Kiss it, Make it Better a new play by Erika Phoebus–Theatre 4the People

Kiss it, Make it Better a new play by Erika Phoebus–Theatre 4the People

Description

KISS IT, MAKE IT BETTER is a new play by Erika Phoebus produced by Theatre 4the People directed by Isaac Byrne at the Obie Award winning theater The New Ohio in New York City.

The play will open May 27th and close on June 18th. All performances will be pay what you can. 

KISS IT, MAKE IT BETTER is a coming of age story about a boy and girl who run away after their lives are brutally interrupted and their innocence shattered.  Creating their own sort of Neverland amidst a crumbling fairground is the only way to survive as they hide from the past that is always lurking just behind them.

This play is about love, trauma, adolescence, and the need for a shared language to process and heal. It deals with sexual violence, PTSD, and most prominently the long lasting effects of ignorance, silence, and shame. It is an equally playful and heartbreaking look into an “unconventional” kind of love that may feel more familiar than we expect. 

We believe this is an important play and a beautiful one. We’re putting together an incredible artistic team, anchored by designer Joshua Rose and director Isaac Byrne who worked together on the award winning productions of The Other Mozart, Tar Baby, and In Vestments. 

Check out our Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/kissitmakeitbetter/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel 

The Money: 

All the money raised will go toward the production of the play and to the artists who make the production happen. All of the box office proceeds will go directly to the artists involved. No overhead administrative costs. We are a company of artists who work for the art and for each other. 

Our costs are as follows:

$15,000 Theater Rental. Yep. That’s how much it costs to rent a small theater in New York. 

$5,000 Artist Stipends. This is to pay the playwright, director, 5 actors, lighting designer, scenic designer, sound designer, costume designer, and video projection designer. 

$2000 Production stipends. This pays for a Production Manager, Stage Manager, and an Assistant Stage Manager.

$8000 Production Supplies. This pays for the set, the lights, sounds, the costumes, the equipment rental, the labor to put it all together, and the truck to pick it up and bring it to the theater. 

$2000 Publicity and Marketing. This pays for all the people and materiel that help get the word out about the show. 

Who We Are: 

Theatre 4the People is an award winning theatre company dedicated to producing courageous new plays in innovative ways that are donation based and open to the public. 

Here’s what other people are saying about us:

“Theatre 4the People is a company that believes in using courageous artists, working on original theatre, and not charging a penny more than you want to pay…while the money might be scarce, this is a company that knows how to use their resources. This is a piece of theatre that represents intelligent and focused artists whose work is as good as any off-broadway house, and is really a gift to the community, done for love of the art” New York Theatre Review

“a production company dedicated to making original works of theatre with a unique voice accessible to anyone…all-encompassing theatre: old-fashioned stakes paired with contemporary storytelling savvy” Garden State Journal

Our last production, In Vestments by Sara Fellini, won the New York Innovative Theatre award for Outstanding Premier Production of a Play and for Outstanding Direction! 

“Byrne’s high-energy production is by turns earnest and campy, wrenching and visually eloquent…dramaturgical jambalaya, flavored with the full-throated music of Jacques Brel” NY TIMES review of In Vestments

Director Isaac Byrne has been awarded the New York Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Direction twice and productions he has directed have been nominated for a Drama Desk Award, an Off Broadway Alliance award, 24 NYIT awards, and 6 Planet Connection Awards. 

Playwright/Performer Erika Phoebus was born in Maryland and raised in Colorado, Erika  is now an NYC based actor/playwright, having most recently been seen in Theatre 4the People’s In Vestments (Innovative Theater Award – Outstanding Premiere of a New Play, Best Director). Other favorite credits include: Let Me Go (dir. Ben Winston), Pippin (Perry – Mansfield), Susanna (CU Opera). She has workshopped and performed new material at the Broadway Theatre Project, alongside and under the direction of Ben Vereen, and has been involved in developing several new musicals, including Knock Out, written by Raechel Sherwood. Erika has studied at Ithaca College, University of Colorado, Boulder and The William Esper Studio. She is currently a student of Matthew Corozine.

KISS IT, MAKE IT BETTER is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions for the charitable purposes of KISS IT, MAKE IT BETTER must be made payable to “Fractured Atlas” only. The value of the goods are listed in the description. Any contribution above that amount is tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

Source: ICNW