2016-17 Season
THE COLUMBUS VOICES WORKSHOP
In 2016, the Columbus Voices Workshop performed 17 times, at 16 venues throughout Columbus, Ohio.
The Columbus Voices Workshop will be a traveling open house, created by Available Light, for the people of our beloved hometown – Columbus, Ohio.
We will create a forum, a collective space, a place to share stories and meet our neighbors.
As you may recall, one year ago we launched a Kickstarter to raise $30,000 in 30 days. And we killed it. 173 backers beat our goal by almost $5000 and earned a special grant from the Columbus Foundation to boot.
Since then, even as the rest of the season has been going on, we’ve been laying the groundwork for the Columbus Voices Workshop: a locally-sourced, interactive production about the people of Columbus, Ohio.
We are spending 2016 talking to as many citizens of Greater Columbus as possible to create a thought-provoking, true-to-life exploration that reflects the complexity and broad inclusivity of our city, from the trendsetters of the moment to the difference-makers of tomorrow, and -- most importantly -- the stories that we don’t ordinarily get to hear.
The Columbus Voices Workshop gave a short, preview presentation at TEDxColumbusWomen on October 27 at the Roosevelt Coffee Shop.
Also, at TEDxColumbusWomen, CVW artist Shanelle Marie was a featured solo performer.
"In a performance of poetry and acting, Shanelle Marie reflects on her journey to overcome shyness and misperceptions from others. Choosing to step into the spotlight on stage and in every day life, she is now an actor and communicator who learned to raise her voice."
Featured in Columbus Monthly magazine
YOU GOT OLDER
“Available Light Theatre shapes the beguiling tragicomedy of deflection and awkward human connection into a brilliant Midwestern premiere… Amusing but devastating, unflinching but often tender… the acting and design meld into a nature-driven tapestry as colorful and changeable as an autumnal Calder mobile.”
– Columbus Dispatch
“This terrific new play by Clare Barron…offers a hilarious and painfully affecting blend of oddball dialogue, beautifully observed family dynamics, and a preoccupation with the weird ways of the body.”
– The New Yorker
“You Got Older soars…A brilliant midwestern premiere.”
– Columbus Dispatch
Written by Clare Barron
Directed by Acacia Duncan
January 12 – 28, 2017
Riffe Center Studio 2
77 South High St.
Pay What You Want
Featuring:
John Connor, David Glover, Verne Hendrick, Kasey Meininger, Eleni Papaleonardos, Elena Perantoni, and Daniel Turek.
Schedule:
Thursday, January 12 @ 8pm
Friday, January 13 @ 8pm
Saturday, January 14 @ 8pm
Friday, January 20 @ 8pm
Saturday, January 21 @ 8pm
Sunday, January 22 @ 2pm
Thursday, January 26 @ 8pm
Friday, January 27 @ 8pm
Saturday, January 28 @ 8pm
Talkbacks:
After Thursday and Friday performances.
When Mae’s dad gets sick at the same moment her life implodes, she ends up moving in with him back home.
Available Light is proud to share this story by a talented female playwright, a tender and darkly comic new play about family, intimacy, pain, fantasy and sexuality from a woman’s point of view.
WINNER – 2015 Obie Award for Playwriting and Performance
THE KILROYS LIST – 1st Place – 2015
FINALIST – 2015 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize
NOMINEE – 2015 4 Drama Desk Awards including Best Play
Recommended if You Like: Frances Ha, Todd Solondz, Modern Family, Jennifer Egan, Girls, Dead City.
Next Stage Initiative 2017 @ Columbus Museum of Art
“One of the most important theatrical events of the season.”
– Richard Sanford, Columbus Underground
Now in it’s fifth year, the Next Stage Initiative makes its debut at the Columbus Museum of Art. Be part of the growth & nurturing of some great plays as they come into their own.
AVLT has a vested interest in daring, new plays. The Next Stage Initiative provides opportunities for up and coming playwrights – both local and national – to share their works in various stages of development. Six talented playwrights from Columbus and beyond will share their unfinished works and provide audiences with opportunities to witness the creative process unfolding.
Recommended if You Like: Exploration, risk, and experimentation
February 17 — 26, 2017
Columbus Museum of Art
480 E Broad St.
Pay What You Want
There will be a casual, post-show conversation with the cast and crew after every performance. Playwrights will be included as indicated below.
Friday, February 17 @ 8pm – a lightly staged reading
Dear Piqua
written and performed by Drew Eberly
directed by Audrey Rush
*Talkback with the playwright.
Saturday, February 18 @ 8pm – a play reading
Give It All Back
by Calamity West
directed by Jessie Boetcher
Sunday, February 19 @ 2pm – a workshop staging
Laura Days or Little House in the Big City
by Emily Dendinger
directed by Elizabeth Wellman
*Talkback with the playwright.
Friday, February 24 @ 8pm – a play reading
Matter Out of Place
by James Ijames
directed by Shilarna Stokes
Saturday, February 25 @ 8pm – a staged reading
Cellular
by Joe Kopyt
directed by Yolanda Board
*Talkback with the playwright.
Sunday, February 26 @ 2pm (Cinched) / 6pm (Strapped)two lightly staged readings
The Armor Plays: Cinched and Strapped
by Selina Fillinger
directed by Karie Miller
Paradise park zoo
Nominated for the Kilroys List in 2014.
This play features monkeys, humans, lionesses, a red panda, a Komodo dragon, and a live band.
The animals at the zoo are busy experimenting with meditation, processing their relationships, and honing their wilderness survival skills, but none of them are talking about the cages. The cages are not important.
An frisky, frolicking, fete about capitalism, the radical left, and the impossible task of imagining ourselves free. It’s one of the funniest plays we’ve read in a long time, full of joy and the best kind of theatrical impossibilities.
Keep an eye out for the elephant.
Recommended if You Like: Jean-Paul Sartre, Animaniacs, My Dinner With Andre, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Animal Farm, and The Big Chill.
Written by Savannah Reich
Directed by Eleni Papaleonardos
May 4 – 20, 2017
Riffe Center Studio One
77 South High St.
Pay What You Want
Featuring:
Acacia Duncan, Jordan Fehr, Kim Garrison Hopcraft, Adam Humphrey, Elena Perantoni, Audrey Rush, Michelle G. Lowrey, Ian Short, and Dakota Thorn.
With live music from:
Drew Eberly, Whitney Thomas Eads, and Marc Conte.
Schedule:
Thursday, May 4 @ 8pm
Friday, May 5 @ 8pm
Saturday, May 6 @ 8pm
Friday, May 12 @ 8pm
Saturday, May 13 @ 8pm
Sunday, May 14 @ 2pm
Thursday, May 18 @ 8pm
Friday, May 19 @ 8pm
Saturday, May 20 @ 8pm
Talkbacks:
After Thursday and Friday performances.
