Folk music tells honest, simple stories. The songs tell of hardship and struggle in an effort to free us from the very struggle we sing about. And folk music, by its nature, is part of a collective tradition, whether it is the people who first sang these songs, the people singing (and sometimes changing) the songs today, or the people listening and singing along.
And so theatre, a collaborative art with similar goals, seems a natural partner to the people's music. Using the songs as jumping points, the Folk Play Project will create plays that are rooted in our American tradition and relevant to today. It will use music not just to inspire but to inform the story and add dimension to the experience. And it will do it all in only 24 hours.
BAX Scripts in Progress (Maya Parra & Joie Golomb) series and the Brooklyn Writers Space (Scott Adkins) and Gabe Miner join forces to stage the Folk Play Project. Inspired by the power of folk music to share stories, tell truth, and bring people together, 6 new plays will be created in 24 hours, each inspired by a song from the American folk tradition. The result? An evening featuring live music and original theatre.
