to 89, including residents from macedonia, Ghana, Vietnam, Cambodia, Sudan, and Ukraine, as well as African-Americans, a mexican-American, Jewish Americans of various ancestries and a person whose parents hail from Belgium and Burundi.

“it’s important that people understand it’s not just a proj-ect about immigration,” Zatz added. “Some people have said, ‘oh, well, i was born in Syracuse, so they wouldn’t be interested in talking to me.’ And that’s not the case. it’s people who, for whatever reason, have lived outside the mainstream culture, in whatever way that is.”

by Laura T. ryanCourtesy of the Syracuse Post-StandardPrint date: Thursday, may 08, 2008

Kyle Bass, literary associate at Syracuse Stage, found the subjects and participated in the sometimes emotion-ally wrenching interviews.

“What Ping and Sara are so good at is really not being afraid to interrupt as (the subjects) speak, to really draw out detail, which is really important,” Bass said.

“i’m ruthless,” Chong said, laughing.

“i’m gentle,” Zatz countered.

Zatz and Chong, whose six-year collaboration has fos-tered a finish-each-other’s-sentence rhythm, plan to re-turn for a second round of interviews in July, to narrow the field of prospects. in the end, they’ll pick a cast of six or seven from the pool of 17.

“i think the thing that really distinguishes this project from a genre of interview-based or documentary-based the-atre is that the people who are participating in the inter-views are the performers in the show,” Zatz said.

“We’re not having actors play them, and that’s the power of the project,” Chong continued.

Zatz: “it’s very human.”

Chong: “The person up there is the person these experi-ences happened to.”

Zatz: “So there’s no filter through an actor. it’s very di-rect.” [...]

Chong said the production gives cast members and lo-cal audiences an opportunity for “widening their world, widening their consciousness, widening the richness of the world right here in their midst.”

Laura T. Ryan is a staff writer for the Syracuse Post-StandardVisit www.syracuse.com

Educational Outreach

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In the Press TALES FROM THE

SALT CITY

A Mirror for the WorldPing Chong’s Theatrical Processby Christopher SievingCourtesy of the Arts institute of the Univ. of Wisconsin - madison2001

for nearly three decades, Ping Chong has held a mirror up to his adopted culture. During that time, few Ameri-can artists have captured so truthfully and accurately the rich contradictions and paradoxes of American society. Chong's mirror reveals what lies beneath the surface, beneath the images of tranquil homogeneity America presents to its citizens and to the world. The unbroken, unmarked simulation of American life with which our soci-ety comforts itself is splintered and refracted by Chong's theater, exposed as a mosaic of lives, a patchwork of rewoven histories.

Whether as a theater or performance maker, choreog-rapher, videographer, or installation artist, Chong has consistently produced art that challenges audiences' preconceptions and rewards their serious engagement. his stage works, video pieces, and environmental instal-lations have been enthusiastically received all over the globe by both spectators and critics, and his achieve-ments have been acknowledged through multiple awards (including two obie Awards), a Guggenheim fellowship, and six NEA fellowships.

When Chong left home in the middle 1960s to study film and graphic design in midtown manhattan, his culture shock was enormous. A Chinese-American adolescent uprooted from his isolated world, he struggled to find a niche both within white America and within the tumultu-ous New york art world. Nurtured by the scene's prevail-ing spirit of unabashed self-expression, Chong came to see himself as part of a heterogeneous world culture. yet society at large seldom shared his views. Consequently, Chong was often relegated to the role of the "other," the alien outsider, in many of the communities in which he dwelled.

Accordingly, the status of the "other" in America has been the signature theme of his career. his investigation of this theme has yielded some of the most quintessentially American art of the last thirty years. his rejection of the

compartmentalization of human experience spilled over into his artistic practice. Considering himself "not aggres-sive enough" to succeed in the white-dominated world of filmmaking, Chong resolved to instead devote his ener-gies to a synthesis of the many art forms that piqued his interest. indeed, many of his renowned performance pieces are famed for incorporating "cinematic" techniques of lighting and framing.

After graduating from the School of Visual Arts in 1969, Chong joined meredith monk's vanguard interdisciplin-ary performance company, The house, as a dancer and became a key collaborator. Blossoming as an artist under this climate of experimentation, Chong went on to form Ping Chong & Co. in 1975. "meredith made me realize," Chong later recalled, "that performing arts could be anything - art was anything I could make it to be."

