Jump! Theatre Company theatre company producing new works addressing mental illness

March 16, 2010

The Springboard Project

Filed under: — admin @ 3:58 pm

Springboard is Jump!’s program for developing and presenting new work and works-in-progress.  Since 2005 Jump! has held public performances of new work and works-in-progress as part of the development process.

Jump! believes that a variety of approaches are essential for the development of playwrights and their work, and works with playwrights and other theatremakers to tailor a development path that best fist the project.  Jump!’s dramaturgy is guided by these basic principles:

– Playwrights should have the opportunity to listen to their work read aloud by experienced actors

– Public performances and workshops help theatremakers better understand how a play works in performance

– It is a kindness to offer honest criticism and hold each other to a high standard

– Theatre artists from all disciplines have insights into a play’s development


2005

Do You Want To Buy My Brain? by Nena St. Louis

Jump! Theatre’s inaugural project, developed throughout 2005 and performed as a work-in-process at Monday Night Marsh at the Exit Theatre Cafe.


2006

Cuckoo (parts one & two) by Madison Clell

Jill: Anatomy of a Suicide by Nena St. Louis

Cantaloupes by Gaetana Caldwell-Smith

Terminally Female by Sapna Gandhi

Theosaur Poet by Nena St. Louis

Springboard 2006 focused on the development of each of these works, culminating in two sets of workshop performances — one in spring and one in fall, 2006 — presented as part of Jump!’s RAW Residency at Shotwell Studios.

2007

Cuckoo (part three) by Madison Clell

Jill: Anatomy of a Suicide by Nena St. Louis

Peas Porridge by Gaetana Caldwell-Smith

Following development as part of Springboard 2007, these works were presented on a triple-bill of new work at Exit Stage Left.

2008-09

Angry Gods and Lost Marbles by Paoli Lacy

New Work by Nena St. Louis

New Work by Gaetana Caldwell-Smith

Jump! co-produced work-in-progress performances of Angry Gods at the Magic Theatre and WOW! Festival.

2010 – Springboard V

Luna Negra by Scott McMorrow

Submission by Sarah Schwitkis

Odile by Gaetana Caldwell-Smith

The Ballad of 423 and 424 by Nick Pappas

Embroiled by Nomy Lamm

Hunter’s Point by Liz Gjelten

Springboard V  –  April 23-25 at the Meridian Gallery, San Francisco.

Thanks to EVERYONE – playwrights, directors, actors, audience members, donors and our very gracious host, the Meridian Gallery, for helping make Springboard V an artistic and financial success! We could not have done it without all our collaborators and friends and we are deeply grateful.

Please see below for the lineup:

Friday, April 23 and Saturday, April 24 at 8pm

New Works Program: performances of 5 short plays or excerpts

Sunday, April 25 at 7pm

Hunter’s Point Reading and Benefit


Meridian Gallery

525 Powell Street, San Francisco

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New Works Program – April 23 & 24 at 8pm

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Embroiled by Nomy Lamm

directed by Rebecca Longworth

A short play with music in which a father and his lost daughter struggle to connect.

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The Ballad of 423 and 424 by Nick Pappas

directed by Liz Gjelten

A short play about a reclusive writer and the woman who answers his knock.

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Luna Negra (excerpt) by Scott McMorrow

directed by Roberta D’Alois

One woman’s experiences with seeing psychic auras.

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Odile (excerpt) by Gaetana Caldwell-Smith

directed by Nena St. Louis

A work-in-progress about an alcoholic family’s dysfunction.

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Submission by Sarah Schwitkis

directed by Nena St. Louis

An engaging monologue on the challenges and joys of recovery from bipolar disorder.

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Hunter’s Point Preview & Benefit – April 25 at 7pm

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Hunter’s Point (staged reading) by Elizabeth Gjelten

directed by Christine Young

The closing night of Springboard V will feature a staged reading of Elizabeth Gjelten’s Hunter’s Point, directed by Christine Young, for which Jump! recently received a generous grant from the Theatre Bay Area’s CA$H Program.   Hunter’s Point is a multi-media play about fierce love and bicycles that asks: What is ‘moral treatment’ of the homeless mentally ill, and what prevents our society from providing it? Layering music and video projections, Hunter’s Point juxtaposes realistic dialogue with the language of dreams, and grounds poetic and experimental theatrical techniques in an accessible story with vivid characters and settings that are deeply rooted in San Francisco.  Please join us to share your thoughts on this work-in-progress, and enjoy a special evening of light refreshments.  All proceeds will benefit Jump!’s ongoing work to develop new plays telling authentic stories of mental illness from a variety of perspectives.

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