KNOW THEATRE WELCOMES dog & pony dc TO REIMAGINE OUR COMMUNITY AS
BEERTOWN
directed by Rachel Grossman
“Creating a community and revising its history nightly”
Know Theatre of Cincinnati is proud to invite some old friends back into our Theatrical Playground: Washington, DC ensemble dog & pony dc, who will bring their critically acclaimed production BEERTOWN to the Know MainStage starting Wednesday, March 2 at 8 PM.
Cincinnati is the latest stop of Beertown Takes America, a national touring project where dog & pony dc artists collaborate with local artists and the greater communities of cities across the country to craft new and locally-relevant versions of the company’s signature show BEERTOWN.
dog & pony dc’s ensemble-devised BEERTOWN is an interactive exploration of history, civic ritual, identity, community, and memory incorporating live music, dance, group song…and it all starts with a dessert potluck.
BEERTOWN welcomes audiences into the 20th Quinquennial Beertown Time Capsule Day celebration, where every five years the imagined American town unearths its beloved Time Capsule and ritualistically reviews its contents. But celebrating the past is not enough for this community. On Time Capsule Day, Beertonians not only remember their history, but also revise it by voting new items into the capsule. Which tells the story of our town better: A campaign button or a family bible? A license plate or a movie projector? Visit a place where remembering is a communal act, and everyone’s opinion is heard and counted: BEERTOWN.
Fans of the Cincinnati Fringe Festival know dog & pony dc as the creative minds behind past Cincy Fringe shows include 2015’s Squares, and 2013’s A Killing Game. Producing Artistic Director Andrew Hungerford felt the time was right to bring them back to Cincinnati, because “Community, of artists, of audience, as well as the physical place in which we live and work, has been vital to the Know ever since the early days of our Tribe. And dog & pony dc’s commitment to those same elements of community made them a natural fit for a collaboration. For this particular project, it’s a special kind of new work that excites us: there’s nothing newer than a show that is created in partnership with the audience each night.
Beyond the theatrical feat of it all, the subject matter of BEERTOWN, and the conversations it will engender are vitally important to a changing neighborhood like Over-the-Rhine. The show asks us to look at those around us, look at our history, and ask ourselves what really matters. Plus, who would turn down a dessert potluck?”
dog & pony dc ringleader Rachel Grossman jumped at the chance to bring Beertown Takes America to Cincinnati. “I’ve been wanting to do BEERTOWN in Cincinnati at the Know since first coming here in 2013. dog & pony dc immediately felt a kinship with the Know’s core drive to produce new theatre that exploits the ‘liveness’ of the artform. This is intrinsically embedded in our guiding principle of ‘audience integration.’
The actors who typically work at the Know are also ‘unique’ due to the theatre’s strong relationship with Cincinnati’s improv community and their Serials program. Instead of facing an acting pool of improvisers who need to learn script-acting, or traditional actors who need to learn improv, we’re surrounded at the Know by extremely talented performers who can do both and walk a fine line dog & pony shows require. In addition, coming to Cincinnati at this moment in time allows dog & pony dc to play with the underlying narrative of the imagined place “Beertown,” previously one of a shrinking and struggling town. The growth and development in Cincinnati–particularly Over-The-Rhine–in the last 10+ years is quite the opposite.”
Cincinnati’s homegrown version of BEERTOWN is populated by an ensemble of beloved local artists hailing from an eclectic collection of arts groups around town. Joining us from our own in-house improv troupe, OTRimprov, are Andrew Ian Adams, Michael Hall, and Eileen Earnest. Mindy Heithaus returns to the Know Theatre stage, fresh from a hit run at the Covedale in Chapter Two this January. MadCap Puppet Theatre’s Sean Mette joins her, having most recently delighted audiences as the Cowardly Lion in the Carnegie’s The Wizard of Oz. Daryl Harris joins us from the faculty of Northern Kentucky University’s School for the Performing Arts, and Aiden Sims makes her Know MainStage debut, having most recently thrilled fans at Incline Theatre’s RENT last fall. Rounding out the ensemble is dog & pony dc’s own Wyckham Avery.
Know’s design team is hard at work transforming the Know Underground and MainStage into Beertown’s Town Hall. Audiences will enter the space and immediately be a part of the Beertown world.
Critics from across the nation hail BEERTOWN as an innovative and joyful theatrical experience. The Washington Post praises Beertown’s “sly intelligence,” while the Village Voice lauds the “finely grained, tongue-in-cheek” sensibility of its “quirky civics lesson.” And Omaha’s World-Herald asserts that “You’re going to want to visit Beertown. I did, and I didn’t want to leave.”
Join us for the 20th quinquennial Time Capsule Day celebration starting March 2 at 8:00 PM, where you decide what’s most important to your community. All performances of Beertown open with a dessert potluck; audience are encouraged to bring a dessert to share.
Cast
- Andrew Ian Adams as Rep. Lawrence Pickel-Cooper
- Wyckham Avery as Mayor Meghan Soch
- Eileen Earnest as Joann Ryals
- Mike Hall as Edwin McFarlan
- Daryl Harris as Arthur Whitting
- Mindy Heithaus as Karine Oppenheim
- Sean Mette as David J. Guy
- Aiden Sims as Michael “MJ” Soch, Jr.
Production Team
- Director — Rachel Grossman
- Stage Manager — Kristen Ruthemeyer Hammer
- Scenic Design — Sarah Beth Hall
- Lighting Design — Daniel R. Winters
- Costume Design — Noelle Wedig
- Sound Design — Douglas Borntrager
- Technical Director — Nick Koehlke
Calendar Listing
ABOUT dog & pony dc
dog & pony dc (dpdc) is an ensemble of artists who devise performances that incorporate new ways for audiences to experience theatre. We create (“devise”) new plays as a collective (“ensemble”).
dpdc shows playfully extend the elastic relationship between artist and audience while asking big, sometimes strenuous, questions about the world in which we live.
Since 2008, dpdc has devised ten shows that span a wide stylistic range: from PUNCH!, an ultra-violent live-action version of the Punch and Judy puppet show, to TOAST, the convening of a 200 year old secret society of inventors trying to save the world through technology (starting with the electric toaster).
We currently work in two languages, English and American Sign Language.
BEERTOWN was the first ensemble-devised show to receive a Helen Hayes Award nomination for Outstanding New Play (2011) and made top 10 shops list in DC (Washington Post, 2012) and Omaha (World-Herald, 2015). A KILLING GAME won “Dr. Robert J. Thierauf Producers’ Pick of the Fringe Award” at Cincinnati Fringe Festival (2013) and Best Production 2013 (DC Metro Theatre Arts). In 2015, we were 1 of 15 recipients of DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities Innovate DC grants. www.dogandponydc.com
ABOUT Know Theatre of Cincinnati
Know Theatre is Cincinnati’s Theatrical Playground.
The Know showcases unexpected voices, new works, and plays that embrace the inherent theatricality of the live experience.
Since 1997, Know Theatre has sought to be a place where artists and audiences feel welcome to take artistic risks, creating work that is cutting edge and accessible.
Know Theatre’s work is made possible by the generosity of community contributions to the ArtsWave Campaign.
The Ohio Arts Council helps fund Know Theatre with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence, and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.
Know is also supported by The Carol Ann & Ralph V. Haile, Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation, helping to change our communities for the better through collaboration and innovation, and the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, which provides a simple, powerful, and highly personal approach to giving.
Know Theatre is a member of Theatre Communications Group and an Associate Member of the National New Play Network.
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