The principles guiding the dozens of performances staged by Ping Chong since Lazarus (1972), his first inde-pendent theater work, have been eloquently summarized by Asianweek's Lia Chang, who wrote of Chong in 1997 as "known for the spare elegance of his multimedia pro-ductions and the almost anthropological way in which he pieces together often incongruous bits of cultural infor-mation." his signature style and themes evolved over the course of several award-winning shows. The works ex-plored American and European social mores and myths with anthropological precision. And with the production

"As an artist, I'm an outsider in American society. As an experimental artist, I'm an outsider within the art world. As a person of color, I'm an outsider; as an immigrant, I'm an outsider; as a gay man, I'm an outsider. It's the position that fate has allotted me, but it's a valuable po-sition to be in, because I think every society should have a mirror held to it by the outsider." -Ping Chong, 1999

Children of War , performed in Fairfax, VA in 2002. Photo by Chris Hartlove.

The Creative ProcessTALES FROM THE

SALT CITY

of Kind Ness (1988), an absurdist tour-de-force featuring a gorilla in the role of a rwandan foreign exchange stu-dent, Chong directly confronted the nature of American racism and its consequences. in the 1990s, sensing the time was right for a major work addressing specifically Asian themes, Chong produced a quartet of pieces which scrutinized relations between Western nations and Ja-pan, China, Vietnam and Korea. formally, the East/West quartet synthesized many of Chong's characteristic tech-niques. relatively unconcerned with telling a story in lin-ear fashion, Chong instead fragmented bits of historical narrative in order to foreground the parallels between Western attitudes in the past and in the present. histori-cal anecdotes are conveyed through a multi-layered style of presentation, which makes use of split-stage action, recorded commentary, direct address, ritualized dance, and stunning projections.

The East/West quartet signaled an important change in the content of Chong's work: a shift "from allegory to his-tory," a movement from implicit or metaphorical critique to a more direct engagement with the effects of Western colonizing. in a period defined by conservative backlash against the "excesses" of the 1960s and 1970s, such a shift was natural for Chong.

"i believe that one of the possible functions of an artist is to correct distorted history, and to serve as the con-science of a society," Chong has said.

"I wanted to address history not from the point of view of the status quo, but of what actually happened that was not recorded by the official history books."

Chong's other major `90s exploration of ethnic differ-ence, Undesirable Elements (also known as Secret His-tory), is similarly rooted in the experiences of historical subjects marginalized by the West. What sets Undesir-able Elements apart from the East/West quartet--and from just about any theatrical performance one can think of--is the active participation of those very subjects in its creation and execution. first produced in conjunction with a New york gallery installation in 1992, each ver-sion of Undesirable Elements draws its "actors" from the community at large. few of these performers--or, in Justin hayford's words, "eyewitnesses to the `human diaspora' of the 20th century"--have any sort of background in act-ing; rather, all share the experience of living in a culture different from the one into which they were born.

The original concept developed from Chong's desire to interrogate the meaning of democracy in America: "it's a way of educating all of us, because we are all equally insular." The participants, six to eight in number, sit in a semi-circle before projected images, including outlines of countries, and tell the stories of their lives--stories of their experiences as undesirable elements.

"The stories are so rich, so fascinating," collaborator mi-chael rohd has remarked, "they beat what playwrights try to write."

The performers are selected from a pool of applicants on the basis of interviews with Chong, who then weaves the participants' interviews, histories, and personal anec-dotes into "a tapestry of the American story." Arranged in chronological order and narrated by the people who lived them, these stories reflect realities of modern life too frequently hidden from view. Combined, they con-stitute a true "people's history" of the last 100 years, a fascinating report on both the real-life experiences of those swept up in the current carved out by the century's watershed events--World War ii, the fall of Communism, the Vietnam Conflict, American and South African apart-heid, to name only a few--and their current-day efforts at staying true to themselves while negotiating multiple world views.

