My friends Daniel and Georgia and Risher have a wonderful theatre company called
Orfeo Group, which performs FREE Thursday night shows during their run every summer. That's right. Free.
This year they are performing
Love Song by John Kolvenbach.
In order to keep their shows free, of course, they need support. I'm pasting a really great letter from Daniel below, along with all the info. Go to their show, tell your friends, and if you can, donate!
LOVE SONG
by John Kolvenbach
August 4-27 2011
From August 4 through August 27, 2011 as part of the
Charlestown Working Theater's Resident Artists Program, Orfeo Group will present the Boston premiere of John Kolvenbach's 2007 Olivier nominated play
Love Song.
Orfeo Group is thrilled to be back on the boards this summer at a new (and, ahem, air- conditioned!) venue. Despite the change of locale, one thing remains the same: the Group's commitment to high quality theatre at low-or-no cost to audiences. Tickets for Friday-Sunday performances are $20. Thanks to the generosity of local donors, Thursday nights mark the return of the "OR-FREE-O" show and are completely free of charge.
Beane is alone, an exile from life. His sister Joan and brother-in-law Harry try to reach him but keep coming up short. Following a burglary at Beane's apartment, Joan is baffled to find her brother blissfully happy and tries to unravel the mystery behind his new love, Molly. An ode to the possibilities of love, John Kolvenbach's comedy celebrates the (re)emergence of love in (un)likely places and (un)expected ways.
And here's Daniels' letter:
Dear good people of the world who understand that arts and sciences are as important as roads and schools,
I only ask for money every two years or so, so you won't dread getting an email from me, but I have become increasingly excited at what my theater company Orfeo Group is doing. I feel like we're special and here's why: Orfeo won back to back awards for Best production by a Fringe Company in Boston in 2009 and 2010. We have thrown everything into becoming a well reputed company, but we have kept our shows, or some portion of them, FREE, so that our audiences will not be limited by budget.
(If you're sold already, skip to the link at the bottom and donate)
If you ever played pretend, that you were a cowboy or a fireman, or a burglar, or a marvel hero, or Superman, or an animal, or an alien, you know that pretending and storytelling are encoded in us from birth. Our imaginations drive us to theatrical experience. They help us explore and understand who were are. They help us understand what drives and motivates others. They help us remember universal human experience. Whether it inspires gut busting laughter, or heart breaking tragedy, the theater is a home and church that should accessible to anyone.
The old model of theater is dying. If we keep ticket prices at $35--$100 a pop, only folks who have already paid off their mortgages will be able to come to a show. Don't get me wrong, I love the old and the rich. I want them there, too. I just want old and young, rich and poor alike to remember the power of story.
In Shakespeare's day, everyone would go. You go to the theater to see your friends. You go to gossip and chat. You attend the theater to part of the theater community, and so you can talk about the story with your friends later, over beers, or tea, or a hookah, or a BBQ. The show we are currently doing, Love Song by John Kolvenbach, is an incredible opportunity to do all of these things including the BBQ (which we do every Sunday after the matinee) and the beer (without which theater "is just a museum").*
Your donation helps curb expenses and expand our audience.
Here's how you help us:
Go to www.orfeogroup.org and click Donate (and then donate a whole mess of money).
The other thing you can do is to pass this message along, especially to folks with bigger purses, and especially if they live in Boston. Thanks so much in advance, and don't forget, it's tax deductible! This means, for example, if you're in the 25% bracket, every $400 you give us is $100 you don't have to pay on your federal tax return. If you're like me, you get $1.50 off your taxes for every $10 you donate. Still not bad.
Thanks again, and please be in touch if we haven't been for a while. I wish I had time to write everyone individually. I will make the time to write you back, though.
Ever grateful,
Daniel
*Bertolt Brecht said that. The full quote is, in fact "A theatre without beer is just a museum." Seriously. Look it up.
