[quote]FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: Adam Klasfeld (201-755-4272)
press@onearmedman.org

Confluence Theatre Company Goes Green with
THE (re)CYCLE PLAYS
A FREE Community Eco-Festival
September 15 at Socrates Sculpture Park


August 1, 2007 (New York, NY) – Confluence Theatre Company (Adam Bernstein, Founding
Artistic Director; Gabriel Gutierrez, Line Producer) gathers ecological sinners for
THE (re)CYCLE PLAYS (Original Concept by Jessica Bowser), a FREE festival of live
performances with environmental themes at Socrates Sculpture Park along the Long
Island City / Astoria waterfront on Saturday, September 15 (1pm – 6pm).

In Medieval “cycle plays,” common guildsmen and craftsmen performed Biblical
morality plays on mounted stages that were moved around the city streets on wagons.


THE (re)CYCLE PLAYS revives this theatrical ritual with a series of short plays,
dance pieces, musical performances, and special events. Reusing play titles such as
The Fall, The Flood, and The Last Judgment from the original Cycle Plays, each
performance focuses on ecological issues like peak oil, consumption, and food
politics. This series of performances will cycle throughout the day. Three stage
areas will be created from reusable, recycled, and sustainable materials and the
crowd will be directed to the various stages. All electronics will be powered by
bio-diesel.

Confirmed artists include Confluence Theatre Company, Subjective Theatre Company,
Studio 42, Adam Matta, Anne Zuerner/The Roxanne Lola Movement Machine, Athena
Kokoronis, and the Rude Mechanical Orchestra. Festival design by Nicole Frankel and
Robert Morris.

THE (re)CYCLE PLAYS also features “Ye Olde Eco-Faire,” in which grassroots
organizations raise awareness, inspire interest, and grow support for local
sustainability initiatives. Participating groups include the Office of Recycling
Outreach & Education, LIC Community Boathouse, Go Green Expo, Transportation
Alternatives Western Queens (T.A.W.Q.), Queens Botanical Garden, Sierra Club, Solar
One, and Interrupcion. ConEdison Solutions will be present and conducting a green
power sign up drive. Bring your current electric bill and sign up for a wind energy
package to receive free compact fluorescent bulbs.

Confluence will be partnering with Wingspan Arts (www.wingspanarts.org) to present a
Green Kids’ Area with recycled arts and crafts projects, music by Astrograss for
Kids, and special events.

The line-up is subject to change, and more events will be announced.

Confluence Theatre Company, a Queens-based non-profit, develops and produces
multimedia theatre pieces by combining theatre with other mediums, including music,
dance, and visual arts. Since July 2000, Confluence has produced Durang vs. Ives:
Clash of the Playwrights, Relationship Analysis 101: Sex, Marriage & Road Kill, a
punk interpretation of Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead and It’s About Time. The
company has also helped to develop new work through its Under Construction workshop
series. THE (re)CYCLE PLAYS was presented as a work-in-progress at The Chocolate
Factory in December 2006. For more information, visit www.confluencetheatre.org.

Socrates Sculpture Park was an abandoned riverside landfill and illegal dumpsite
until 1986 when a coalition of artists and community members, under the leadership
of artist Mark di Suvero, transformed it into an open studio and exhibition space
for artists and a neighborhood park for local residents. Today, it is an
internationally renowned outdoor museum and artist residency program that also
serves as a vital New York City park offering a wide variety of public services.
For more information, visit www.socratessculpturepark.org.

THE (re)CYCLE PLAYS is a FREE event, running from 1pm – 6pm on September 15, 2007
(Rain Date: September 16). Socrates Sculpture Park is located on Broadway at Vernon
Boulevard in Long Island City, Queens (accessible from the N/W train at Broadway).
For more information, visit www.recycleplays.com or contact info@recycleplays.com.

# # # #

FESTIVAL SPONSORS: Build it Green! NYC, Solar One, Materials for the Arts,
TheaterMania, Clif Bar, and Wingspan Arts.

This project is made possible (in part) by the Queens Council on the Arts with
public funding from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the
Decentralization Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the
Arts. Additional support provided by the Astoria/Long Island City Catalyst Project
of Partnerships for Parks, The Puffin Foundation, the Nancy Quinn Fund, a project of
A.R.T./New York, and Independence Community Foundation.

Please note: Some material may not be suitable for all audiences.