Supplemented by poems and folk songs delivered in the performers' native languages, each of the stories is sin-gular and unique. yet, the presentation ultimately works to flatten out the differences between the speakers and emphasize the commonality of human experience. The critics' enthusiasm for Undesirable Elements is aptly sum-marized by mari herreras-Zinman:

“... I can't remember a play that has so closely reflected the benefits of diversity. History and society have been quick at labeling those who are different as "undesirable," but [Chong's] new production shows that the label must include everyone--at one time or another we have all been undesirable.”

Educational Outreach

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The Creative Process (Cont’d) TALES FROM THE

SALT CITY

12

Syracusans in the Spotlight

1. Lino Ariloka Sudan

2. Gordana Dudevski macedonia

3. Rebecca Fuentes mexico

4. José Miquel Hernandez Cuba

5. Albert “Al” Marshall USA (Syracuse) and Jeanne Shenandoah onondaga Nation* These places share a spot on this map, but have very different histories. The Onondaga Nation is a sovereign, independant nation. Learn more at onondaganation.com

6. Emad Rahim Cambodia

Each cast member in Tales from the Salt City lives in the Syracuse area - but many come from very different locations. Listed below are the cast members’ names and nations of origin. Can you match these places to their locations on the map? What do you know about each nation?

Answers:

1 = E; 2 = D; 3 = A; 4 = C; 5 = B; 6 = F

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Around the GlobeTALES FROM THE

SALT CITY

Ping Chong & Company www.pingchong.orgwww.undesirableelements.orgChong, Ping with an introduction by Jessica hagedorn. The East-West Quartet. New york: Theatre Communications Group, 2004.

Academic/Journal ArticlesKurahashi, yuko. “Search for home and identity: Ping Chong and michael rohd’s Undesirable Elements-Berlin.” The Journal of the midwest modern Language Association 38.1 (2005): 85-100.Kurahashi, yuko. “Theatre as the healing Space: Ping Chong’s Children of War.” Studies in Theatre and Performance 24.1 (2004): 23-36.Wehle, Philippa. “Citizens of the World.” PAJ: A Journal of Performance & Art 76.1 (2004): 22-32.

Magazine ArticlesCheng, Scarlet. "revealing the Universal." The World and i Aug. 2002: 76.Gener, randy. “A Nation of outcasts.” American Theatre Dec. 2002: 29.hughes, Dana. "Black Stage, Voices in Color." ford foundation report Spring 2003: 4-5.mcGray, Douglas. "out of the mouths of Babes." Washington Post magazine, feb. 2003: 10-30.

Reviews/FeaturesAdcock, Joe. “meditating on Seattle’s ‘Elements.’” rev. of UndesirableElements/Seattle, Group Theater, Seattle. Seattle Post-intelligencer 13 feb. 1995: C1Brock, Wendell. " 'outsiders' in America: an oral-history Drama, featuring youngPeople from Around the World, Tries to Capture the Changing face of Atlanta.” Atlanta Journal-Constitution 27 Sept. 2001.Brown, DeNeen L. “foreign No more.” Washington Post 2 June 2000: C1+Clemetson, Lynette. “how Children Experience War and its Consequences.” New york Times 7 Dec. 2002, B13.Eng, monica. “’Elements’ a Simple, 6-sided Success.” rev. of Undesirable Elements/ Chicago, Chernin Center for the Arts, Chicago. Chicago Tribune 10 may 1999: TEmPo 2.Eng, monica. “Personal Profiles: Director Ping Chong’s ‘Undesirables’ PromoteTolerance.” Chicago Tribune 6 Jan. 1999: TEmPo 2.Evett, marianne. “Cultural Diversity Dissected.” rev. of UndesirableElements/Cleveland, Cleveland Playhouse. Plain Dealer [Cleveland] 5 marchSolomon, Alisa. “The making of Americans.” rev. of Secret history, ohio Theater, New york. Village Voice 12 Dec. 2002:152

13Educational Outreach

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Additional Resources TALES FROM THE

SALT CITY

NOTES

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Educational Outreach

(315) 443-1150 (315) 442-7755 14

EDUCATIONAL OUTREACHat Syracuse Stage

yracuse Stage is committed to providing students with rich theatre experiences that connect to and reveal what it is to be human. Research shows that children who participate in or are exposed to the arts show higher aca-demic achievement, stronger self-esteem, and improved ability to plan and work towards a future goal.

