“In the Woony River Plays, youth playwrights delve into depths of local waterway!”
(Providence, RI) The Manton Avenue Project will stage its next performance, “A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT: THE WOONASQUATUCKET RIVER PLAYS”, Thursday and Friday, August 1st and 2nd at 95 Empire’s Blackbox theatre at 7pm, and Saturday and Sunday, August 3rd and 4th along the banks of the river at Riverside Park in Olneyville at 3pm. The Manton Avenue Project (MAP) is a non-profit organization that unites children living in Providence’s Olneyville neighborhood with local theater professionals to create original plays together. The Manton Avenue Project’s mission is to unleash the creative voices and unique potential of kids living in Olneyville through out-of-school time programming in playwriting, mentorship, and performance.
“A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT: THE WOONASQUATUCKET RIVER PLAYS” is the culminating performance of The Manton Avenue Project’s DIALOGUE program, a 4-week summer playwriting class held at MAP’s new clubhouse in Olneyville. Six youth playwrights (grades 4-12) have each written a ten-minute play. The resulting production will be directed and performed by the wonderful talents of local adult theatre artists, as well as the kids themselves. The theme of the plays will the Woonasquatucket River, the stewardship of the watershed and the history of the river in Olneyville. The Manton Avenue Project is partnering with the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council for this summer’s program.
The DIALOGUE program is for kid playwrights who have completed at least The Manton Avenue Project’s first two playwriting courses. The focus is of this program is letting kids’ imaginations soar through playwriting and involving them in the performance of their plays.
“We are thrilled to present A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT: THE WOONY RIVER PLAYS, another example of Olneyville kids expressing their amazing imaginations on the public stage with incredible adult artists supporting them,” says Artistic Director Meg Sullivan. “Our goal is to show Olneyville kids the value of their voices and, through the long-term commitment that MAP makes to each young person, help them reach their full potential as the creative thinkers and leaders in the community.”
The Manton Avenue Project’s 2012-13 season is supported by a general operating grant from The Rhode Island Council on the Arts, The Andrade-Faxon Charities for Children, Citizens Bank, and by a Senate Legislative Grant of the State of Rhode Island. The Dialogue program is also sponsored by TACO/The White Family Foundation.
Tickets are free but reservations are encouraged. For reservations, call (401) 331-7007. For more information about the Project, go to www.mantonavenueproject.org