Shows and Summaries

The Fall
In this mini-musical, Felicia, a passionate eco-activist, lets her boyfriend Arnie,
a budding French chef, move in with her after a suspicious fire destroys his
apartment. Arnie's unwillingness to adhere to the rules of recycling, blatant
disregard for sustainable living and insistence on using unethical ingredients in
his culinary experiments drive Felicia to the brink of insanity. Just then, a
mysterious figure, known only as Mama, appears with an unexpected solution to
Felicia's problems. Is Mama the key to Felicia's salvation … or her demise?

Book, music and lyrics by: Bill Corsello

Directed by: Stephen Wargo

Produced by: Confluence Theatre Company



The Flud

Norman Norm and his wife have two of everything – two mortgages, two dogs, two cats,
two cell phones, two televisions, and two twenty-somethings who live at home. When
faced with a flood of high taxes, debt, and no space to keep all of his stuff, Norm
realizes he must unload his ark including his two freeloading sons. How far will
his downsizing go? If Norm’s wife refuses to give up her upscale lifestyle, will
she get pitched as well? Find out in this recycled Seuss-ian parable.

Written by: Vern Thiessen

Produced by: Confluence Theatre Company



The Last Judgment

The Trees take on Big Business in a biting parody of “The People’s Court.” Judge
God presides over this trial not only exposing Big Business’ greedy motives, but
also bringing attention to the hypocrisy of The Trees’ key witness, Liberal
Activist. When you can’t take the law into your own hands, you take ‘em to court!

Written by: Brian Ferdman

Directed by: Julie Blanciak

Produced by: Confluence Theatre Company



The Burial

Combining Greek mythology, 1960s counterculture, Gap Models, and the music of the
Kinks, The Burial riffs on the story of Trophonious, a man was imprisoned in an
underground cave because of his crimes. Living away from society gave him the
reputation and wisdom of an oracle. Those seeking answers to questions or cures for
diseases would offer him honey cakes, hoping to exchange these for a vision of the
future.

By: Athena Kokoronis (www.myspace.com/athenakokoronis)



The Sacrifice

Witness the live creation of art when musician and performance artist Adam Matta
performs a street spectacle of “bicycle drawing.” With paint on his tires, he rolls
mountain bike tricks onto a canvas of flat boards. In addition, Matta performs his
signature beatboxing skills in this piece about our society’s dependence on oil and
cars. Matta has played with Matisyahu, Kenny Muhammad, Shara Worden, Reg E Gaines,
Savion Glover, and Beatboxer Entertainment, at venues such as the Tribeca Film
Festival, Lincoln Center, Town Hall, the World Famous Apollo Theater, and Madison
Square Garden.

"Like a John Coltrane solo, Adam's Beat Boxing creates narratives which mere words
could never accomplish."--Reg E Gaines, playwright, Bring in da Noise, Bring in da
Funk

Created by: Adam Matta (www.adammatta.com)



The Expulsion from the Garden

This modern dance performance uses human interaction as a metaphor for how people
treat their natural environment. Using rigorous physicality and imaginative
psychological states, the dancers demonstrate how each of our actions is a microcosm
of our relationship to the planet.

Created by: Anne Zuerner

Produced by: The Roxanne Lola Movement Machine



The Last Supper

The Last Supper explores a family’s struggle with a contaminated food supply. The
TV provides the sole source of information and while news is plentiful it is also
contradictory. Words like “natural” turn poisonous. Amid all this a family tries
to celebrate a birthday any way they can. Performed by the Subjective Theatre
Company, the theater group known for staging innovative shows free of charge.

Written by: Steven Gridley

Produced by: Subjective Theatre Company (www.subjectivetheatre.org)



The Agony in the Garden

East of Gethsemane and just over the river, an Architect, the Other Woman, and two
grieving teens intersect on the outskirts of Long Island City, each grappling with
personal responsibility. Amidst the sanctity of the shared park, each must
determine what they wish to bring into, and out of, this world.

Written by: Crystal Skillman

Directed by: Michael Melamedoff

Produced by: Studio 42 (www.studio-42.org)



Special Appearance By:



The Rude Mechanical Orchestra is a New York City-based radical marching band serving
the efforts of progressive and radical groups and causes. The group plays for
events supporting feminism, women's rights, the queer community, labor, the
environment, social and economic justice, peace, and community self-determination.
Through its musical selections, the band pays tribute to the world's cultures and
the revolutionary role music has played throughout history.
[/quote]

Jake