Many students in our community have their first taste of live theatre through Syracuse Stage’s outreach programs. Last season more than 35,000 students from across New York State attended or participated in the Bank of America Chil-dren’s Tour, Carrier Backstory, Lockheed Martin Project Blueprint, artsEMERGING, the Chase Young Playwrights Festival, and our Student Matinee Program.

We gratefully acknowledge the many corporations, foundations, and government agencies whose donations support our commitment to in-depth arts education for our community. The listing below respresents support towards last season’s 2007-2008 programming.

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Bank of America - Bank of America Children’s TourBristol-Myers Squibb Company - artsEMERGINGCarrier Corporation - Carrier BackstoryChase - Chase Young Playwrights FestivalExcellus BlueCross BlueShield - Bank of America Children’s TourGrandma Brown Foundation - Student Matinee ProgramKARE Foundation - Carrier BackstoryLockheed Martin Employees Federated Fund - Carrier Backstory, Bank of America Children’s TourLockheed Martin MS2 - Lockheed Martin Project BlueprintNational Grid - Student Matinee ProgramNYS Assembly through the office of William Magnarelli - artsEMERGINGOnondaga County District Attorney’s Office - artsEMERGINGPrice Chopper’s Golub Foundation - Student Matinee ProgramSyracuse Police Department - artsEMERGINGSyracuse University Division of Student Affairs - Student Matinee ProgramSyracuse University GEAR-UP - Carrier BackstoryTarget - Student Matinee ProgramTime Warner Cable - Carrier BackstoryUS Department of Justice - artsEMERGINGWegmans - Bank of America Children’s Tour

Teachers from the Syracuse City School District receiving professional development from teaching

artist Reenah Golden.

1,500 students from the Syracuse City School District attended matinee performances of

The Bomb-itty of Errors.

Actor Rob North signing autographs after a performance of

The Mischief Makers.

August Wilson’sMa Rainey’s Black BottomDirected by Timothy BondSeptember 9 – October 4

The award-winning music-filled play that captured the attention of the the-atre world and launched August Wilson’s remarkable career.

Tales from the Salt CityConceived and Directed by Ping ChongOctober 14 - November 2World Premiere

Life stories of real Syracuse residents carry us around the globe and bring us home with a more complete under-standing of how we’re all connected.

Putting it TogetherA Musical ReviewConcept by Stephen Sondheim & Julia McKenzieBook, Music & Lyrics by Stephen SondheimDirected & Choreographed byRajendra Ramoon MaharajJanuary 27 - February 15

At a Manhattan cocktail party, a cast of five uses Sondheim’s exquisite songs to examine the ups and downs of two relationships.

UpBy Bridget Carpenter Directed by Penny MetropulosFebruary 25 – March 15East Coast Premiere

A soaring new play about family and following your dreams . . . even if it takes 42 balloons tied to a lawn chair.

The Diary of Anne FrankBy Frances Goodrich and Albert HackettNewly adapted by Wendy KesselmanDirected by Timothy BondMarch 31 – May 3

A 13-year-old girl finds hope in the in face evil and teaches us all an unforget-table lesson in courage. A new adapta-tion of an American classic.

CrownsBy Regina TaylorAdapted from the book by Michael Cunningham and Craig MarberryDirected and choreographed by Patdro HarrisMay 13 – June 7

A troubled young woman journeys to her ancestral home and finds healing in the warm embrace of family, church, gospel music and tradition

Music and Mischief for the Holidays

GodspellThe Excellus BlueCross BlueShield Family Holiday Series; A collaboration between Syracuse Stage and SU Drama

Conceived and Originally Directed by John-Michael TebelakMusic and New Lyrics by Stephen SchwartzDirected by Rajendra Ramoon MaharajChoreographed by Anthony SalatinoNovember 25 – December 28

Filled with popular hit songs and based on the Gospel of St. Matthew, this ener-getic musical is a celebration of world-wide community.

The Santaland DiariesBy David SedarisAdapted for the stage by Joe MantelloDirected by Wendy KnoxDecember 2 – January 4

Meet Crumpet, a 33-year-old starving artist turn cranky (but cute) Macy’s elf, in humorist David Sedaris’ witty gem of a lump of coal. For mature elves only.

All plays and players subject to change.

08/09

SeASon SponSorS:

www.SyracuseStage.org Box office: 315.443.3275 Group Sales:

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