Description

BROOKLYN AT EYE LEVEL is a theater project that explores large scale development and community change in Brooklyn, focusing on the proposed Atlantic Yards Project and its surrounding neighborhoods. This fall a company of actors and director Steve Cosson conducted interviews and immersed themselves in community life. The company spoke to representatives from all sides of the various issues in an effort to understand a wide diversity of perspectives. The Civilians collaborated with acclaimed dance company, Urban Bush Women, to create textual and visual expressions of a community in transition. At the same time, a group of artists including playwrights Lucy Thurber and Carl Hancock Rux, composer Michael Friedman and blues musician Michael Hill worked with neighborhood residents to explore the changing face of central Brooklyn. This first phase of work culminated in a sold-out week of performances at the Brooklyn Lyceum in December of 2008.

Creative Team

Directed by Steve Cosson
Choreography by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar and Chanon Judson
Dramaturg Jocelyn Clarke
Musical Supervisor Michael Friedman

Music Composed by Michael Friedman, Michael Hill

Acting Company Marsha Stephanie Blake, Billy Eugene Jones,
Greg McFadden, Melanie Nicholls-King, Joaquin Torres and
Colleen Werthmann

Acting Apprentices Jane Lee, Monica Risi, Diana Sanchez
Urban Bush Women Mia Breaux, Kanisha Brown, Maresa
D’Amore-Morrison, Jessi Erian, Kendra Ross, Keisha Turner
Musical Performers Michael Friedman, Michael Hill’s Blues Mob

Photos

Brooklyn Lyceum Dec. 4 - 7, 2008 Rehearsal Photos by Adrian Kinloch	Brooklyn Lyceum Dec. 4 - 7, 2008 Performance Photos by Adrian Kinloch
Brooklyn Community Photos by Alix Lambert

Production History & Press

• New York Magazine Approval Matrix
• Brooklyn Rail
• Backstage
• WNYC
• New York Observer
• New York Magazine

Credits

Project Coordinator: Michael Premo
Research Dramaturg: Abigail Katz
Set Designer: Andromache Chalfant
Costume Designer: Chloe Chapin
Lighting Designer: Lucrecia Briceno
Sound Designer: Shane Rettig
Teaching Artists: Lucy Thurber and Carl Hancock Rux
Urban Planning Consultant: Anusha Venkataraman
Photographer: Alix Lambert
Videographer: David Ford
Production Manager: Peter Lee Dean
Stage Manager: Terri K. Kohler
Assistant Director: Jordan Young
Casting: Renee Blinkwolt
Literary Assistant: Jay Briggs
Associate Production Manager: Ben Folstein
Assistant Stage Manager: Monet Fleming
Brooklyn at Eye Level Intern: Katherine Wood
Web Design: Alison DeSantis
Graphic Design: Andrea Sepic

Special Thanks

The Civilians would especially like to thank all those who agreed to be interviewed for this project and everyone who participated in the creation of this play.

Atlantic Terminal Community Center: Ms. Smith, supervisor, Ashley Jones, Evelyn McLaughlin, Tajameeka Storey, Takeyah Glenn, Miguel Antonio Galvez
Brooklyn Tech High School: Sid Kivanoski, supervisor, Rebecca Morofsky, Melanie Adams, Steven Bartashev
The Hip Hip Theater Festival and Brooklyn Community High School of Communications, Arts and Media
Pratt Center For Community Development: Brad Lander, Caron Atlas, Vicki Wiener
Pratt Center For Planning and the Environment: John Shapiro
BRIC Arts Studio: Stephanie Pacheco

Sherrine Azab, Sarah Bierenbaum, Bill Bragin, C & C Sets, Amy Cassello, Bradley Cherna, Li Cornfi eld, Daedalus Scenery, Meredith Dixon, Eric Fisher, Michael Galinsky, Becky Goldstein-Glaze, Lucy Koteen, Jake Hooker, Deb Howard, Gabriel Kahane, Grace Kalambay, Jonathan Lief, Ryan Lillis, Dahana Louis, Alli Maxwell, Sean McCardle, Theo Moore, Daniel Naish, Ron Nilsson, Lynn Nottage, Josh Randall and the Vortex Theater, Eric Richmond, Jim Slezkly, Keith Randall Smith, Ken Travis, Gilly Youner
BAM Around Brooklyn

This project is supported by funding from the Rockefeller Cultural Innovation Fund.